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By Julmunir I. Jannaral, Correspondent
COTABATO CITY: A Muslim civil
society group just right after the Friday congregational prayer in
Marawi City showed its solidarity with their Muslim brothers by
condemning the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people and urged
the Arab world through their different embassies and consulates in
Manila to unite against the reported Israeli aggression.
Pendatun Disimban, national
president of the Assalam Bangsamoro People’s Association
(ABPA) called up The Manila Times Friday and said that he is now in
Marawi City to drum up support from the religious sectors and would
be back in Manila in a week where the ABPA will spearhead mass
actions.
In a statement issued Friday, the
ABPA said: “We strongly condemn the Israeli barbaric attacks on
the Gaza Strip. We also urge the Muslim world particularly Arab
countries belonging to the 57 member-nations of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference to unite and have a unified act against the
Israel government; and for the latter to end once and for all their
occupation of the Palestinian lands.”
It can be recalled that Israeli
deputy armed forces deputy chief of staff Brigadier General Dan
Harel was quoted by the YNet News website that “we are hitting not
only terrorists and launchers but also the whole Hamas government
and all its wings.”
In reaction to this statement,
Disimban said, the members of the Israeli armed forces are the real
terrorists since they bombarded and killed even innocent civilians
that included women and children.
Disimban also said that through
the UN representatives based in Manila, his group is also asking the
world organization to sanction the Israeli government for not
heeding the call of the UN for an immediate ceasefire.
This is notwithstanding the call
of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that the Israeli attack on the
Palestinian people is “unacceptable.” Ban was also quoted saying
he was “deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in
and around Gaza.”
In view of this, The Manila Times
also sought the comment of a Muslim leader based in Manila who is a
member of a UN body regarding the Israeli campaign against the
Palestinians.
Prof. Taha Basman, commissioner
of the United Nations Educational. Scientific and Cultural
Organization (Unesco) begged off not to issue any statement. “I
cannot give any comment because UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has
already issued a statement and we cannot add anymore in Unesco.”
However, Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st,
the 35th de jure reigning ruler of the Sultanate of Sulu and North
Borneo, said that he was deeply saddened by what is happening now to
the Palestinian people. Kiram said just like the Bangsamoro people,
peace has been very elusive to the Palestinians.
“All I can do now is to pray to
the almighty Allah that there will be a lasting peace in the
Palestinian soil and in the same manner in our very own Bangsamoro
homeland.”
As this developed, ABPA national
president said that although they have launched already mass action
in some provinces, he told the authorities especially in Manila not
to be alarmed since their planned mass actions will be a peaceful
one not unless they are provoked.
He said simultaneous indignation
rallies were already held yesterday after the Friday prayer in
Marawi City and also at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika Village, Taguig
City.
Disimban warned that a much
bigger rally would be staged at the Embassy of Israel in Makati City
by next week to protest the Israeli aggression against Palestinians,
which according to wire reports have killed at least 360
Palestinians and wounded more than 1,690 persons.
The latest casualty according to
the Al Jazeera newscast was Nizar Rayan, a Palestinian leader member
of the Hamas’ highest echelon who was killed after an Israeli
warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on his home on Thursday,
instantly killing him and 18 others.
According to Al Jazeera, the
49-year-old Rayan was a professor of Islamic law and was known for
participating in clashes with Israeli forces and for sending one of
his sons on a 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israelis.
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