Amanah leader reminds PN of previous stance over Israel

Amanah today reminded how Perikatan Nasional during its time as the federal government once resisted calls to withdraw from an international expo after Palestine had taken a similar move in protest against Israel’s participation.

Amanah International bureau chairperson, Raja Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad, said PAS also simply followed without questioning the policies made by Putrajaya when the party was in the government for 33 months.

At the same time, said Raja Bahrin (above), when the PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin became prime minister, he also supported a two-state solution to end the Palestinian and Israeli crisis.

"It was stated by the prime minister at the time when Israel was actively demolishing the homes of Palestinians and seizing their land to make new Jewish cities.

"The world already knows that the Palestinians have no land to live in at that time.

"That is Muhyiddin's nonsense, and PAS does not say a single word in Parliament or through the Middle East's special ambassador who is a minister," he said in a statement today.

Raja Bahrin said this in response to a recent statement by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang who accused the government, especially Pakatan Harapan, of being hypocritical on the Palestinian issue.

For the record, the Middle East special ambassador referred to by Raja Bahrin is Hadi who was appointed to the position after the formation of the PN government in 2020.

Raja Bahrin said that in addition to failing to speak out in defence of Palestine, PAS also strongly supports the PN government's move to participate in Expo Dubai 2020 even though Israel is one of the participants.

In fact, he said, Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim, who was then a deputy minister in Muhyiddin's cabinet, openly supported the action.

"Amzad considers Malaysia's participation in the expo to be very important in the framework of Malaysia's multilateral relations and international trade," he added.

He said Amzad also claimed that the expo was attended by Palestine, when in fact the country had withdrawn as a measure to protest Israel's presence.

"Not enough with that enthusiastic statement, Amzad proudly set up big billboards in Kuala Terengganu displaying his own picture," he said.

At the same time, he said, Harapan has always consistently defended the plight and rights of Palestine whether as the government or the opposition.

On the other hand, said Raja Bahrin, PAS lawmakers were proud to promote the expo in which Israel was participating and remained silent about the PN government's policy.

"Who is PAS to accuse Harapan of hypocrisy if its attitude towards Israel itself is inconsistent?" he said.

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