The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Wednesday reassured Pakistan's full support to the Palestinian cause and opposed the recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital by the United States, as the committee meeting coincided with Peace to Prosperity Conference held in Bahrain.
The Senate panel held a special session with visiting delegation of 'Al-Quds Parliament' to discuss the Palestinian issue and other challenges being faced by the Muslim Ummah, including the Kashmir issue.
The delegation headed by Dr Hamid Abdullah Hussein al-Ahmar, President of the Al Quds Parliament, comprised Syed Abu Musameh, Member of Board, Jaraallah Bachir, General Director, and Abedallah Elbeti, General Coordination of Relations. The delegation is on a four-day visit to Pakistan.
The visit by the delegation comes at a time when "Peace to Prosperity" conference, called by Senior Advisor to US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, was under way in Bahraini capital Manama. Senator Nuzhat Sadiq, while chairing the session, welcomed the delegation and remarked that the state, government and Parliament of Pakistan fully support the Palestine issue and are always a proponent for Palestinian people to get their due rights recognised and the issue to come to a logical conclusion. She stated that the Senate of Pakistan has also unanimously condemned recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital and shifting of the US embassy to Jerusalem. The delegation told the committee that in meeting with the chairman Senate, a proposal to have a special committee on Palestinian issue in the Senate or a sub-committee of Foreign Affairs committee be constituted for dealing with Kashmir, Palestine and Rohingya issues. The delegation also requested the Senate of Pakistan to work on the possibility of having a focal person in every political party for the Palestine issue.
The delegation expressed hope that the support to the Palestine cause from Pakistan will continue and resistance and opposition of the cunning plans of the West in the name of 'Deal of the Century' to increase support and acceptance for Israel and limit the territory of Palestine will emerge from all brother 'Muslim parliaments.'
The committee was told that Al-Quds Parliament is a league established in 2015 which is open to any member of parliament from any country, who wants to play a part in support of the Palestine issue.
The league has 115 members from 25 countries. The need of the hour is to have a joint coordinated effort to meet the challenges of the day which cannot be addressed independently and have to be addressed collectively. Members from Pakistan also took part in the Al-Quds forum in Istanbul and the league looks forward to Pakistani representation in the conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur this year. It is high time that instead of just playing a reactionary role, a strategic action plan may be formulated.
Senator Dr Shehzad Waseem observed whenever Pakistan is represented in any international forum for the Palestine cause, it is beyond any political or territorial bias and Pakistan will always continue to support the cause with all its might.
He also observed that one school of thought in the world believes that might is right but the other believes that right is might and all Muslims and proponents of the Palestine cause believe that truth and rightness will prevail and opposition, no matter how strong, will subside sooner or later. He said, "The need is for a strong implementation mechanism of whatever joint strategy we adopt." He said, "War for a thorough narrative of the Ummah for the Palestine cause is as important as the war for territory and our intellectuals and politicians have a heavy responsibility in this regard."
Senator Rehman Malik remarked that the Muslim Ummah has failed to stay united in the face of the challenges it is facing and has always been on the defensive dealing with issues in a haphazard manner instead of a well thought out strategy.
He suggested, "Al-Quds Parliamentary League may consider presenting studies and researches to further our cause and to quantify and substantiate the sufferings of common people. We need to link the Kashmir and Palestine issues and take both holistically towards the resolution of our challenges."
Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar remarked, "Our challenges are huge but our responses are not measured and one of the major reasons of our failure throughout the course of history is our continually increasing division within the Ummah." He said, "We need to take the issue strategically by fighting the war of narrative by making use of all available forums within the Muslim world and outside it." He said, "As Muslims it is our duty to take the right course of action irrespective of the situation being favourable or otherwise." The delegation observed that the declaration of the conference will be subsequently taken to the next OIC summit to develop a joint strategy of the Muslim world and have it endorsed by the Ummah leaders. They observed that Muslims are for peace but peace should be based on justice and not injustice. Both sides agreed to continue playing a part in bringing forth a strategic projection of the Palestine and Kashmir issues.
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