ISLAMABAD
\nThe Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) organized a public talk under its Distinguished Lecture series, titled, \u2018Palestine at a Crossroads: The Future of the Palestinian Cause under the Board of Peace.\u2019
\nThe Chief Guest at the event was Mr. Mohammad Makram Omar Moh\u2019d Balawi, Secretary General of the League of Parliamentarians for Al Quds (LP4Q).
\nSenator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, President, Pakistan Africa Institute for Development and Research (PAIDAR), was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr. Amina Khan, Director CAMEA and Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman, BOG, ISSI also spoke on the occasion.
\nDr. Amina Khan, in her welcome remarks said, that despite global outrage and mounting evidence, Israel remains actively engaged in the systematic genocide of the Palestinian people, marked by mass civilian killings, destruction of entire communities, and the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in Gaza and the other occupied territories.
\nAny credible pathway forward, including initiatives such as the Board of Peace, must be anchored in justice, accountability, and the realisation of Palestinian self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions and international law.
\nMr. Makram Balawi, while expressing his views said that Pakistan\u2019s acknowledged stance on Palestine is historically defined. Palestinians are going through a very sensitive phase while President Trump is defining a new world order.
\nOne of the reasons for this untenable situation is the inaction by the UN. Meanwhile world is repeating the Israeli narrative about Palestine. He further pointed out that the Israeli settler colonialism is evident in occupied Palestine. In his opinion, the Trump era is one of its kind as he views international politics like a kind of a deal. There is no focus on finding a political solution for the Palestinian people and this is the main challenge.
\nThe Europeans are now talking about a two-state solution but not doing anything substantive about it. Israel has always been ignoring the two-state solution and there is also talk about recognizing Jerusalem as the new capital of Israel.
\nHowever, Israeli atrocities have led to changing perceptions and as a result we witnessed large demonstration in the big cities in the West.
\nHe further emphasized that as Palestinians, we are happy that Muslim counties are involved in the Board of Peace, but it is not a good solution.
\nThe choice is very challenging; however, Palestinians are satisfied that they have Muslim countries in the board of peace as a balancing factor. The Board of Peace is a project of Trump and this is likely to collapse sooner. Israelis are also undermining Trumps plan and are pushing Palestinians to retaliate. He concluded that Israel wants to create an environment where Palestinians find it difficult to survive.
\nSenator Mushahid Hussain stated that the discourse on Palestine has changed with the emergence of three key realities: growing awareness in Western countries of Israeli brutality, increasing perception within the Arab and Muslim world of Israel as a major threat, and the rise of a coordinated Indo-Israel nexus driven by extremist ideologies of Hindutva and Zionism respectively, linking the issues of Kashmir and Palestine.
\nHe emphasized Pakistan\u2019s historic and unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, recalling that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah\u2019s first formal diplomatic communication with U.S. President Harry Truman was on Palestine. He reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to using international peace platforms to help resolve this longstanding issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI) organized a public talk under its Distinguished Lecture series, titled, \u2018Palestine at a Crossroads: The Future of the Palestinian Cause under the Board of Peace.\u2019 The Chief Guest at the event was Mr. Mohammad Makram Omar Moh\u2019d Balawi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-529936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n