KUALA LUMPUR: United States President Donald Trump was urged to be on the right side of history by leading the superpower to help curb further Palestinian atrocities at the Israeli-Gazan border.
Activist and trauma consultant surgeon Dr Ang Swee Chai made the plea to Trump, who was instrumental in the controversial relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Following the move, violence further escalated at the Israeli-Gazan border, where casualties have been piling up due to the unarmed protests there by Palestinians since March 30.
“I would like to remind him (Trump) that the Palestinians are our brothers and sisters.
“They are the children of (prophet) Abraham. They are the people of the land.
“Mr President (Trump), please do not go down in history (for allowing) the killings and annihilation (of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip) and for allowing the Palestinians to be persecuted.
“Be on the right side of history,” she pleaded with Trump, who is currently in Singapore to attend a historic summit with North Korea for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula as part of long-term peace efforts there.
Dr Ang, 69, was speaking during a Question and Answer Session at a dialogue titled ‘The Maiming Fields of Gaza’, at the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) here today.
Earlier during a presentation, she talked about the worsening condition on the narrow Gaza Strip, where over two million Palestinians crowd together while being under siege by Israeli bombing raids, among others.
She noted that the Palestinians there - who suffer from shortage of water, food and electricity - cannot leave due to Israeli blockade of all sea, land and air routes around the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Since March 30, Israeli snipers firing military-grade rounds have caused crippling wounds to unarmed Palestinian demonstrators.
On that day, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had marched to the eastern border with Israel to mark the 42nd anniversary of Land Day, when Israeli forces killed six Palestinians during protests against land confiscation in 1976.
Since the start of the protest termed the Great March of Return, 124 Palestinians were killed and 12,521 wounded, with health workers and journalists in the conflict zone targeted as well.
Among those present at the dialogue today were Dr Khamis A. Elessi, who is Head of Medical Rehabilitation Team at El-Wafa Hospital, Gaza; Mohammed Abudagga, who is First Counsellor with the Palestine Embassy here; and PGPF trustee Dr Zulaiha Ismail.
Dr Khamis, who along with Dr Chai are deeply involved in activism to alleviate the plight of the Palestinians, urgently sought for Trump to get the US government to help alleviate the situation at the Israeli-Gazan border.
“Please help Palestinians get their rights back and work towards justifiable and lasting peace (in the occupied Palestinian territories),” he said.