YB Datuk Seri Rais Yatim
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Malaysia

6hb Muharram 1430
3hb. Jan.09


Assalamualaikum wr. Wb.

Dear Sir,

To-morrow you and the other Foreign Ministers from the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference will be meeting at the OIC headquarters to discuss the grave situation and the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza strip due to the barbaric Israeli aggression.

We appreciate your effort to have the meeting even though it has taken seven days after the start of the aggression and brutal killing of civilians, which is still continuing, to convene the meeting.

During this period, more than 400 people including women and children have been killed, more than 1000 wounded, hospital, university, and other infrastructure to provide the basic needs of the people have been destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces. You must have seen the mutilated bodies of Palestinians lying on the streets on Aljazeera TV.

We appeal to you not to come out with another worthless resolution condemning Israel and begging the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations to take action against Israel to stop the aggression. We want you to come out with a plan of action which should include:

• Egypt agreeing to open the Rafah Crossing

• Breaking/Suspending relations with Israel

• Recalling ambassadors from Israel

• Boycotting goods and services from Israel, the U.S, and the European countries that are strong Israel supporters.

• Divesting investments from these countries.

• Supporting the Palestinian Resistance Forces in Gaza.

• Supporting the initiatives taken by civil society organizations to break the siege of Gaza.

• Providing food, medicine, and other aid to the Palestinians in Gaza

• Initiating the convening of an emergency session of the General Assembly of the United Nations to discuss the Israeli aggression and to take appropriate action to stop it. The President of the General Assembly has warned:” Time has come to take firm action if the United Nations does not want to be rightly accused of complicity by omission.”

During the emergency meeting of the Expanded Executive Committee on Wednesday, December 31st 2008, at the OIC headquarters, the OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu appealed to the OIC member states:

” This tragedy necessitates a diligent, serious and effective Islamic action to bring it to an end and relieve the Palestinian people from its impact. We must make every effort to stop the bloodshed of the defenseless Palestinian people whose rights have been usurped and who have been thrown out in every part of the world and denied their freedom and their fundamental rights.” We agree with, and support, the appeal of the Secretary General.

On 18th November 2006 AD, the Executive Committee took a decision that called on states to break the siege imposed on the Palestinian people, to act with the international community to end the embargo, and force Israel to release the tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority. But no action was taken to implement this decision.

There is lot of bitterness among Muslims towards the rulers of the Muslim states who must take direction from the United States before making any major decision touching on international politics. They are also seen as frustrating the efforts of some Muslim states to make the OIC more effective in protecting the rights and promoting the interests of Muslims and the oppressed people. We believe the people’s anger will one day explode like a volcano and sweep away the forces that are holding back the Muslims.

There is a widespread view among informed Muslims that the OIC has become irrelevant since it is unable to do anything to protect Muslims in Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Palestine and other hot spots where Muslims are subject to wars and conflicts instigated by foreign powers, which produce enormous human suffering.

If no effective action is taken to end the current Israeli aggression in Gaza, this view will be further strengthened and there will be increasing calls for the dissolution of the OIC so that Muslim civil society can organize to defend the rights of Muslims, the victims of wars and aggression.

We pray to Allah s.w.t. that He gives courage to our Muslim leaders so that they will not fear the American and Zionist power and use all their resources to protect the Muslims and the oppressed, and promote justice and peace. We also hope and pray that the Foreign Ministers will come out with a plan to end the Israeli aggression.

Wassalam

Yours truly,
Abdul Ghani Shamsuddin
SHURA Chairman