Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal sympathise with activists detained by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, including two Sabahans among 12 Malaysians held.
“I sympathise with them because these are people with the spirit to help humanity, regardless of where they are,” the Semporna Member of Parliament told a media conference here, Thursday.
“These are people from all over the world who just want to send aid to those in need there, and we are upset about what happened,” he said.
According to Bernama, as of 10.44am (Malaysian time) on Thursday, a total of 14 of the 44 flotillas had been intercepted and 201 of the 497 participants were confirmed detained.
The two Sabahans are Zizi Kirana from Semporna and Sul Aidil from Tawau, who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful humanitarian mission carrying life-saving aid to Gaza.
“I pray that these young people who want to help others on humanitarian grounds will be protected by all parties to make sure their safety and lives are not threatened because they only want to give help and also to protect all the people in Gaza.
“When we see children and pregnant mothers who have done nothing wrong being killed and bombed, this is a humanitarian issue, not about Hamas,” Shafie said.
Citing his experience as a former Deputy Defence Minister, Shafie pointed to the successful international action in Bosnia as proof that the United Nations could solve conflicts.
“What did we do when war broke out in Bosnia? It was about religion, about the people there, involving Russia. But we sent troops under the United Nations. Today Bosnia is peaceful. There is no more fighting, no conflict between communities, no killings. So why can’t we do the same now?” he said.
He called out the veto power, especially by the United States, which he said had stopped real action on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
“Just recently, the United Nations talked about this. Almost all countries agreed to recognise Palestine as a country and also Israel as a country. But there is no effort to do this. They want Israel to be more powerful. They do not want to accept this,” Shafie said.
He also questioned why peace offers came only after Gaza was destroyed.
“Donald Trump offers peace. They want peace and security in Gaza after they destroyed Gaza, after they killed the people, after Gaza became like a desert. Then they offer this. Who are they offering this to? Do you think that is good for helping people?” he said.
“I think the United Nations must be very firm. Remove the veto power. If you ask me, we should fight for this. There is no need for the US to have veto power. No need for China to have veto power. No need for Russia to have veto power. Whatever all countries agree on together, that is what the United Nations means.
“When something happens that affects people’s lives, no matter where they are or what race they are, all countries need to work together.
“Right now, most countries agree, but one country can say no and everything stops. We cannot send help to Gaza because one country goes against it. I think this is unfair. There is no justice when we look at where the world is heading,” he said.
Meanwhile, the press conference saw new members joining Warisan.
