PETALING JAYA: Injustice, violence and oppression have no place in modern civilisation, and the present and future generations must be committed to make the world a better place, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.
She said in the case of Palestine, Malaysians regard its people as one of their own and have provided them continuous support in various forms since independence.
“At times, we can feel helpless when seeing the cruelties inflicted on the Palestinians. This conference serves as a platform for us to come together and discuss as well as formulate a practical and strategic plan.
“It will also help us mobilise support and assistance from people, institutions as well as governments around the world to bring peace and justice to Palestine,” Dr Wan Azizah said at the 3rd Conference League of International Parliamentarian of Al-Quds (LP4Q), here today.
Dr Wan Azizah also pointed out that some of the most vocal critics of Israel, in fact, were Jews themselves.
“This include the scientist Albert Einstein, the academic Noam Chomsky and the writer Alfred Lilienthal. Among the activists in the Women’s Boat for Gaza initiative includes Zohar Regev and Yudit Ilany who are Israelis.
“We can see that the Palestinian issue is not just a Palestinian or Arab cause but has become a cause that is championed and supported by people with conscience,” Dr Wan Azizah added.
The deputy prime minister said as nations moved ahead with this effort to bring justice to Palestine, it was important that the younger generations do not forget the calamities that had befallen the Palestinians.
“A cause can lose its momentum when the younger generation has no understanding of why and how it started.
“Perhaps it is time that we memorialise what happened to the Palestinians by establishing a museum of An Nakba.
Dr Wan Azizah said the museum would make people understand the dark side of human behavior and the importance of not allowing such injustices to repeat itself in the future.
“Besides educating the public about Palestine, it should also educate us about the tragedies during the Bosnian War, the Rwanda genocide, the Sook Ching massacres, the Rabaa massacre and other tragedies from the recent past.
The two-day conference that ended today was organised by LP4Q under the patronage of the Malaysian Parliament with the support of several civil society organisations including the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia (PCOM).
Malaysia was given the privilege to host the conference for the first time after the last two conferences held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2016 and 2018. - Bernama
