Senate Caucus urges government to pressure Israel via OIC, PUOIC

LUMPUR: The Dewan Negara Caucus on People’s Wellbeing has urged the government to put pressure on Israel through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as well as the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUOIC) to ensure the safety and well-being of the Palestinian people.

Its chairman Senator Datuk Razali Idris said Malaysia, through the OIC and PUOIC, had the collective responsibility to speak out in putting pressure on Israel and preventing the possibility of apartheid returning to Palestine.

“Peace needs to be restored especially for the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem who are being forced out of their homes as a plan for expulsion and ethnic cleansing by Jewish illegal immigrants. This is the culmination of a series of atrocities and violence at the end of Ramadan,” said Razali, who is also Malaysian Senators’ Council deputy president.

The senate caucus, in describing the atrocities perpetrated by Israel as gross human rights violations, condemned the Zionist army’s follow-up action in attacking and injuring over 200 Palestinians as they stormed into the al-Aqsa Mosque using grenades, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. In this regard, he said the caucus would, together with PUOIC, continue to raise their voices so that they could be heard in all parts of the world as a show of support for the oppressed Palestinians.

Meanwhile Southeast Asian Muslim Youth, in a separate statement, urged the United Nations (UN) and the rest of the world to keep on pressuring the Israeli government, which had been seen as trying to raise tensions in the Middle East and jeopardise global peace, to respect the international rule of law and the relevant UN Security Council and OIC resolutions.

“We are also urging the OIC to convene an emergency meeting to address the currently emerging issue in Palestine, calling upon all leaders of the Islamic countries to bind together and utilise any possible channels to appropriately ensure that the Zionist regime and its allies do not subvert Palestinian sovereignty.

“Any dealing aimed at promoting Israeli policy should be firmly denied,” the statement added.

Bernama yesterday reported that Palestinians in Jerusalem in recent days had protested in solidarity with residents of the Sheikh Jannah neighbourhood amidst clashes with Israeli police.