PM ANWAR SPEECH AT THE EXTRAORDINARY ARAB AND ISLAMIC SUMMIT 

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Following is the full text of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech at the Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today.

Your Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud,

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Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

Your Majesties, Excellencies,

Assalamua’laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

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May the peace and blessings of Allah SWT be upon you.

First and foremost, I wish to extend my profound gratitude to His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud for inviting me to this Summit.

2. I also wish to thank Your Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for convening this important meeting today.

3. I concur with the many excellent points and recommendations made by my fellow leaders. Their views reflect the unified voice of the Muslim ummah, borne out of the surge of shared conviction among our peoples.

We acknowledge that the circumstances confronting the Muslim world and the Ummah have been most trying and challenging.

Yet, it is indeed highly commendable that painstaking efforts have been made, and continue to be made, including summits such as this, so as to find ways and means to put an end to the violence, destruction, and misery brought on the Palestinian people, and to relieve their long and untold suffering.

Your Majesties, Excellencies,

4. Israel no longer belongs within the civilised community of nations, and its barbarism demands nothing less than decisive action to safeguard not just the Middle East, but the entire global order.

5. Fifty years ago, the world was so horrified by the atrocities in South Africa that the United Nations General Assembly took the unprecedented step of denying its government a seat at the Assembly.

6. Israel, however, has gone beyond the pale, beyond reason, beyond humanity itself in its vile and blatant perpetration of the genocide of the people of Palestine. These cumulative acts of violence against an entire nation leaves us with no choice but to demand for the swift and effective action of the international community including embargo, suspension and even expulsion.

7. In its relentless campaigns, Israel has now struck at the very heart of the international community’s lifeline for Palestine by targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

By barring UNRWA from operating, Israel is causing the collapse of the world’s humanitarian response, cutting off the most basic means of survival in Gaza for those who have already lost so much.

8. We must put an end to this continued senseless carnage and take immediate steps to furnish more effective protection for the UNRWA.

Similarly, we must accord better protection for the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, comprising nearly 50 nations, including Malaysia – who have been attacked and terrorised by Israeli forces.

9. The international community must act swiftly and forcefully. As an immediate measure, we must push, as Malaysia did at the UN General Assembly in September, to impose an immediate arms embargo against Israel.

10. Nevertheless, the severity of Israel’s assault on humanity’s most basic rules of the international compact deserves consideration of a more serious response.

For the sake of not only the Palestinians but of humanity itself, we must punish and deter Israel’s repeated violations of international law and norms. We should, therefore, build a consensus towards suspending or even expelling Israel from the United Nations itself.

11. Its trail of atrocities has already spread into Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran. If the world turns away now, this violence will not remain contained; it will ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the entire region, and the rest of the world.

12. At the end of the day, the most important aspects of our concern are the victims. It is therefore imperative that we redouble current efforts to help rebuild Gaza from the ruins of destruction. Of crucial importance is implementing the plans without any undue delay.

13. We must draw a line in the sand, not only as Muslims but as fellow humans, united and bound by our fragile mortality and committed to a simple truth: a wish for a safer, kinder world for our children and the generations to come.

Thank you.

-- BERNAMA