PACE commends Tun Mahathir's speech in the Gaza Forum, London 31 March 2009

Assalamuaikum,

PACE proudly commends Tun Mahathir for an enlightening and inspiring address on the Palestinian issue in the Gaza forum held in London of 31st March 2009. We must say that Tun has spoken on our behalf, on behalf of the world community that stands united with the Palestinian people in thier longstanding struggle for freedom. After decades of persecution and systematic dispossesion imposed on the Palestinian people, the world is beginning to listen, when they ought to do so when it all begun 60 years ago. Those 60 years of neglect and indifference is fittingly described by the world renown historian Arnold Toynbee, 'Rigts and wrongs are the same everywhere else as in Palestine, the only difference is the world chose to listen to the pepetrators but turn a deaf ear to the victims.' Now the victims have a voice and is getting louder and it is too deafening for those who pretend not to hear them. Slowly the world has to learn the unpleasant truth and starts to take responsibility and a fair share of the blame of what has befallen the Palestinians.

Tun rightly traced the root of the problem to the days of the mandated Palestine years. Through a piece of paper dubbed the Balfour declaration, the British parliament blantantly disregard the original inhabitants, the majority Arabs and the minority indegenious jews, by allocating the land for immigrant jews, destined to become the Jewish national home. Against every convention of a mandated territory, Palestine was not returned to the rightful owner but rather to alien European jews. Thus when the British left, isreal was born from what Tun described as an act of expropriation par excellence.

It was a sad irony, as Tun pointed out that the British has not taken any cue from the prosecutors of the great Nurenburg trial where the act of waging war has been assigned as the greatest evil. Right after the Nazi war criminals were charged and hanged for their war crime against humanity and mostly towards jews, the British set the stage for waging a war in Palestine that last until this day.

What happened in London in 1917 has gone down in history as the prologue to the dark chapter of the Palestinian history. But like Tun suggested the British people can express their remorse by issuing a declaration of intent to abrogate the wrongs of Balfour declaration, and let's call it in the words of Tun Mahathir 'The London declaration for peace and justice in palestine. It will be difficult for the Arabs and the Jews but God willing we will presevere.

Assoc. Prof Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor
Director
PACE (Palestine Centre of Excellence)