12 January 2009
Mr. Ehud Olmert
Prime Minister of Israel
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Please Stop the Bombing and Massacre of Palestinians
We, the undersigned, representing more than 50,000 academics in various institutions of higher education in Malaysia, would like to record our sadness and dissatisfaction in the way the War of Gaza is being conducted. We deplore any loss of human lives whoever it may be, but also find it deplorable that 100 Palestinians have to die for every dead Israeli in this very one-sided ‘war’. No amount of explanations can justify the fact that the Israelis, with their protector, the USA, are killing innocent civilians, including women and children.
We are specifically saddened with the news of the bombing of the Islamic University of Gaza. With the bombing, the already minimal facilities for education of thousands of students in Gaza, has now come to an end. So too the continued strangling of Gaza will end the education of many young Palestinians. This in turn will effect the future development of Palestine and Gaza in particular.
To argue who is right and who is wrong in the war would be a never ending affair. However, we demand that this war be fought with full compliance of the Geneva Conventions. We demand that all civilian and civilian buildings (houses, mosques, hospitals) be protected and not to be targets of your military aggressions. In particular, we demand that you and your government show respect for the sanctity of academic institutions such as universities and schools. History has shown many times that a civilization would start to decline when schools/places of learning are destroyed and books burned.
Thank you for listening.
Prof. Wan Manan Wan Muda,
Chairman, Malaysian Academics Movement (MOVE/GERAK)
wanmanan@kb.usm.my
Faisal Mustaffa,
General Secretary, Private Higher Education Institutes Academic Staff Union (KAPTS) <faisal@bukitbendera.org>
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Aslam Haneef,
President, International Islamic University Malaysia Academic Staff Association (IIUMASA) mdaslam@iiu.edu.my
Abdul Halim B. Abdul Majid
Secretary General, Academic Staf Association of Universiti Utara Malaysia (PERSATU) mailto:ahalim@uum.edu.my
Assoc. Prof. Dr Yahaya Ibrahim
President, Academic Staff Association of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PKAUKM) ya@ukm.my
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Junedah Sanusi
President, University of Malaya Academic Staff Association (PKAUM)
junedah@um.edu.my
Prof Dr. Omar bin Shawkataly
Vice President, Academic and Administrative Staff Association, Universiti Sains Malaysia (PKAP) <omarsa@usm.my>
Dr. Mohd Hasnain Bin Md Hussain,
Acting President, Academic Staff Association, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (PPAU) <hhasnain@frst.unimas.my >
Ab Latiff Ishak
President, Academic Staff Union Universiti Teknologi MARA (MITASA)
<mitasa05@yahoo.com>
cc
Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
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From: Prime Minister's Office
ReplyDeleteSent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 3:17:41 PM
Subject: RE: Please Stop the Bombing and Massacre of Palestinians
We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail regarding the IDF campaign to protect the residents of southern Israel .
For the past eight years, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have lived under the specter of incessant and indiscriminate rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. While people in other countries have carried about their normal routines, sending their children to school and walking their dogs in the park, the people of Sderot and its neighboring communities have been denied such luxuries – for fear of being hit by incoming missiles (http://switch3. castup.net/ cunet/gm. asp?ai=58&ar=panic02-V&ak=null). No sovereign nation should be expected to tolerate the daily targeting of its people, and yet the State of Israel has exercised maximum restraint and worked relentlessly to achieve a peaceful solution with the Palestinians.
Since seizing control of the Gaza Strip by way of a violent coup in June 2007, Hamas – a terrorist organization allied with Iran , Syria , Al Qaida and Hizbullah – has escalated its assault on the State of Israel. Even a truce with Israel was abused by Hamas which persisted in attacking Israeli towns, while also conspiring to upgrade its terrorist capabilities, manufacture and smuggle massive quantities of weapons into Gaza and construct a network of underground tunnels for combat purposes. Now, after Hamas has unilaterally abandoned this ceasefire and expanded the range of its missiles to threaten close to one million Israelis, the State of Israel must act decisively to defend its citizens.
In 2005, the Disengagement plan brought an end to Israel 's presence in the Gaza Strip, with the hope and aspiration that its Palestinian residents would begin to govern themselves and prosper. Israel has no desire to re-establish its hold over Gaza , but has resolved – in self-defense – to gain control over areas from which rockets are being launched on Israeli towns, and to significantly disable the Hamas terrorist infrastructure. Ultimately, Operation Cast Lead aims to produce lasting change in the security predicament affecting residents of Southern Israel, and Israel expects the international community to lend its support in the fight against Hamas terror. Terrorism is terrorism no matter where it occurs.
At the same time, the IDF is taking great pains to direct its activities exclusively against terrorists. Hamas, however, callously places Palestinian civilians in harm’s way, using schools, mosques, other public institutions and even private homes as arsenals and bases of operation – effectively taking the Palestinians of Gaza hostage and using them as human shields. Responsibility for injury to civilians in Gaza rests solely with Hamas. In contrast, the State of Israel is doing its utmost to minimize any harm to the Palestinian civilian populace; hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed passage into Gaza and this assistance will continue. There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The State of Israel seeks peace and will remain steadfast in its pursuit of a two-state solution that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to live together as neighbors in harmony.
Sincerely,
Prime Minister’s Office – E-Correspondence
20 January 2009
ReplyDeleteMr. Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
Peace be Upon You.
1. We, the Malaysian Academic Movement (MOVE), representing more than 50,000 academic staff of universities in Malaysia congratulate you on your historic win and inauguration as President of the USA.
2. Your victory was celebrated by citizens of the world because it spelled hope for many, clear across boundaries of color, country and creed. The world is waiting in anticipation of your presidency because they are resting their hopes on you.
3. In the past month, we have had to stomach more inhumane atrocities—this time in Gaza. This particular incident is quite unique: there was no element of surprise in it; it did not involve the events taking place in prisons; it was the systematic, brutal, annihilation of a defenseless people trapped like animals in a cage. They were picked off at will by the Israeli government using sophisticated weapons.
4. Sadly, the majority of the victims have been women and children. The United Nations impotence in the face of Israel has always been the result of America’s posturing.
5. Mr. President, your inauguration signals a possible ‘renewing of America’. We ask that in your capacity as President, you rein in Israel and bring them to the fold of sanity. There can be no justification in perpetrating this crime on women and children.
6. The blood of these innocent lives are on the hands of the United States too since the carnage is conducted with American weapons.
7. We appeal to you as the new President, to stop this madness, and in doing so, you will go down in history, as the President who halted the advancement of lunacy with reason, courage and heart.
8. If a just outcome in-line with numerous UN resolutions constantly vetoed in the past by the US does not prevail, we are afraid that the US will never be trusted and that your term in office would have been an even more disappointing one since so much hope is placed on you.
Thank you for your attention. We hope to hear a positive response to our request in the news.
Prof. Wan Manan Wan Muda,
Chairman, Malaysian Academics Movement (MOVE/GERAK)
Faisal Mustaffa,
General Secretary, Private Higher Education Institutes Academic Staff Union (KAPTS)
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Aslam Haneef,
President, International Islamic University Malaysia Academic Staff Association (IIUMASA)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Junedah Sanusi
President, University of Malaya Academic Staff Association (PKAUM)
Prof Dr. Omar bin Shawkataly
Vice President, Academic and Administrative Staff Association, Universiti Sains Malaysia (PKAP)
Prof. Madya Dr. Raja Roslan Raja Abd. Rahman (Presiden)
President, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Academic Staff Association (UTeMASA)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim B. Abdul Majid
Secretary General, Academic Staf Association of Universiti Utara Malaysia (PERSATU)
Ab Latiff Ishak
President, Academic Staff Union Universiti Teknologi MARA (MITASA)
cc
Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
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