Palestine issue a grave moral dilemma for civilised world: Ayaz Sadiq

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said on Friday that the issue of Palestine continues to haunt the global conscience terming it a crisis of humanity.

“This is not merely a political dispute, nor is it confined to religious or cultural affiliations. At its core, it is a crisis of humanity — a modern-day genocide that poses a grave moral dilemma for the civilised world,” he said while speaking at the first meeting of the Group of Parliamentarians in Support of Palestine, held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine, Sadiq said for over seven decades, the people of Palestine had been denied their inalienable right to self-determination — a right enshrined in countless United Nations resolutions.

He lamented that the international community had largely failed to stop the oppression, as Palestinians continue to suffer under a brutal and illegal occupation.

While expressing unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine, the NA speaker said Pakistan stood with the people of Palestine in their just and noble struggle. “This support is not episodic — it is principled, historic, and central to our foreign policy,” he added.

He stated that soon after independence, Pakistan opposed the UN partition plan and the creation of the state of Israel.

Furthermore, he noted that the Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, vocally championed Palestinian rights, asserting that the land rightfully belonged to its indigenous people. “His decision not to recognise Israel had been upheld by every successive government to date,” he added.

The NA speaker said even as a nascent state, Pakistan took a firm stand — advocating for Palestine both nationally and globally.

He further said that during his previous tenure as Speaker National Assembly, he had the honour of convening the first-ever Speakers’ Conference in 2017, with parliamentary leaders from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, and Turkey.

The conference, themed “Parliamentary Cooperation for Peace, Connectivity, and Prosperity”, was a platform where “we resolved to support oppressed communities — whether in Kashmir, Rohingya, or Palestine, and to promote dialogue, justice, and solidarity across regions”.

Sadiq reiterated in the strongest possible terms that the government and the people of Pakistan unequivocally condemn the continued aggression and atrocities committed by Israeli occupation forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, particularly in Gaza. “The indiscriminate violence — which has claimed the lives of thousands, including women, children, medical personnel, and humanitarian workers — is a stain on modern history,” he added. While denouncing Israel’s latest military offensive, including the illegal seizure of the Morag Corridor and the annexation of Palestinian land under the guise of “security corridors”, he said this was a blatant violation of international law. “These actions are part of a calculated strategy to displace Palestinians and alter regional demographics,” he added.

“Among the most heinous acts is the deliberate bombing of a UN-run clinic in Jabalia, which sheltered over 700 displaced civilians, alongside the broader campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians, amounts to war crimes and demands urgent international accountability,” he said.

The NA speaker also highlighted South Africa’s decision to initiate legal proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging that it violated the Genocide Convention — a significant development in international law.

He said the ICJ had emphasised that Israel must end its unlawful occupation, halt settlement activities, evacuate from the settlements, and offer reparations for the destruction caused. Several states, including Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Spain, and the State of Palestine, had filed interventions — a powerful testament to the gravity of this case and its global significance, he added.

Sadiq strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing military campaign, which resulted in the killing of a large number of Palestinian men, women and children, saying: “Such situation represents a moral failure of our time”.