So what is our foreign policy?

Israel did not create itself. Israel was created by the colonial powers that also engineered the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. And the Sykes–Picot Agreement plus the Balfour Declaration were what made Israel possible. And these countries not only created Israel but they propped it up as well and are still doing so. So why are we still friends with them when they are the culprits behind the problem we are facing called Israel?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

'Did PM know US consultants are Israel supporters?'

(Malaysiakini) - Is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration aware that the US consultants it hired to attack political rival Anwar Ibrahim are ardent supporters of the Israeli regime, asks PKR.

PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Najib must answer many questions pertaining to the engagement of former United States president George W Bush’s speechwriter Joshua Trevino and other American bloggers, through Apco Worldwide and FBC Media, at the expense of taxpayers.

FBC Media and Apco are agencies hired by the Malaysian government to spruce up its image internationally.

“Is the government aware that many of the consultants hired are staunch and avid supporters of Israel, to the detriment of the Palestinians?” were among the questions Nik Nazmi posed in a statement today.

The same right-wing writers hired by the BN-led government, said Nik Nazmi, are also anti-Islam and have been criticising the Muslim Brotherhood and Muslims in the US.

He also wants the PM to explain why and how much more of the rakyat’s money has been spent for propaganda, who else have been hired and who did the recruiting and coordination of the campaign, which are mainly slander attacks against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

He claimed that Trevino was behind the site Malaysiamatters.com, which carried articles aimed at discrediting Anwar to international audiences.

Pakatan had intended to ask the question in Parliament, said the PKR leader, though as it was clear that there will be no Parliament sitting convened, he said the onus is on Najib.

“We hope the PM will answer,” said Nik Nazmi during a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

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Some background to the Israel issue

On 16th May 1916, Britain and France concluded the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which proposed to divide the Middle East between them into spheres of influence, with "Palestine" as an international enclave.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement did not call for Arab sovereignty, but for the "suzerainty of an Arab chief" and "an international administration, the form of which is to be decided upon after consultation with Russia, and subsequently in consultation with the other allies, and the representatives of the Sherif of Mecca." Under the terms of that agreement, the Zionist Organisation needed to secure an agreement along the lines of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement with the Sherif of Mecca.

On 2nd November 1917, the Balfour Declaration, a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild, made public the British support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration led the League of Nations to entrust the United Kingdom with the Palestine Mandate in 1922.

In that letter, Balfour promised British support for the Zionist programme of establishing a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. This pledge of support was made without consulting the indigenous Christian and Muslim inhabitants of Palestine, the Palestinian people. And it was made before British troops had even conquered the land.

Balfour, on behalf of Britain, promised Palestine – over which Britain had no legal right – to a people who did not even live there (of the very small community of Palestinian Jews in Palestine in 1917, very few were Zionists). And he did so with the worst of intentions: to discourage Jewish immigration to Britain. Lord Montagu, the only Jewish member of the Cabinet, opposed the declaration.

And yet, just two years earlier, Britain had committed herself to assisting the Arab nations in achieving their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Arab fighters all over the region, including thousands of Palestinians, fought for their freedom, allowing Britain to establish her mandate in Palestine.

From that moment, Palestine became the victim of colonial conspiracies. The Balfour Declaration helped to encourage Zionist immigration into Palestine and away from America and Western Europe.

Simultaneously, Britain suppressed Palestinian nationalism, which was exemplified by its crushing of the Arab revolt of 1936-1939 and the denial of the right of the Palestinian people to express their will through their own representation. In fact, Britain suppressed Palestinian political representation through a policy of systematic denial of Palestinian political rights.

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Okay, from the Malaysiakini report above, it appears like Pakatan Rakyat’s -- or at least PKR’s -- foreign policy is that anyone who is pro-Israel or is opposed to the ‘Palestinian cause’ must be treated as an enemy of Malaysia. What happens if I were to publicly express an anti-Hamas or a pro-Israel stance? Would that also make me an enemy of the country?

Israel is a 100-year old story. Sabah became part of Malaysia in 1963. So it is a 50-year old story. If the Muslims from the Philippines do not have any legal right in claiming Sabah as their territory because it is an ‘old story’, what legal right do Muslims from the Middle East have in claiming Israel (or the occupied lands) as their territory when it is an even older story? (And remember, the British created Sabah just like they did Israel).

Malaysia supports the Muslim claim over Israel because Malaysia is a Muslim country and Muslims are ‘officially’ anti-Jews. Hence we take the Muslim side against the Jews. Okay, say Dr Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan’s ‘Christian’ STAR were to kick out the ‘Muslim’ Umno government in the coming general election, would we now take the side of the Muslims from the Philippines regarding their claim over Sabah?

For the sake of Islam we take the Muslim side against the Jews. For the sake of Islam will we also take the Muslim side (although from the Philippines) against the Christians (although from Malaysia)? In the Middle East we are ‘guided’ by religion. Will we also be guided by religion if the Umno ‘Muslim’ government of Sabah gets kicked out?

We, especially the opposition, must be very careful when we express our foreign policy. Just because some Americans happen to be Jews (and Jews who support Israel) we cannot use that as the justification to declare them the enemy of Malaysia. That can also be interpreted as taking a pro-Hamas stance. And that would mean we do not regard Hamas as a terrorist group even though women and children are blown up with bombs.

We now call the Muslim ‘intruders’ from the Philippines terrorists and criminals. This is what Malaysia and the Philippines announced today. Are those Muslims who are fighting the Palestinian cause also terrorists and criminals? In that case what business does the government and opposition have in dealing with them? Aren’t we dealing with terrorists and criminals?

It is not wrong, of course, in taking a stand, even in an issue involving foreign policy. But we need to be clear and consistent in the reasons why we take such a stand. And those justifications must apply in all cases, not apply in one case but not in another.

If it is wrong for the Malaysian government to deal with Jews from America known to be pro-Israel, then it is also wrong to deal with others who are pro-Israel as well.

Israel did not create itself. Israel was created by the colonial powers that also engineered the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. And the Sykes–Picot Agreement plus the Balfour Declaration were what made Israel possible. And these countries not only created Israel but they propped it up as well and are still doing so. So why are we still friends with them when they are the culprits behind the problem we are facing called Israel?

It is strange how we choose our friends and enemies. We apply certain reasons as to why someone is our enemy and then sidestep that same reason in those we want as our friends.

So let me get this straight. Anyone who is pro-Israel is our enemy, even those American citizens -- some who happen to be Jews. I suppose then almost every country in Europe must now become our enemy and Malaysians should be asked to leave the UK, France, etc., immediately.