LETTERS: We are announcing the Asean million signature campaign against Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank. This is part of a call for global condemnation of Israel's stated goal of annexing 30 per cent of the Palestinian territories.
International pressure against Israel must be intensified to not only condemn but to stop the annexation move. We firmly believe that if the global community keeps silent and no concrete action is taken to stop the atrocities committed by Israel in Palestine, the plan will be a prelude for Israel to annex the remaining parts of Palestine.
This campaign is open to individuals and groups as signatories. We are trying to gather a million signatures from the Asean community of 600 million people.
We urge Asean to make a strong mark on the global movement to support the Palestinian cause by advocating a boycott of Israel. Being silent is not an option. The daylight theft of Palestinian lands since 1948 cannot be allowed to persist.
We are establishing the online digital Asean intifadha movement to sustain the campaign to liberate Palestine in the long-term. We regret that the UN is incapacitated despite drafting resolutions on the violations of international laws committed by Israel.
Palestinians have experienced occupation and Israel apartheid, systemic racism and narcissism for too long. With full backing from the US, Israel is treated above international law, making it untouchable.
This is an international caste system practised by the US and Israel to execute whatever they want. Isolation and sanction of Israel must be applied. Israel has, for decades, undermined international laws with impunity through invasions, illegal settlements and annexations.
This planned annexation of 30 per cent of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, if not checked, will culminate in years of gradual theft and occupation through the appropriation of land, the forcible displacement of the Palestinian population, and the settling of Israelis in the occupied territories.
The UN Human Rights Council has said that the planned annexation by Israel would be "a serious violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's long list of human rights violations against Palestinian people, including settler violence, confiscation of natural resources, and discrimination must be stopped by strong international action of sanctions and boycott.
The annexation, if allowed, will embolden Israel to continue its violations. We are aware of the plan to create a Palestinian Bantustan, islands of disconnected land surrounded by Israel and with no territorial connection to the outside world.
US President Donald Trump's backing of Israel's plans must be condemned, and world leaders must stand in strong solidarity with Palestine to oppose the plan effectively.
Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (Mapim)
Asean Coalition for Palestine
Alliance of World Mosques in Defence of Al Aqsa
Secretariat Ulama Assembly of Asia
Citizens International
Sejagat
Al Aqsa Working Group Indonesia
Council for Humanitarian Networking of the Sheikhul Islam Office Thailand
Justice and Development Association Cambodia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times