Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Tuesday strongly condemned the killing of over 70 Palestinians by Israeli forces and shifting of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. The committee, which organized a seminar titled 'Kashmir and Palestine: 70 years UN Resolutions for Self-determination' also strongly condemned the Indian forces' atrocities against defenceless Kashmiri people, saying the Indo-Israeli nexus under the supervision of the US has caused loss of many precious civilian lives in the IoK.
Through a resolution adopted on the occasion, the committee termed May 14 a 'black day' in world history when the United States shifted its Embassy to Jerusalem in violation of international law and several United Nations Security Council resolutions and followed by the condemnable use of force against innocent Palestinians killing more than 70 people. Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Raja Farooq Haider, Palestinian Chargé d'affaires Husni Abu Ghoush and Chairman of the Committee Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed among others were keynote speakers.
The AJK prime minister in his address said, "India and Israel with the tacit support of the US have turned Kashmir and Palestine into 'slaughterhouses' where people especially youth are being killed on daily basis." He observed that India and Israel have common agenda to quell freedom movements in Kashmir and Palestine respectively. He urged global community to take side with justice against the oppression and injustice.
He said Indian army snipers are targeting innocent children and women on Pakistani side of Kashmir on almost daily basis. "We will not sit idle to watch this bloodshed going on with no let-up. We will fight this cruelty with full force," he said. The AJK prime minister condemned the brutal onslaught and killing of over 70 Palestinian and wounding 2,700 in a single day. "The people of Pakistan and Kashmir are solidly standing with their oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters in their just and legitimate struggle for their rights," he added.
Endorsing the views of AJK prime minister, Senator Mushaid Hussain Sayed called upon the Muslim nations of the world to take unified stand on Palestine and Kashmir issues. Emphasizing the importance of Palestinian cause, Mushahid said in March 1940, on the day when Muslim League resolved to protect the right to self- determination for Muslims of sub-continent, it also resolved to stand for the rights of the Palestinian people.
This year marks 70 years of the UN resolutions on Kashmir and Palestine which call for the eternal principle of plebiscite and self-determination, he said. "Indo-Israel nexus backed by the United States is not a coincidence," he said, adding Muslims need to come together to be able to see through this triangle of evil.