Israeli raids on Gaza condemned

BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, MON:

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri today condemned Israel’s air raids on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip over the last three days which has resulted in the deaths of about 300 Palestinians.

He said Israel’s action was tantamount to genocide and should be given serious attention by the international community, particularly the major powers which were strong supporters of Israel.

“The United Nations should adopt a firm stand and restore the peace process by according the rights of the Palestinian people as contained in the commitment of the Annapolis Conference and the road map,” he said, adding that the Israeli offensive was the latest challenge to the United States’ foreign policy under incoming president Barack Obama.

The Annapolis accord is an agreement reached between Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Annapolis, Maryland, in the United States on November 27 last year in an effort to establish peace between Palestine and Israel.

Abdul Rahim said the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people should be restored and the international community should take the matter seriously as the issue of Palestine was an issue of crime against mankind and an act of state terrorism.
In MELAKA, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam called on the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force immediately to the border of Israel and Palestine.

He also urged the United States to act resolutely to stop the Israeli attacks which, he said, had resulted in the loss of many innocent lives.

Mohd Ali, who is also president of the World Assembly of Youth, said the Bush administration could also send a peacekeeping force to the Israel-Palestine border immediately if it advocated peace.

“We hope the flagrant attack could be stopped immediately. The Palestinians have been humiliated enough for a long time,” he said, adding that West Asian countries should strengthen their unity to defend their territories.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) urged Muslims to boycott the products of countries which supported the Israeli attacks to show their anger over the violence.

PPIM project director Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said Muslims respected other religions but would react against victimisation to protect their honour and rights.

“Muslims can act against victimisation through consumerism to teach the big powers a lesson for supporting the cruelty against the Palestinians,” he said in a statement.