‘Recognise Israel’ mantra buried deep in Gaza debris: experts

Islamabad: Pakistan sees an inextricable linkage between Palestine and Kashmir as both are occupied territories, both are denied the right to self-determination, and both are under the occupation of fascist, racist and Islamophobic regimes, which are bent on the demographic transformation of a majority into a minority there.

In this situation, if Pakistan weakens its stand on Palestinian issue, it will be tantamount to undermining position on Kashmir conflict as well. The recent ‘Recognise Israel’ mantra now stands buried deep in the debris of the destruction of the Gaza Strip, a self-governing Palestinian territory hammered by Israeli air strikes for around two weeks.

This was the crux of the thoughts shared by geopolitical analysts during an international webinar jointly organised by Institute of Policy Studies Islamabad and ILKE Foundation Istanbul on ‘Israeli aggression and the plight of the Palestinians’.

The speakers included chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Mushahid Hussain Syed, IPS chairman Khalid Rahman, US-based Palestinian author and journalist Dr Ramzy Baroud and Turkey-based Palestinian journalist Dr Ali Abo Rezeq.

The event was moderated from Istanbul by Ahsan Shafiq of the ILKE Foundation. According to panellists, a change in the world order is vital to rein in states like Israel and resolve the longstanding Palestine issue since the major roadblock is the prevalent unjust world order based on the paradigm of survival of the fittest.

In addition, the worldwide civil society linkages, alliances of the forces of good across the world, and the anti-apartheid movement model of South Africa can play a central role in this regard.

According to experts, normalisation of relations with Israel, an apartheid state, will not churn out benefits for Muslim countries and rather, as Israel is thumping its nose at Washington, it will be better to exert pressure diplomatically on the US.

They expressed optimism that changing global dynamics – with the world transforming into multipolar from unipolar after the Cold War – would benefit the Palestinian cause. The experts said a positive aspect was the favourable voices within Jews and Israel besides non-Muslims, liberals and civil society, and concerns shown in the media and by the human rights organisations.

They pointed out that Israel launched the latest aggression thinking the Palestinians were isolated because many countries were normalising relations and they are losing global solidarity but the violence had spawned a massive global movement rooted in civil society.

According to them, this can be seen in the demographics of the worldwide pro-Palestinian protests participated in by people from all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. People are angry and rightly calling Israel an apartheid genocidal state and that is a defining moment in history.

Sane voices in solidarity with the Palestinians are also being heard in the US Congress, the UK Parliament and the European Parliament, indicating a change in world opinion. This is evident from the biggest protests taking place in London, Madrid and Paris.

The speakers stressed that Muslims must take the leadership role in this global movement and that only by reaching this critical mass, they would be able achieve a paradigm shift; that South African moment when apartheid was defeated. Apartheid was crushed in South Africa not because enough governments spoke out but because civil society rose globally and boycotted the apartheid government in all its forms and shapes until they forced their governments to follow suit. Similarly, civil societies are the ones that need to be reached out on Palestine and Kashmir disputes.

They said the Palestinians living in Gaza, West Bank and Israel were one nation and were fighting the aggression as one nation and that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah Movement and other groups had to join hands and involve Muslims all over the world to show solidarity with them.