By Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad: The State of Palestine on Wednesday thanked the premier for his “strong response” on Israel, besides expressing gratitude to the government for extending support to the Palestinian cause.
A statement issued by the Palestine embassy in Islamabad also thanked the government for condemning Israeli aggression towards Palestine.
“Palestinians consider Pakistan as our second homeland and Pakistanis as our dearest brothers, who always supported Palestine on every forum of the world,” it said.
The press release comes a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan categorically said that Pakistan could not recognise Israel as a state unless it gave freedom to Palestine.
In a two-hour late-night interview aired on private TV channel, the prime minister stated: “Our stance is very clear from day one and Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had said Pakistan can never accept state of Israel until the people of Palestine get rights and state,” he said in an interview with a private news channel.
Dr Allama Iqbal said: “If the Jews had a right to the soil of Palestine, why can’t the Arabs lay claim to Spain? No, British Imperialism has other aims. It’s no tale of citron, honey or dates.”
The prime minister had said that accepting the state of Israel is equivalent to give up Pakistan’s stance on Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). “The case of Palestinians is similar to people of Kashmir and their [Palestinians] rights have been snatched and they have been suffering Israeli atrocities.”
Last week, Israel and the UAE had reached a historic deal that would lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that US President Donald Trump helped broker.
Under the agreement, Israel has agreed to suspend applying sovereignty to areas of the West Bank that it has been discussing annexing, senior White House officials told Reuters.
“If we recognise Israel and ignore [the] tyranny faced by Palestinians, we will have to give up the cause of Kashmir as well, and this we cannot do.”
In the context of the United Arab Emirates, which has recently established ties with Israel, the prime minister said every state had its own foreign policy.
In a statement issued today, the Palestine embassy noted that the Pakistani government had always supported their cause. “The embassy heartily appreciates the stance of [PM Imran] when answering to a question about Israel.”
It is only because of the love of Pakistanis towards Palestine that Israeli and Pakistani relations have never been established, it added.
“The embassy thanks the prime minister for such a strong response and also appreciates every individual of Pakistan, including political parties, media, and civil society, who is observing solidarity with Palestine in any possible way.
“We are hopeful that this support will be with us until we get an independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem Al-Quds as it’s capital,” the statement concluded.
