All-round support for Palestine over Jerusalem issue

PUTRAJAYA: A Palestinian teenager was overwhelmed by the Malaysian show of support for Palestine at the ‘Save Jerusalem' White Solidarity Rally at the Putra Mosque yesterday.

Shefaa Salleh, 16, said such expression of support was not visible even in the Arab countries located close to Palestine.

The Palestinian, who holds a Syrian passport, has been in Malaysia with her family over the past six years, having come to the country when the war started in Syria.

“I come here today to stand for Palestine because it is not just the issue of the land but the issue of Islam and Muslims,” she said to Bernama.

Sungai Besar MP Budiman Mohd Zohdi said he had joined the rally to demonstrate his support for the Palestinians.

“Support is important to strengthen the spirit of the Palestinians and other Muslims in defending Jerusalem,” he said.

Social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said he hoped that the message of the rally would be heard at the international level, particularly at the United Nations and by United States President Donald Trump.

“The attitude and measures of Trump and his government are unacceptable at the international level. This is a matter of human rights and it has to be respected,” he said.

Aminah Mat Rasid, 52, who was at the rally with two friends from Gombak, Selangor, said she was joining such a rally for the first time.

“The three of us came today because we wanted to express our opposition to Jerusalem being recognised as the capital of Israel.

“All Muslims must defend Palestine,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Association of NexGen Christians of Malaysia (Ancom), in a statement distributed at the Putra Mosque, said Ancom joined Muslims today to show its support and solidarity with Muslims to protest against the United States.

“Claiming Jerusalem as the capital for one people not only damages the hope for peace between Israel and Palestine but deepens religious tension among Muslims, Jews, and Christians,” it said.

Ancom also urged all Christians to work for peace and harmony in that region so that all the people can live side by side together in safety, security, freedom and prosperity.

National Students Consultative Council 2017 chairman Saiful Asyraff Kamarudin said undergraduates throughout the country would hold solidarity rallies at all institutions of higher learning simultaneously every month beginning January 2018.

Civil servant Hafiz Hamizi Abdullah, 28, had taken leave and travelled all the way from Johor Bahru to attend the rally. – Bernama