A Penang-based human rights organisation today called on the United Nations to set up a war crimes commission to probe into the Israeli violation of human rights and the mass killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza Strip.

anti israel protest penang 090109 01 In making this call, Citizens International chairperson SM Mohamed Idris urged the Malaysian government to work with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conferences (OIC) to submit a joint request to the UN General Assembly to convene a special session to deliberate on Israeli's violations of international law and the UN Charter.

anti israel protest penang 090109 mohideen abdul kader He pointed out that an avenue for prosecution of international crimes committed in Gaza can be initiated by invoking the obligations of UN member states under the 4th Geneva Convention.

"International community should come together to stop this crime and violence against the Palestinians. It's crime against humanity.

"Effective steps should be taken to stop the violations, including setting up the war crimes commission on Gaza," he said in a statement read out by IC director Mohideen Abdul Kader.

Nationwide boycott campaign

Earlier about 1,000 people staged a vociferous protest outside the Masjid Kepitan Keling in George Town against Israel, America and certain countries from the European Union for being responsible for the Gaza war.

anti israel protest penang 090109 burn Several protesters torched Israeli and American flags to express their disgust against the mass killings carried out in Gaza Strip.

During the protest, IC also launched a nationwide boycott campaign against the goods and services from the United States and countries supporting Israeli settler colonialism.

The human rights group plans to contact Asian partners in Indonesia, India, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand to strengthen the campaign into an international boycott.

Mohideen believed that the boycott campaign, which was successfully deployed during the South African anti-apartheid campaign, could coerce the Israeli, American and certain European governments to stop the war.

State to organise forum

anti israel protest penang 090109 lim guan eng Earlier Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who took part in the protest, told the crowd that the Penang government supported the international human rights movement to stop the mass killings of innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, in Gaza.

He said that the state government will organise a public forum to condemn the Israeli aggression next week.

The state government's plan to hold a special assembly session to pass resolution to condemn the Israeli attacks was disallowed by the Attorney General Chambers, he added.

Three Palestinian students from the Universiti Sains Malaysia - Muath Asmar and Jaafar Sulaiman, both 27, and Samer Raddad, 32, who took part in the protest, thanked Malaysians for their support and called on the international community to save Palestinians from Israel attacks.

The Palestinians, who have lost several relatives and friends in the current Gaza war, criticised the UN for being hapless and hopeless to stop the Jewish government aggression.

"Our only chance to stop it is through international pressure on Tel Aviv," said the trio.