Kami merujuk kepada keputusan kerajaan Malaysia untuk menerima 15 rakyat Palestin yang dibebaskan oleh rejim pengganas Israel di bawah perjanjian gencatan senjata Januari lalu.
Kami menyokong penuh keputusan ini dan menyeru kerajaan agar tidak berganjak daripadanya serta tidak gentar menghadapi kritikan daripada pihak-pihak yang sama ada:
Tidak langsung memahami realiti di Palestin yang dijajah, lalu mudah tertipu dengan propaganda Zionis;
ATAU
Bersikap Islamofobik dan menyokong genosid.
Keputusan ini merupakan langkah kemanusiaan yang tepat atas sebab-sebab berikut:
PERTAMA, Malaysia bukan satu-satunya negara yang menerima bekas tahanan ini. Qatar, Turkiye, dan Pakistan juga masing-masing menerima jumlah yang sama. Ini semua demi memastikan perjanjian gencatan senjata tercapai untuk menghentikan genosid di Gaza.
KEDUA, mereka ini adalah rakyat Palestin yang dibebaskan Israel dari penjaranya.
Sila ingat: Israel. Bagi yang masih belum sedar, Israel ialah negara yang:
• Melakukan genosid di Gaza selama 17 bulan, membunuh hampir 60,000 rakyat awam Palestin (70% kanak-kanak dan wanita). Ratusan sarjana genosid, baik Israel atau bukan, bersama badan hak asasi manusia telah mengiktiraf keadaan di Gaza sebagai genosid.
• Sejak 18 Mac lalu, melanggar semua kewajipannya di bawah perjanjian gencatan senjata Januari dengan meneruskan serangan kejam ke atas rakyat awam. Dalam 48 jam sahaja, sekitar 400 rakyat awam Palestin, termasuk lebih 130 kanak-kanak, disembelih oleh negara pengganas ini. Serangan ini masih berlanjutan ketika kenyataan ini ditulis.
• Diketuai oleh seorang perdana menteri yang merupakan penjenayah perang dikehendaki Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa (ICC).
• Secara terang-terangan mengabaikan keputusan Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ) dan resolusi Majlis Keselamatan PBB (UNSC) serta Perhimpunan Agung PBB tentang ketidakunduran pendudukan wilayah Palestin, termasuk kewajipannya sebagai kuasa pendudukan di bawah Konvensyen Geneva.
Singkatnya, Israel ialah negara jenayah pariah. Penjenayah tidak memenjarakan rakan penjenayah lain. Individu yang dibebaskan ini bukan penjenayah. Mereka dipenjara semata-mata kerana menentang pendudukan haram ke atas tanah air mereka oleh Israel. Mereka ialah pejuang kemerdekaan. “Kesalahan” mereka hanya dianggap salah melalui kaca mata rejim jenayah Israel.
Kerajaan Malaysia tidak wajar terpengaruh naratif palsu daripada penyokong genosid Zionis dan Islamofobik yang mendakwa mereka sebagai penjenayah berbahaya. Amat menyedihkan apabila ramai masih melabel bekas tahanan sebagai ancaman, sedangkan Perdana Menteri kita sendiri—yang suatu ketika dahulu pernah dipenjara—kini berkhidmat dengan penuh integriti untuk negara.
Kerajaan Malaysia perlu menghamparkan permaidani merah kepada bekas tahanan Palestin ini. Mereka adalah wira yang gigih dan berani, bertahan melalui penderitaan demi membebaskan tanah air dan rakyat daripada cengkaman penjajah Zionis. Mereka patut dijemput berkongsi pengalaman dan iktibar hidup di bawah penindasan zalim bersama kabinet, mahasiswa, dan rakyat Malaysia. Kehadiran mereka pasti memberi sumbangan bermakna.
Sekali lagi, kami, pertubuhan-pertubuhan yang bertandatangan di bawah, menyokong penuh keputusan kerajaan menerima bekas tahanan Palestin ini dan menyeru agar komitmen terhadap perjuangan adil pembebasan Palestin terus diperkukuh.
22 Mac 2025
We refer to the decision by the Malaysian government to accept 15 Palestinians released by the Israeli terrorist regime under the January ceasefire agreement.
We wholeheartedly applaud that decision and urge the government not to waiver from it and not be daunted by criticisms emanating from parties that are, at best, totally ignorant of what has been happening in occupied Palestine and therefore gullible to Zionist propaganda or, at worst, Islamophobic genocide-supporters.
It is absolutely the correct humanitarian move to take for the following reasons.
FIRST, Malaysia is not the only country accepting such prisoners. Qatar, Turkiye, and Pakistan also accept the same number each. This is all in the interest of getting a ceasefire agreement to be achieved that will stop the genocide in Gaza.
SECOND, these are Palestinians released by Israel from its prisons.
Repeat, Israel. Israel, for those who are still unaware, is the country that:
• is conducting a genocide in Gaza over the 17 months that has killed almost 60,000 Palestinian civilians, 70% of whom were children and women. Hundreds of genocide scholars, Israeli and non-Israeli, together with many human rights bodies have described what is going on in Gaza as genocide.
• has violated, starting 18th March, all its obligations under the said January ceasefire agreement by resuming its wanton attacks on civilians. Within 48 hours about 400 Palestinian civilians, including more than 130 children, were slaughtered by the terrorist state. Its attacks are ongoing as this is being written.
• has for its prime minister a war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
• is blatantly disregarding rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ)and the resolutions passed by the UN Security Council (UNSC), the UN General Assembly on the illegality of its occupation of Palestinian territories and provisions of the Geneva Convention relating to its obligations as the occupying power.
In short, Israel is a pariah criminal state. A criminal does not imprison fellow criminals. Those men who were released are not criminals. They were incarcerated simply because they resisted the criminal occupation of their land by Israel. They are freedom fighters. They were guilty of wrongs which were wrongs only from the point of view of the criminal Israelis.
The Malaysian government should not buy into the false narrative spewed by Islamophobic and Zionist genocide supporters that these are dangerous criminals. It is unbelievable that many still unthinkingly brand ex-prisoners as dangerous and a menace to society when before our very eyes our own prime minister, who was once in prison himself, is honourably and diligently serving the nation.
The Malaysian government should roll out the red carpet to these Palestinian ex-prisoners for they are hardy and courageous heroes who have endured great suffering all in the name of liberating their land and people from the criminal Zionist occupiers. They should be invited to talk to the Malaysian cabinet, university and college students and the Malaysian public about their experiences and lessons for survival under unspeakable oppression. They have much that they can contribute during their presence in our country.
Once again, we, the undersigned organisations, wholeheartedly applaud the decision by the Malaysian government to accept the said Palestinian ex-prisoners and urge it not to waiver in its support for the just and noble cause of Palestinian liberation.
22 March 2025