An Exclusive interview of H.E. Mr. Nader K Alturk .Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the State of Palestine in Islamabad, Pakistan to learn from his memories about the factual history of Palestine
By: Amjad Mehmood
Photo by : Ramzan Mughal
Palestine, the land of Prophets and Islamic glory is perhaps facing the longest human tragedy of the modern world, where the inhabitants are passing every second of their lives for the dawn of justice and peace. Generally, the Palestine issue is referred to with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 when Zionist stole the land of Palestine and established Israel on it. However, the historical perspective has a different definition of this unresolved human tragedy.
Daily Spokesman has conducted an in-depth interview of a very seasoned and well-versed diplomat, Excellency, Mr. Nader K. Alturk, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the State of Palestine in Islamabad, Pakistan to learn from his memories about the factual history of Palestine problem and the world’s role with it. He started his diplomatic career in 1996 and possesses about 25 years’ experience to service his country. From the year 2009 to 2014, he rendered his services for the Mission of State of Palestine in China and then moved to Pakistan.
Unfolding the history of conflict, the Excellency said that the world knows the history of Palestine conflict from 1948 or 1967 whereas, the Palestine issue started in 1916 when Sykes-Picot agreement was signed by the British and French governments. From the Eastern part of the Arab world, France had control over Syria and Lebanon whereas the British had control over Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine. Until San Remo international conference on 1920 facilitate Sykes-Picot agreement progress on the ground, according to the international conference they had given self-determination rights to all the countries except Palestine. The British government illegally occupied Palestine in April 1920 while they had already decided the mandate of Palestine in 1916. In 1917, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Arthur James Balfour announced the support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. This was also known as ‘Balfour Declaration’ and the text of the declaration was published by the British press in November 1917 and archived in the British Library at London. The British government made this illegal decision without asking the Palestinian people who were the real owners of the land. According to that Palestinians defined Balfour Declaration as: “Who is not own, give the land to whom does not deserve”.
“British government facilitated the Jews to migrate from Europian countries to Palestine”
The unsettling trauma of the Zionist-Palestinian conflict continued till 1947 when the United Nations (UN) passed resolution number 181 (II) and decided the partition plan of Palestine giving 56% of the land to Jewish when 43% of the land was left for the Palestinians. The remaining 1% of Palestine land was spared to be under international authority “UN” which mainly includes the Holy places for Muslims and Christians in al Quds city and Bethlehem including al-Aqsa Masjid. The Excellency explaining to the unjustified land distribution formula by the UN raised a question that 56% of Palestinian land was given to Jews when they were having control over 10-15% of the land with minimum population. This figure increased up to 30% of the total Jews population in Palestine during the British occupation from 1918 to 1948 when Jews were facilitated to migrate from Europe to Palestine. Considering the Palestinians and Jews population ratio, the grant of 46% extra Palestinian land to Jews is yet an unanswered question and seeks justice from the world’s leaders who speak high about peace and justice in the world.
“In the result of 1948 war, 78% of Palestine land occupied by Zionist and 950,000 Palestinians became refugees to different parts of the world”
In 1948, the British government was also supporting the Jews in terms of military training in their camps whereas a Palestinian had no right to have even a bullet in their hands for personal safety from Zionists. In the same year, the Zionist occupied 78% of the land of Palestine instead of 56% which was granted to them according to UN resolution. As a result of the 1948 war, about 950,000 Palestinians lost their homes and became refugees in different parts of the world. Only the areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were not occupied by Zionist and became under the control of the Jordanian and Egyptian governments. In 1967, during the 6 days of Israeli -Arab war, Israeli captured and occupied the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula.
Talking about the distorted facts available to the world and younger generations throughout the available literature, the Excellency described that the Western writers have noted the Jews version of the conflict and literature is mainly silent about the Palestinian version of history. He said when the writers started to explore the facts, they showed a slight tilt towards the Palestinian version and now there are plenty of books in the markets narrating the stories of innocent Palestinians. Explaining the inception and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Excellency said that PLO was formed in 1964 prior to the 1967 war, when Ahmad Shukeiri who was the first Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee opined to form a platform of all Palestinian groups to struggle for Palestinian independence and liberation. The PLO was an umbrella organization comprised of the resistance movement, political parties, and popular organizations with one common goal of “Free Palestine”. For this cause, PLO supported all the tools in hand to achieve the goal including the use of freedom fighters.
Recalling the history, the Excellency said in 1974, it was decided to form the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) against the Israeli occupation, as during the same time span the US regarded the PLO as a terrorist organization. In October 1991, a Madrid Peace Conference was held which was co-chaired by US President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and attended by Israeli, Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese delegations, as well as a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. Historically, all the parties to the Arab-Israel conflict had gathered to hold direct negotiations first time ever. Later the efforts made through this conference remained ineffectual except for opening a backdoor channel of direct talks between the Israeli officials and PLO.
In 1993, in the result of Oslo accords Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was created. The core purpose of the establishment of PNA was to give autonomy to the Palestinian and mandate of representing to the people of Palestine. The authority made efforts to pave the way for a declaration of the Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine, to safeguard the rights of Palestinian refugees, to get control over the water resources, and to fix the border of the state of Palestine. While the other hand, the Israeli counterpart never kept their vows, and the peaceful solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict remains unchanged. He also shared the memories and role of prominent leader and former president of State of Palestine, Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) for the peaceful solution of Palestine conflict through the platform of PLO.
On the question about the role of Hamas in Palestine, the Excellency said that Hamas is part of the Palestinian people and one of the many Palestinian political parties. Hamas lead Palestine government after the election on 2006. He said that it happened for the first time when a Palestinian used guns against another Palestinian in Gaza on 2007. He termed it as an unfortunate incident when the civil war and unrest in the country started after Hamas armed members used their weapons against PLO and Palestine government legal force. He said a series of negotiations between Hamas and PLO for mutual understating was held and the leaders from the other Muslim countries had played a pivotal role, but the efforts remained worthless due to the non-flexible attitude of Hamas. He said the power of vote was the only solution to select the government for the people of Palestine and for this purpose the Palestinian leadership agreed to arrange the election in Palestine including the right of vote to the Palestinian residing in Jerusalem under the illegal occupation of Israel. He added that an election without involving Jerusalem was just like a token of acceptance to the decision made by the US former President Donald Trump to declare Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel.
Summing up the role of the United Nations, the Excellency said there were 700 resolutions passed by the Un General Assemble and 86 by the Security Council in favor of Palestine but unfortunately, there was no progress on surface. He said the UN has no power to ensure the implementation of their resolutions. He expressed that the Muslim Ummah, United Nations and the rest of the world’s powers should focus on the misery of Palestinians and find a way for a peaceful solution to the conflict. Talking about the Western media role, the Excellency said after the war of Gaza, the Western Media turned their stance in favor of Palestinian people and started to cover the issue in their favor however, he stressed that media should play its neutral role to portray the reality on the ground. He said, Palestine needs support in the light of the law and UN resolutions rather based on emotions.
Talking about the role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Excellency said OIC was established in the case of Palestine when a fire incident occurred from a Zionist in Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said the OIC is contributing adequately to the Palestine issue but practically its role is not different than the United Nations. About 6 to 7 million Palestinians are converted as refugees in the world despite having the land of their forefathers, hundreds and thousands of innocent Palestinians are killed by the Israeli armed forces and this massacre is unstoppable. He said we are not needed from the world to just express the solidarity with the People of Palestine, but this demands more to stop the war crimes of Israel against the unarmed Palestinians.
“Palestine has made all-out efforts for peaceful co-existence; its Israel turn to make it feasible”
The Excellency said the peaceful co-existence between Israel and Palestine is possible only if Israel intends to make it feasible by following the international laws and UN resolutions. He said Palestine made all-out efforts on its part and its only Israel who needs to stop the war against Palestinians and act according to the international laws and the resolution of the United Nations.
Talking about Pakistan’s support to Palestine and bilateral ties, the Excellency stated that Palestine has a very strong and clear support from the Pakistani governments, political parties, and the people of Pakistan for the rights of the Palestinians. He added that Pakistan is supporting the Palestine issue indirectly through the resolutions of United Nations and other world forums and this support was started from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said the whole political community of Pakistan is on the same page to extend their unconditional support to Palestine. He also stated that government of Palestine is under the vision of President Mahmoud Abbas aimed to enhance the bilateral ties with Pakistan to a further level and tapping the new avenues for joint ventures. He hope that: the political groups, academicians, and business community from Pakistan have the opportunity to visit Palestine to boost the bilateral relationship between both countries. His Excellency thanked Pakistan for the facilities it provides for the study of Palestinian students in Pakistan, which provided the opportunity for about fifty thousand Palestinians to study in various disciplines during the past years.
In his concluding remarks, the Excellency said the people of Pakistan are always in the heart and minds of Palestinian people. One day Palestine would be free, and the Pakistani people shall offer prayer in Al-Aqsa Masjid. He stressed on the young Pakistanis to attain the advanced knowledge and skills to contribute for a better future of Pakistan and the Muslim Ummah. Pakistan zindabad… Palestine zindabad.