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Malaysia stands with Palestine, rejects Israel's bluff

This year-old accords seek to establish diplomatic relations between Muslim nations with Israel at the expense of Palestine.

Little Arab states of no real consequence but for their oil wealth, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed up to lend the initiative, masterminded by former US president Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a sense of achievement.

A year later, all is quiet. While not quite stillborn, the accords have shown no life. The people who signed the document on behalf of Israel and the US are no longer in office. Obviously, the Israelis under their new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, have not yet decided that it's all over.

The accords that sought to sell the Palestinians down the drain, which incidentally did not include them in the negotiations, have no new participation. Most disappointingly for Tel Aviv, the Saudis are not part of the deal after a year.

As many people who benefit from media coverage believe, even bad press is better than no press. Negative while this lie may be, it does contribute to media space for what is effectively a dead letter.

Indeed, getting Muslim states to be party to the Abraham Accords would be a feather in the cap of the Bennett government, for it is testimony to the tricks being attempted to cleanse Palestine of Palestinians.

Lured by billions of dollars, the mastermind thought the worn -out average Palestinian would take the money and move to the territory put aside for their redevelopment. Kushner was wrong.

And there just is not enough pressure from the Arab states and other Muslim nations to force, if not to persuade the Palestinians.

But as the Malaysian foreign minister stated, "Malaysia stands by our unwavering commitment to supporting the Palestinian cause and their struggle against the continued Israeli illegal occupation and systemic oppression.

"Malaysia will continue to provide political and moral support, as well as humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people bilaterally and through international organisations, as well as facilitating the works of Malaysian civil society organisations."

Malaysia remains unchanged, and all that has been described by the foreign minister cannot fit into the intentions of the Abraham Accords — a name intended to break the will of the Muslim world.

The realisation that our support for Palestine cannot but be a fundamental part of Muslim faith has probably led to the accords being a convenient tool meant to confuse the Muslim mind — that we belong to the same religious tradition.

It follows then that the Jews are our brothers and sisters and given what was on offer, it should not be so impossible to accept and be embraced by all Muslims.

But Tel Aviv under Netanyahu could not resist the urge to bomb the Palestinians even while negotiations were ongoing. That peace for Palestinians was never a genuine objective of Trump and Tel Aviv cannot be denied.

Within the context of the lie itself, Muslim Malaysians must drop any and all suspicions that Malaysia might join UAE and Bahrain, like Morocco a little later rewarded by the US with recognition for its sovereignty over Western Sahara.

What can Malaysia want that would persuade her to cast the Palestinians aside? Palestine is more than a foreign affairs issue. To Muslims, it is a question of faith. Palestine is a divine legacy.

Even if the offer was good as that presented to Morocco, the likelihood of tempting Malaysia is remote because of this. For as long as the Malay majority remains united, the very thought of giving Israel recognition is a massive political threat to the government.

It would be an unforgiveable transgression that might even contain the very destruction of the principle of Malay political domination. Furthermore, Palestine is a humanitarian issue.

The blatant crimes against Palestinians generally perpetrated by Israel are not something acceptable by most decent people. The Palestinian struggle is at the heart of the human soul, generally, and Muslims, especially.

That this is so is testified to by the worldwide support for the BDS Movement: Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israeli products.

Finally, why would Malaysia defer to US predilections when global geopolitics is in flux? The multipolar world is fast emerging.


The author is a former NST Leader writer

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