PUTRAJAYA: Asean needs to be more vocal and united on the issue of Palestine, said former foreign minister Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim.

Rais, who is the adviser to the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), said as a regional body, Asean must put forward a message to the United Nations so that it would represent a bigger volume than merely the voice of Malaysia or Indonesia.

"They must be proactive in determining the international rights and position of the people in Palestine.

"We need a concerted effort. Why is Asean keeping quiet? After all, there is something like the human charter in the constitution of Asean.

"Is not the atrocity in Palestine worse than the atrocity in Burma (Myanmar)? Is it not similar to the killings in Cambodia? Is it not similar to Bosnia? Why is Asean not saying anything collectively?" he said at the Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organisation: Free Palestine Colloquium.

Rais called for other international organisations such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to step up and help in the effort.

"The OIC cannot just watch, it must step up now to save the community in Palestine. The Non-Aligned Movement has hundreds of member countries. Why not make resolutions and condemn Israel for its attacks?"

Present were former UN assistant secretary-general Dr Hans-Christof von Sponeck, Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss from Neturei Karta, an international organisation of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Maung Zarni and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Malaysia chairman Professor Dr Mohd Nazari Ismail.

Von Sponeck said despite the UN Security Council exercising its right to draft resolutions aimed at ending Israeli brutality, they are failing to do justice to their responsibility to implement what has been proposed.

"There is no denying that the geopolitical dynamics are presently significantly changing the global order that should be for us, for you and us, and for other civil society organisations.

"I think it's a profound opportunity to use the Israeli crimes in Gaza as an example of the urgency of a debate on human responsibility.

"Yes, individual members of the Security Council, permanent members included, have the right to disagree, but they also have the concurrent responsibility to adhere to the moral principles of the UN charter to help prevent slaughter."

On whether it is possible for a two-state solution concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said it was better to let the two countries decide on their own.

"Leave those parties to solve the problem themselves, to negotiate without involvement or lobbying from outside.

"Look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. What happened there? 

How do you tell nothing happens because it is always the external pressure (that causes the conflicts in those countries)," he said.

PGPF president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his message to the colloquium, said the goal was to reaffirm the commitment to the Palestinian cause and strategise on how to increase efforts.

"First, we must demand and pressure the international community to take responsibility and put a stop to the ongoing genocide. 

"Second, we must urge our governments to condemn and denounce the genocide while supporting boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel and the corporations and entities supporting it. Israel must be held accountable for its evil and barbaric actions."

Dr Mahathir also said the international community must act by sending an international peacekeeping force to Gaza to protect the Palestinians and stop the genocide.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/1080055/rais-why-asean-silent-palestine-issue