Desk Report:
A record number of diplomats walked out of the UN General Assembly on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the podium to address the nation. They returned to hear sharp criticism from leaders from countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh over the Gaza massacre.
The focus of the session was on the recognition of a Palestinian state. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif made it clear that the international community must recognize a Palestinian state “on the pre-1967 borders, with al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital.”
These borders refer to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Under UN Security Council Resolution 446, Israeli settlements in those areas are illegal.
Shahbaz Sharif did not only talk about making East Jerusalem the capital, he said that the entire Al-Quds, that is, the entire Jerusalem, should be the capital of the Palestinian state. A large part of the international community and the US administrations before 2017 only talked about East Jerusalem. Since 2019, the US has been recognizing all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The Pakistani Prime Minister’s statement is therefore particularly eye-catching. Because, none of the Western countries that have recently recognized Palestine as a state have said where the Palestinian state will be established. Especially when Netanyahu is openly advancing his ‘Greater Israel’ plan.
Shahbaz Sharif said, ‘Palestine can no longer remain in the shackles of Israel. They must be freed. This long injustice is a terrible failure of our collective morality. For almost 80 years, the Palestinians have been enduring the brutal occupation of Israel. New atrocities are increasing every day. Illegal settlers are killing indiscriminately. No one can hold them accountable.’
He also said, ‘The terror that Israel has unleashed on women and children in Gaza is unparalleled in history. History will remember the shameful campaign that the Israeli leadership has launched against innocent Palestinians to fulfill its dirty interests as its darkest chapter.’
In addition, Shahbaz Sharif is the first world leader to mention the name of six-year-old Hind Rajab. She was killed in an Israeli attack while traveling with her family in Gaza. Her phone call before her death changed the international outlook against Israel.
Sharif said, ‘Can you imagine that little girl…as if she were our daughter? Not a little humanity could be shown to save her life! My pain, the pain of the entire Muslim Ummah—we have failed to save Hind Rajab.’
On the other hand, Bangladesh’s chief advisor Muhammad Yunus told the United Nations on Friday, ‘Extreme nationalism, politics capitalizing on the misery of others, and indifference to human suffering—all these are destroying the achievements of our long struggle.’ Without directly naming Israel, he referred to the massacre in Gaza, saying, ‘Neither future generations nor history will forgive us.’
Dr. Yunus said, ‘I usually do not believe in intimidating people into doing anything. But today I have to break that habit. Because we are facing a truly horrific situation. Children are dying of hunger. Ordinary people are being killed indiscriminately. Entire neighborhoods, even hospitals and schools, are being wiped off the map.’
He called for the formation of a Palestinian state, saying, ‘Only by respecting the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and allowing Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace, will justice be established.’
