"International liar" Najib told to declare stand on two-state solution "if you dare"

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, has challenged Prime Minister Najib Razak to state clearly "once and for all" if his government supports a two-state solution for the long-standing Palestinian-Israel conflict.

"We demand that Najib states his own position and that of his government clearly to all Malaysians and the rest of the world - does his Umno-BN administration support a two-state solution or not? If a two-state solution is the position of his government, then why is he criticizing Anwar for his comments - is he not being two-faced?" PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle in an email reply on Tuesday.

"We have to be very careful with Najib. This is an international issue is watched very closely by world powers. Unlike Anwar who is respected for his consistency, Najib says one thing abroad and another at home. We fully expect Najib to ignore our challenge and to keep to a deafening silence but that itself will be enough to show the world his and Umno's duplicity. We also fully expect him to get his aides to call up and assure the US and Israel that what he says to his home audience is not the official stand, but just 'politicking'. But the time has come for the world to stand up to such nonsense and punish first-class international liars such as Najib and his colleague Mahathir Mohamad."

Leveraging on PAS' fundamentalism

In a political move, emboldened by the Islamist PAS party's call to Anwar to clarify his comments on Israel, Najib rushed to declared his backing for Palestine, hoping that the Muslim community in the country would forget that this has been Anwar's stand for the past few decades.

Najib is hoping to create a media drama over the issue in a bid to whittle down Anwar's credibility with the Malay Muslims  - who form the largest electorate in the country .

Calling Anwar "two-faced", Najib said Malaysia rejects the Opposition Leader’s statement and continues to support the Palestinian cause. But pundits pointed out that Najib had slyly evaded mention of a two-state solution, which is at the heart of the matter.

The two-state solution refers to the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict currently under discussion, which calls for "two states for two peoples." The two-state solution envisages the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.

“Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation know this is not our stand. They know that Malaysia is very supportive of the Palestinian cause,” the mainstream media reported Najib as saying.

Yet backing for the Palestinian state has always been Anwar's pet insistence even when he was the deputy prime minister and the Umno No. 2 back in the 1990s. This support for Palestine is now a cornerstone of his PKR party's foreign policy.

"PKR reiterates that the full sovereignty for an independent Palestinian nation must be immediately established. This stand is and has never been negotiable and remain uncompromisable," said Tian.

Najib and Umno go international with their brand of religious bigotry and racial politicking

The issue came about last month when Anwar was interviewed by the foreign media across the globe after his acquittal from sodomy charges trumped up by the Najib administration. In an interview with the Wall Street journal, this is what Anwar said:

" I support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel," said Mr. Anwar, although he stopped short of saying he would open diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, a step which he said remains contingent on Israel respecting the aspirations of Palestinians.Malaysia has consistently refrained from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, although limited commercial ties exist between private companies in the two countries.

Desperate to chop down to size a resurgent Anwar, Najib and Umno seized on the WSJ comments to insinuate to the Muslims in the country that Anwar held the security and safety of Israel above that of Palestine.

This is not true and Anwar has taken pains to explain it. Sad to say, it has not stopped Najib and Umno from going after him.

"I stressed that the needs and rights of the Palestinian people must be guarded and that includes the right to their own country and to not be victimised. I also stated that if this is met then Israel's rights should also be respected," Anwar said in a statement shortly after the Umno-controlled press hurled a barrage of false accusations against him.

"I am issuing a stern warning to anyone trying to twist my statement just so that they can say that I have betrayed the aspirations of the Palestinian people. PKR's stand is to defend the rights of whoever it is that has been victimised."

PAS is clearly against two-state solution, what about Umno?

However, the Islamist PAS - a member of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition - holds the view that it is wrong for any Muslim to recognize that Israel has any rights. It is categorically against a two-state solution.

To PAS, Israel is an illegal state and its ulamak or council of clerics has demanded that Anwar retract his remarks or sue the Wall Street Journal for misquoting him.

"As friends, it is our duty to correct each other, and if see something not right with our friends, then we should tell them so and vice versa. This what Islam teaches us. So I have done my part as a friend and as PAS spiritual leader in asking him to retract his statement on Israel," PAS Spiritual Leader Nik Aziz said.

However, while Anwar is due to meet the 79-year-old PAS leader soon, the 3 parties within the Pakatan Rakyat - PKR, PAS and DAP - are equal partners. They are bound by a common platform that spells out precisely the extent of their commitment on a particular point and issue. Whatever else that is not detailed in their Common Policy Framework, they are not obliged to adhere to and are free to hold their own opinion and stand.

"The recent hoo-ha over the Islamic state and hudud law that BN used to pressure PAS and DAP is a good example. Did PAS bend on their insistence for an Islamic state or did DAP bend on its refusal to ever allow an Islamic state, let alone hudud law exist in Malaysia? So the same applies for the 2-state solution. But to change Umno's existing two-state policy towards Israel and Palestine, Najib does not even need to debate it in Parliament. He would never dare to. So if Najib is not two-faced and playing cheap politics, then Umno-led Malaysian government should immediately retract its support for a  two-state policy," Tian challenged.

"The same goes for Valentine's Day and Najib's Thaipusam visit. Everyone knows PAS wants to ban both because it deems them as against Islam. What about Umno? Why is it so quiet there? Is Najib's voice of moderation for show only and once the international participants at the Global Movement for Moderates go home, he immediately transforms into an extremist of the most dangerous kind - intentionally deceitful and bankrupt of morals."

Malaysia Chronicle