The recent asymmetrical ‘war’ in Gaza touched emotional and spiritual chords in Pakistan, for obvious reasons. There was an outpouring of sympathy for the hapless but brave people of Gaza. 

Pakistan’s government and opposition parties were all on one page in vociferously condemning the senseless carnage. There were public demonstrations all over Pakistan where you could see countless Palestinian flags. One reason for this extraordinary outrage was the similarity of human rights violations in Palestine and Kashmir and the UN’s forgotten resolutions in both cases. 

Pakistan took up the Palestinian case in international forums with alacrity. When the war raged and the UN Security Council could not even agree on a cease-fire resolution, Pakistan intensified contacts with friendly countries and advocated through alternative channels. The Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) called a virtual emergency session at foreign ministers level on the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Arab League and OIC jointly demanded that UN General Assembly session be convened to discuss the Palestinian situation. 

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi remained in close contact with the foreign ministers of Palestine, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan personally spoke to many heads of state and governments. He exchanged views on garnering international support for the Palestine cause. Meanwhile, his cabinet members and officials were planning humanitarian assistance for Gaza, where a human tragedy was in the making. A prominent Pakistani NGO announced it would send a sizeable quantity of medicine via Cairo. It later transpired that reaching Gaza was not going to be so easy. 

Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif went to the special session of the parliament called to discuss the Gaza crisis, wearing a Palestinian scarf. 

Stating that Israel enjoys preponderant influence in the western media because of its affluence cannot be dubbed anti-semitic, and this episode amply demonstrates the minister’s point. It shows just how well entrenched Israel is in most western media. 

Javed Hafeez

The two houses of Pakistani parliament passed separate and forceful resolutions condemning Israeli atrocities and terming them war crimes. These resolutions reaffirmed Pakistan’s firm support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle. The upper house resolution said: “The Senate of Pakistan is clear that Palestine is facing nothing less than genocide, massacre and ethnic cleansing. Israel is an apartheid state and guilty of war crimes and settler colonialism.” It also called for an end to the blockade of Gaza.

In his speech before the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Qureshi graphically described the death and destruction in Gaza. He said the Geneva Convention on Human Rights be invoked and Israel held accountable for its atrocities. He regretted that the UN Security Council had failed in its duty of safeguarding peace and security. The Foreign Minister proposed that an International Protection Force be stationed in Gaza. And if that was not possible, a Coalition of the Willing could be formed to provide civilian personnel for organized distribution of humanitarian assistance. He condemned Israeli attacks on media houses with a view to silencing them. 

While in New York, Foreign Minister Qureshi was interviewed by a well-known TV channel about the Gaza situation. Among other things, he alluded to Israeli influence in the western media. Asked to explain the reason behind this influence, the minister said: because they have ‘deep pockets.’ The TV anchor interpreted these remarks as anti-semitic. The minister insisted his remarks were not against a race, but a country. However, the anchor stuck to her value judgment. 

Stating that Israel enjoys preponderant influence in the western media because of its affluence cannot be dubbed anti-semitic, and this episode amply demonstrates the minister’s point. It shows just how well entrenched Israel is in most western media. 

Last week, UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir was in Islamabad at the invitation of the foreign minister. It was under his stewardship that the General Assembly passed an important resolution about Gaza. The Assembly more than made up for the indecisive Security Council which could not pull its act to gather because of reasons well known. More than 100 member countries spoke for peace in Gaza. There is growing international opinion that Israel must not be allowed to attack the Palestinian people with impunity. This was the fourth time that Israel has attacked Gaza since 2008. 

“Enough,” is what Foreign Minister Qureshi told the General Assembly. 

 The UNGA also played an important role in bringing about the cease-fire with the help of countries like Egypt and Qatar-- and Pakistan has once again displayed its confidence in multilateral diplomacy through active participation in OIC and UN meetings.

*Javed Hafeez is a former Pakistani diplomat with much experience of the Middle East. He writes weekly columns in Pakistani and Gulf newspapers and appears regularly on satellite TV channels as a defense and political analyst.

Twitter: @hafiz_javed