Principled moves from Malaysia

In the midst of the escalating tensions and intense diplomatic flurries surrounding the Middle East in the last few weeks, the Malaysian government has shown a commitment to certain fundamental principles which deserves to be commended.

By making an official visit to Syria at a time when the Israeli and U.S. governments are going all out to isolate and weaken Damascus politically, Prime Minster Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has sent an unambiguous message to Tel Aviv and Washington: He will not kowtow to them and compromise Malaysia’s independent foreign policy. Malaysia will stick to its friends and ensure that truth and justice prevail in the international arena. Abdullah is very much aware of why and how Tel Aviv and Washington are seeking to change the balance of power in the Middle East by targeting independent-minded nation-states such as Syria and Iran and destroying mass movements which embody the popular will such as Hamas and Hezbollah, so that a ‘new’ Middle East dominated by the Tel Aviv-Washington axis would consolidate itself.

Besides, as chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Malaysia has an obligation to check the devious moves that are now being made by the Olmert and Bush administrations, with the connivance of certain Arab and Muslim leaders, to divide and manipulate Arab and Muslim states and communities along Sunni-Shia, Arab-Persian lines. The OIC chair should do its utmost to maintain intra-Arab and intra-Muslim unity at this critical juncture. It would do well to remember that an intra-Muslim conflict in the Middle East in the 1980s, between Iraq and Iran -- a war manufactured by forces within and without the region -- had resulted in a million deaths, the emasculation of two rich oil-based economies, and the weakening of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization of the Islamic Conference OIC, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). No peace-loving human being would want to witness a repeat of such a colossal catastrophe -- which is why any attempt to drive a wedge between Syria or Iran and the rest should be foiled.

The Malaysian government has also displayed a degree of integrity in urging Muslim states to sever diplomatic ties with Israel or to at least recall their ambassadors temporarily in order to protest the Tel Aviv government’s stubborn refusal to stop the construction work at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Beit-ul-Moqaddas). This work, it is alleged, will endanger the foundations of the mosque, which is the third holiest site in the Muslim world. Some demonstration of displeasure on the part of Muslim states would show that “we are serious and do not engage in mere empty talk”, as the Malaysian Minster of Foreign Affairs, Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar, rightly observed.

Syed Hamid’s proposal is significant for two reasons. One, it is a reflection of how the vast majority of Muslims feel about Israel, given its arrogance and insolence evinced through numerous acts of oppression and subjugation over the course of the last 59 years. Two, the proposal has been put forward at a time when the Saudi leadership and certain other governments in the Muslim world are beginning to assert their independence and are trying to play a more proactive role in protecting the interests of the ummah in the Middle East. This is clearly mirrored in the recent Saudi-initiated Mecca Agreement which brought the two feuding Palestinian factions -- Hamas and Fatah -- together.

By Chandra Muzaffar - Tehran Times