By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will no longer in a position to fudge the Palestine issue and they would have to take a decision over it.
In an interview with the TRT World, a Turkish Tv channel, the foreign minister said “The UNSC will no longer be in a position to fudge on the issue, they would have to take a decision. People who believed in the fundamental rights, must speak up. They cannot sit on the fence anymore because enough is enough.”
About recent situation in Palestine, he said the people who had been silent, who had been sitting on the fence were jolted to react after witnessing grim situation in Palestine.
Nobody expected that from 27th of Ramadhan, things would take such a shape that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would be galvanized into action, the Arab League would be galvanized and the NAM would be mobilized. Nobody saw such a reaction, he added. The foreign minister said that such reaction resulted in an unprecedented emergency session of the UN general Assembly taken place over the Palestine situation. Responding to a question regarding diplomatic efforts of Pakistan, he replied that first thing, they wanted to secure was the ceasefire.
He had one point agenda- -cessation of hostilities, once that was achieved the rest would flow from it, he added. About the proposal of deployment of the UN protective force, the foreign ministers said they would be discussing its modalities with the UNGA president.
About the United States’ role, foreign minister Qureshi said, the US had influenced over Israel. “They should play a more active role in convincing them that what are they doing, is unacceptable to the world,” he added. About the Afghan peace process, the foreign minister replied Pakistan and Turkey wanted to see the peace process move forward, the world, the US, the Afghan people and the whole world wanted this.
Drawing similarities between the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine, the foreign minister said both Kashmiris and Palestinians had been demanding their right to self-determination, both were crying about democratic restructuring, and both were witnessing threats of ethnic cleansing. He said about 125 bombs were dropped over Gaza in 25 minutes. Both issues had been the oldest items on the unresolved agenda of the United Nations, he added.
