Here is a view on Pak Israel dialogue from a Palestinian… I sympathize, but shouldnt he be reminded of how little his govt has supported Pakistan on Kashmir..
Still its enough for me to reiterate my express disapproval of any recognition of Israel till Palestinian issue is resolved…
Pakistan & Israel: a Palestinian view
By Ghada Karmi
As I sit writing this, Israeli planes are bombing Gaza from north to south. On September 23, 19 Palestinians died, presumed to have been killed by a rogue missile that exploded in a Palestinian vehicle during a Hamas ‘freedom’ rally in Jabaliyya refugee camp.
Whatever the truth, no sooner had this tragedy occurred than Israeli fighter planes went into action over Gaza, in alleged retaliation for five rockets fired from there at Israel.
Over the next two days, Israel killed half a dozen more Palestinians and destroyed buildings and houses, including a school in Gaza city run by Hamas. On Sept 25, Israeli forces arrested 207 Palestinians in a wide sweep of the West Bank. All through that night, Israeli F16s staged mock air raids over Gaza, terrifying an already terrified population.
And I am wondering, is it this that Pakistan wants to recognize? This ruthless state, which shows no mercy or compassion for a helpless occupied people? Whose evacuation of Gaza has brought no relief from its attacks? And which, moreover, still occupies the West Bank and Jerusalem as well?
Following Mr Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri’s meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in Istanbul on September 1, Palestinians were outraged. There was condemnation and criticism of the Pakistani move from officials and non-officials alike. Hamas condemned it, Islamic Jihad staged demonstrations against it, and Palestinian sources said they had not been informed about the meeting in advance.
The picture is unclear: some Palestinians reports say that President Pervez Musharraf did indeed inform Mr Mahmoud Abbas two days before and that the Palestinian leader agreed, provided that the meeting would stress Palestine’s rights. Other reports said that it was Mr Abbas who had asked President Musharraf to set up the contact with Israel. The Palestinian street, however, was not impressed, no matter how the meeting came about.
President Musharraf’s attendance at the American Jewish Congress’s conference in New York earlier this month did nothing to cool people’s tempers here. Even worse, Pakistan’s foreign minister admitted that there had been secret contacts between his country and the Jewish state for over 10 years. In the wake of this furore, the Pakistani president explained that he had sought the agreement of Saudi Arabia, as well as the Palestinians ahead of the meeting, and that four Islamic countries already had diplomatic relations with Israel. He refuted allegations that the foreign ministers’ meeting was a prelude to full recognition or normalization with the Jewish state.
But that, of course, is what Palestinians suspect will happen, and, if I remember the mood in Pakistan when I last visited there in 2003, must be suspicion too. There were at the time strong rumours that President Musharraf was considering recognition of Israel. One comment made to me at the time is unforgettable: “Let one Israeli set foot in here and he will not live to return!” Though this was said in passion, I have no doubt it represented a widely shared view. I wondered then as I do now, how a Pakistani recognition of Israel would play in such a country.
Each time that I have visited Pakistan, I have been struck by people’s devotion and commitment to the Palestinian cause, how they identify with Palestinian suffering and how steadfastly they have stood by the Palestinians through thick and thin. In all my encounters with ordinary people, there was no mistaking the genuineness of their passion and anger over what Israel has done to Palestine and to Jerusalem.
How can the leadership of such a country hope to pass this diplomatic manoeuvre off without incurring its population’s wrath? As the Arab press pointed out in their highly critical commentary following the foreign ministers’ meeting in Turkey, Pakistan runs the risk of internal strife as a result; and what Arabs need most of all is a stable ally, not one torn apart by conflict.
Other Muslim states are jumping on the bandwagon. Indonesia’s foreign minister met with Shalom recently and Indonesia’s president is rumoured to be intending to do the same. Israel made contact with representatives from Qatar, Tunisia and Morocco to add to the list of Arab states already with Israeli diplomatic ties. For Pakistan to join this list is hardly setting a precedent. So why the Palestinian anger?
The reason is that Pakistanis have a special place in the hearts of all Palestinians, precisely because of their sincerity, devotion and fellow feeling. They are in a unique category amongst other Muslim peoples, seen as ‘semi-Arab’, closer in fact than many ‘full’ Arabs. No one forgets Pakistan’s generosity to Palestinians in their worst times, the number of students educated in Pakistan’s universities, the warm welcome and support for a cause which won them no friends in the West.
By contrast, an anguished letter published in The Jerusalem Post on September 5, by a group of Indian expatriates from the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, begs Israelis not to ‘betray’ Indians by forging relations with Pakistan. The letter reminds Israelis of their ‘shared values’ with Indians and their partnership in the war against ‘Islamic terrorism’. For Arabs, such a letter emanating from Pakistanis would be utterly unthinkable. And no one at this stage thinks otherwise.
But how long will it be before the slippery road to normalization with Israel is taken? How long will Pakistan be able to hold off America’s pressure and blandishments? Palestinians pray that, for Pakistan of all places, such a day will never come.
Dr Ghada Karmi is a Palestinian academic and writer currently based in Ramallah.