'My commitment to Palestinians'

Statement by PKR de-facto leader and parliamentary Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim

I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, 26th January 2011. Among the questions posed to me was concerning foreign policy and the Palestinian issue.

I was firm in stating that the wishes and rights of the Palestinian people must be protected and that includes the right to form a independent and sovereign state of their own, and not to be continuously oppressed.

I also posited that if these conditions are to be must be fulfilled, then by the same logic, the rights if the Israelis should also be respected. My full response to this matter is reproduced below:

“I support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel,” said Mr. Anwar, although he stopped short of saying he would open diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, a step which he said remains contingent on Israel respecting the aspirations of Palestinians.”

My position is clearly in line with that of the principles of struggle of the People’s Justice Party which values highly the Principle of Universal Justice and strongly defend the rights of the oppressed.

In addition, my view runs concurrent with that of Resolution 1397 of the United Nations Security Council and the Arab Peace Initiative which promotes the Two-State Solution.

What more, the same principle of the Two-State Solution approach had been addressed by the Hon. Foreign Minister at the General Debate Of The 66th Session Of The United Nations Assembly on 27th September 2011 in New York. He mentioned:
“..Malaysia fully supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people for an independent State of Palestine, based on the two-state solution, taking into account the security concerns of both parties.”   (Israel and Palestine)

It is clear from the Foreign Minister’s statement that Malaysia adopted a policy of respecting both the rights of the Palestinians and Israelis to enjoy peace and security. However, this condition shall largely depends on the prerequisite that the rights of the Palestinians are not violated.

Hence, I would like to sternly warn any distractor who wishes to twist and turn my statement and henceforth spread lies that I have turned my back on the aspirations of the Palestinians.

The principle of the People’s Justice Party is very clear in defending whose rights have been denied and oppressed. Our commitment to uphold justice has never faded, in fact it is always renewed and strengthened.