By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Oct 28: Palestinians, regardless of their religion, should be able to have the freedom that Sarawakians have, says Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim, who is Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performance Arts Sarawak, said the people in Gaza are not only made up of Muslims but also Christians and other minorities.
He pointed out that what’s going on in Palestine is not due to religious reasons but colonisation, which needs to be addressed by world leaders.
“We also want to see our brothers and sisters, whether they are Muslims or Christians in Palestine, to have the freedom that we have (here in Sarawak). As such, in the spirit of unity, we want to see this freedom because since 1948, Palestine and its people have been suppressed,” he said.
He then recalled meeting the late former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who had been his idol since he was a young man and could shake hands with him when he came to his university.
He said despite never stepping foot in Palestine, he supported their cause since he was young, but he is worried about the current turmoil that the country has been facing since Oct 7.
“Even though Sarawak is small in population and far from Palestine, for the sake of humanity, not of religion, we want to see the people there free of being ill-treated over the years.
“For this, we are all here in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” he said during the ‘Himpunan Solidariti Sarawak Bersama Palestin’ at Petra Jaya today.
Meanwhile, some 3,000 people came to the peaceful rally, bringing with them Palestinian flags and placards with messages such as ‘Free Gaza’, ‘Free Palestine—save humanity’, ‘Save Gaza’, and ‘Kami Bersama Palestine’ (‘We Are With Palestine’), and shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which is a slogan widely used by pro-Palestine groups around the world. — DayakDaily
