Ghareeb_Da_Baal
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2008
- Messages
- 6,654
- Reaction score
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By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Facing international backlash over its raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla, Israel on Wednesday sought help from South Asian Muslims to build bridges between Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership. At a specially convened press interaction for selected Delhi-based Muslim journalists, Israeli Ambassador to India Mark Sofer said top Pakistani journalist and TV anchor Talat Hussain was safe and would return to Pakistan soon. He asked Muslims to look at the wider picture in Middle East, denying it was a battle between Jews and Muslims. We respect Islam and the conflict in West Asia is not a religious one. Islam is a religion of peace and beauty. Whoever indulges in violence in the name of Islam, abuses and misuses the religion, Sofer said. Rejecting reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza on account of the Israeli blockade, the Israeli envoy offered an olive branch to Hamas, offering the lifting of the blockade if the Hamas leadership abandoned targeting Israeli citizens and called off the war against Tel Aviv. The minute the Hamas ends hostilities, the blockade will be lifted immediately, he said. Sofer also assured that every single aid box aboard the Flotilla would be transported to Gaza. We were never against sending aid to Gaza. We wanted organisers to send aid through either Red Cross or the United Nations, as we doubted the credentials of the IHH, the Turkish grouping, which is attributed to be close to al Qaeda, he said. He claimed that even Turkey itself had once banned the group for its alleged links with terrorists. Sofer said some groups have been using the aid route in the past to transfer arms to Gaza. To a question, the Israeli ambassador said there was no dearth of food and other essential items in the Hamas-ruled Palestine territory except arms. Justifying the attack on the ship, the envoy said it was necessary to look for any weapons on board. Ever since Hamas took over, they have declared a war against us. It is in their manifesto to annihilate the Jewish state. They have fired 10,000 rockets over the past three to four years. We have no quarrel with the people of Gaza. Our difficulties is with their leadership, Sofer said. Asked, if Israeli soldiers found weapons on board, the ambassador showed a video clip showing knives and blades, normally used in ship kitchens. The footage, however, showed activists pouncing on Israeli soldiers descending from helicopters. Asked about the idea of peace in Israeli context, the envoy emphasised on a political solution with a sovereign Israel and Palestine co-existing side by side, ruling out any military solution to the Palestine problem. He said the flotilla could be an attempt to damage the peace process. We are engaged in indirect talks with the Palestinian leadership and we want the peace process to resume fully, he added. To a question on demands of a Greater Israel by some, the envoy said they were not representatives of the Tel Aviv government. Is Hindutva a position of Indian government? There is major difference between the position of governments and some fringe groups. In Palestine, such a fringe group is in power, it is the government, Sofer said. He admitted that Israel had made mistakes, but criticised the international community for shutting eyes to mistakes made by the Palestinians and other Israeli adversaries in the region.
NEW DELHI: Facing international backlash over its raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla, Israel on Wednesday sought help from South Asian Muslims to build bridges between Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership. At a specially convened press interaction for selected Delhi-based Muslim journalists, Israeli Ambassador to India Mark Sofer said top Pakistani journalist and TV anchor Talat Hussain was safe and would return to Pakistan soon. He asked Muslims to look at the wider picture in Middle East, denying it was a battle between Jews and Muslims. We respect Islam and the conflict in West Asia is not a religious one. Islam is a religion of peace and beauty. Whoever indulges in violence in the name of Islam, abuses and misuses the religion, Sofer said. Rejecting reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza on account of the Israeli blockade, the Israeli envoy offered an olive branch to Hamas, offering the lifting of the blockade if the Hamas leadership abandoned targeting Israeli citizens and called off the war against Tel Aviv. The minute the Hamas ends hostilities, the blockade will be lifted immediately, he said. Sofer also assured that every single aid box aboard the Flotilla would be transported to Gaza. We were never against sending aid to Gaza. We wanted organisers to send aid through either Red Cross or the United Nations, as we doubted the credentials of the IHH, the Turkish grouping, which is attributed to be close to al Qaeda, he said. He claimed that even Turkey itself had once banned the group for its alleged links with terrorists. Sofer said some groups have been using the aid route in the past to transfer arms to Gaza. To a question, the Israeli ambassador said there was no dearth of food and other essential items in the Hamas-ruled Palestine territory except arms. Justifying the attack on the ship, the envoy said it was necessary to look for any weapons on board. Ever since Hamas took over, they have declared a war against us. It is in their manifesto to annihilate the Jewish state. They have fired 10,000 rockets over the past three to four years. We have no quarrel with the people of Gaza. Our difficulties is with their leadership, Sofer said. Asked, if Israeli soldiers found weapons on board, the ambassador showed a video clip showing knives and blades, normally used in ship kitchens. The footage, however, showed activists pouncing on Israeli soldiers descending from helicopters. Asked about the idea of peace in Israeli context, the envoy emphasised on a political solution with a sovereign Israel and Palestine co-existing side by side, ruling out any military solution to the Palestine problem. He said the flotilla could be an attempt to damage the peace process. We are engaged in indirect talks with the Palestinian leadership and we want the peace process to resume fully, he added. To a question on demands of a Greater Israel by some, the envoy said they were not representatives of the Tel Aviv government. Is Hindutva a position of Indian government? There is major difference between the position of governments and some fringe groups. In Palestine, such a fringe group is in power, it is the government, Sofer said. He admitted that Israel had made mistakes, but criticised the international community for shutting eyes to mistakes made by the Palestinians and other Israeli adversaries in the region.
