Nice article..I figured I’d share it:
By Wajid Shamsul Hasan
LONDON, November 13: In Pakistan, the late Yasser Arafat will be remembered for the emotional fire that he ignited among the young and the old when he spoke at ZA Bhutto’s historic Islamic Summit in Lahore in 1974.
It was a gathering of giants. Though physically diminutive, Yasser Arafat was as tall as his words. He was described by the international media as the harbinger of Islamic Renaissance.
The Second Islamic Summit gave a new face, added vigor and vitality to the Palestinian cause by acknowledging PLO and Yasser Arafat as the sole representative of the people of Palestine - a singular achievement of Bhutto’s statesmanship and persuasiveness.
Speeches made by great leaders like President Houari Boumedienne of Algeria, President Gaddafi of Libya, President Hafiz ul Asad of Syria, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Arafat provided a new direction in self-assertion to the Islamic world.
However, it was Prime Minister ZA Bhutto who turned out to be the brightest star of the show. It was a moment of sheer ecstasy when in his closing remarks at the successful culmination of the summit, gesturing towards Yasser Arafat, he declared, amidst thunderous applause: Inshallah, we’ll enter Jerusalem as brothers-in-arms!"
He promised that Pakistan would stand shoulder to shoulder to seek return of Qabla Awal and that Pakistani soldiers would march hand in hand with their Arab brothers into Jerusalem. The Arab leadership knew that Bhutto had meant each word that he had spoken.
In the 1973 Arab-Israel conflict, ZAB had left no stone unturned to help Syria and other Arab states of the region. It were Pakistani pilots who had secured Arab skies wherever required during the war – an act that is still held in gratitude by the people in Syria and its neighbors.
They had all fervently appealed to President Zia to spare Bhutto’s life but he did not listen to them. It earned Zia their hate as the killer of Bhutto which was amply manifested when none of the prominent Islamic leaders turned up in Islamabad to attend Zia’s funeral in August 1988.
It was Bhutto’s unstinted support to Yasser Arafat and to his cause that enabled Pakistan to heal the wounds that Brigadier Ziaul Haq (later President and Chief of Army Staff) inflicted in 1970 in Amman, acting beyond the call of his duty during the “Black September” operation by the Jordanian army in which PLO chief was almost killed. Bhutto had restored confidence in Pakistan by opening up Pakistan military institutions for the training of his men and providing them with material help as well.
And when Zia had incarcerated Yasser’s “dearest brother Ali Bhutto”, the PLO chief went to the extent of seeking his freedom through means other than normal as well.
President Arafat’s love for the people of Pakistan had not diminished even during General Ziaul Haq’s long tenure but his visits to Islamabad had almost stopped. His support to Zia government was reduced to mere contempt, disgust and disinterest. Once an avid supporter of Pakistan and whatever it did, during Zia’s haul President Arafat had developed deeper friendship and understanding with India even on the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan got back into President Arafat’s affectionate fold once “his daughter” Benazir Bhutto returned to power by popular vote as the vindication of her father. He visited Pakistan quite a few times and was always at hand to support her. On both the occasions as Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto also lent all out assistance to the legendary leader.
It was during her second tenure that I had the honor and pleasure of playing host as High Commissioner of Pakistan to President Arafat at a largely attended reception at Hotel Carlton Tower in London in June 1996 when he was here on his first ever official visit as the President of the Palestinian State Authority.
I came to know of President Arafat’s visit through the media. I thought that a well-attended reception would be in order for a such time tested friend of Pakistan, its people and of Bhuttos and who was one of the living icons among great leaders of post-World War II period.
President Arafat opted for Pakistan High Commissioner’s reception rather than dozen others from the top Arab missions. He arrived right on time. After hand shakes it was time for speeches. I had been briefed by my Foreign Office about what they described as President Arafat’s change of stance on Kashmir, tilting towards India.
I was advised to cleverly avoid the issue altogether to save a possible embarrassment. I thought otherwise. I took pains to carefully pick my words. While mentioning in detail about his struggle for Palestine and the international community’s failure to do justice to the great cause I referred to our own vital problem that had led to three wars: “Kashmir - a legacy of the British partition plan for the subcontinent continues to be the core issue between India and Pakistan. Like the valiant Palestinian people, the dauntless spirit of the Kashmiri masses remains committed to the right of self-determination. but that right. as pledged to them by the United Nations and India’s first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, remains an elusive dream”.
I thought that Arafat might ignore my reference to Kashmir in his response. However, a pleasant surprise and a diplomatic triumph were in store for me. Arafat no doubt spoke quite a bit and rightly so on Palestine and reasserted his dream of an independent state and to be in Jerusalem. “We will continue together, step by step, towards Al Quds al Sharief,” he said, “towards the Holy Jerusalem, capital of the independent Palestinian State, where we will soon pray.”
He acknowledged that the peace process was passing through a “very critical period” and hoped that it would continue and the Israeli government would honor the relevant agreements.
Indeed, Bhutto factor did work. President Arafat wished for the continuation of efforts for the resolution of the Kashmir issue in the spirit of the UN resolutions that had accorded to the people of Kashmir an inalienable right to self-determination for the “sake of Kashmir, Pakistan and India". Then he fondly mentioned of his close association with ZA Bhutto. He revealed that he had himself coordinated talks between “my brother Bhutto” and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India, on Kashmir on the basis of UN resolutions.
After the speeches, while the other guests shifted to the food area, we moved to a separate room where I provided an opportunity to the leading Kashmiri leaders to exchange views with him. Later I had one-to-one discussion with one of the greatest freedom fighters in modern history. I became privy to the disappointments that he has had with some of the Muslim leaders.
Arafat asked me to convey to “his daughter” Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to defy like her father pressure on her by the United States for Pakistan’s recognition of Israel. I feigned ignorance about the pressure that he talked about although I have known about various attempts made by both internal and external forces to rope in Islamabad towards recognizing Israel.
“If Pakistan recognizes Israel at this stage it will be a fatal blow to our cause". I could see through his eyes the pain he must have suffered due to lack of support from many OIC members.
I re-assured the great man that Pakistan under Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto would not betray him or the brave people of Palestine. In that reiteration I had just conveyed to him Ms Bhutto’s avowed stand. Not very long ago former foreign minister Shimon Peres, sharing a common platform at an international forum, invited her to visit Israel. Her reply was retrospectively self-explanatory: "I will have to consult with President Yasser Arafat,” she said.
When I look back at President Arafat’s long but dauntless struggle, I have to agree with the view of his eminent contemporary Uri Avnery, the Israeli peace activist, that the "stature of a leader is not simply determined by the size of his achievements, but also by the size of the obstacles he had to overcome.
In this respect, Arafat had no match in the world: no leader of our generation was called upon to face such cruel tests and to cope with such adversities as he." Indeed.
The writer was Pakistan High Commissioner in UK during Benazir Bhutto’s second tenure as Prime Minister
