PAKISTAN has taken a lead in unfolding a sweeping set of proposals at the preparatory ministerial meeting of the emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha, calling for Israel’s accountability, suspension of its UN membership and the formation of an Arab-Islamic task force to counter what it described as Tel Aviv’s “rogue mindset.
”Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar outlined a seven-point response to the Israeli air strikes on Qatar, urging Muslim states to unite behind concrete measures. The proposals included: holding Israel accountable for war crimes; creation of a joint Arab-Islamic task force to deter further aggression; pursuing suspension of Israel’s UN membership; implementing punitive measures by member states; demanding through the UN Security Council an immediate and permanent ceasefire along with prisoner exchanges; ensuring unfettered humanitarian access in Gaza; and reviving a genuine political process for a two-state solution.
The comprehensive nature of the plan presented by the Deputy PM is a reflection of the depth of Pakistan’s anxiety over aggressive designs of the Jewish state and aspirations of its people for a united response of the Ummah to safeguard its causes and interests. This also means the Foreign Office, headed by Dar, did its homework to make important and concrete contributions to the proceedings of both the ministerial conference and the summit, devoted to a subject that has attracted world-wide condemnation and concern. The plan proposed by Pakistan has all the necessary elements to hold the culprit accountable; stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza; ensure provision of unhindered humanitarian access in Gaza where the population is dying both due to Israeli brutalities and critical shortages of food and even drinking water; and revival of a genuine and time-bound political process for final settlement of the Middle-East conflict on the basis of a two-state solution. The most important proposal floated by Pakistan is creation of a joint Arab-Islamic task force to deter further aggression. However, this point needs further clarification as there was no point in establishing yet another platform to monitor the behavior of Israel as this is already being done by the OIC. Ground realities demand the Islamic countries should move beyond rhetoric and take immediate practical measures to forge defence collaboration. The member countries of the OIC have the necessary resources, manpower and technology to raise a potent force to deter aggression against members and take prompt retaliatory response in case of a physical attack. Suspension of the UN membership of Israel is also a goal worth pursuing but this seems to be a remote possibility as long as the only super power of the globe is blindly supporting each and every illegal action by Tel Aviv. Instead, what the Arab world and other members of the OIC can do is to apply a definitive brake to the process of normalization of relations with Israel along with other punitive measures so that the Jewish state and its backers feel the heat of the reaction. An action plan based on the points hammered by the Deputy Prime Minister can be evolved given the kind of concern and solidarity expressed by the OIC member countries over the dastardly Israeli attack against Qatar, physical elimination of Palestinians and plans to annex more of their lands. Alternatively, it is also time to pursue vigorously the proposal mooted way back in 2015 by Egypt for establishment of a joint military force comprising troops and arms contributed by members of the Arab League. Issues like headquarters of the force and its command should not be allowed to block progress on implementation of the proposal as headquarters could be in a region threatened most due to security challenges and command could rotate among select member states. Such a force should have a clear mandate to act swiftly in case security of a member state is threatened.
