Ankara, 20 October: On the invitation of President Erdogan’s AK Party, Mushahid Hussain Sayed gave a Keynote Address at the ‘Global Palestine Conference’ held here in the Turkish capital, where he presented a 3-point Action Plan.
President Erdogan was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Mushahid Hussain, who is a Member of the Executive Board of the Istanbul-based ‘Al Quds Parliament’ and Co-Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), hailed the resistance of Hamas, Hizbullah, and Iran to Israeli aggression and Zionist expansionism, terming these as exemplary models of ‘Might is not Right, but Right is Might’.
During his speech, Mushahid Hussain appreciated the leadership role of President Erdogan, terming him the ‘Lion of the Muslim World’, and congratulated him on his victory in the Turkish Presidential elections. Condemning Israel for committing the first televised genocide in history, Mushahid also condemned Western double standards and the absence of morality as they were actively aiding and abetting Israeli crimes, he added ‘most of the Muslim regimes have also failed to rise to the occasion due to either fear or expediency’.
Presenting his Action Plan before the gathering of some 1000 guests from over 50 countries, Mushahid said the first step should be for President Erdogan to take the lead and constitute an International Leaders Delegation, comprising leaders from the Global South, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Algeria and Brazil, who should visit Washington immediately after the November 5 US Presidential polls to meet the American President-elect, and urge the new US President to reverse the one-sided American policy of blatantly supporting Israel.
He said Muslim leaders must move beyond talk and words by taking concrete actions. Second, given their strong Navies, Turkiye, Pakistan, and Indonesia should form a Joint Naval Flotilla for Peace & Humanitarian Assistance, to help break the Israeli blockade of Gaza after getting authorization from the UN General Assembly. The Naval Flotilla should carry medicine, food, and relief goods to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinians besieged in Gaza, terming it the ‘world’s largest open-air prison’. This will send a powerful and positive message to the oppressed Palestinian people that the Muslim Ummah is not an impotent entity, rather it has the vision and political will to undertake concrete initiatives. Third, recalling the joint initiative of President Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir in 2019 to launch a Global Media Initiative to represent the Muslim Ummah in the ‘battle of ideas and narratives’, Mushahid said ‘now is the right time and opportunity for such an initiative as the Gaza Genocide has demonstrated how biased and one-sided the Western media has been in the current crisis’.
He said journalists, intellectuals, academics, and think tanks could be powerful instruments in the ‘Battle of Ideas’ crafting and presenting narratives based on truth and facts, while representing the popular aspirations of the Global South in general and the Muslim World in particular on such issues as Palestine, Kashmir, Islamophobia, and Rohingya. He said such a Global Media Initiative would play an important role in helping to prepare the ground for an alternative emerging equitable global order based on justice and the rule of law which should start by rejecting of all types of hegemony, global or regional. He added that the sacrifices of the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the blood of the martyrs of Palestine and Kashmir would not go in vain. He concluded his very well-received speech by referencing the Latin maxim, ‘Carpe Diem’ (Seize the Moment).
