UPDATED: #ArsaCallsArmies hashtag on Monday was one of the top three trends in Pakistan on Twitter. The other two hashtags were #Free_Palestine and #PalestineBleedsWorldSleeps.
AqsaCallsArmies hashtag becoming one of the top trends in Pakistan on Monday, reflect the public sentiment on ongoing Palestinian crisis, says an analyst based in Islamabad.
The trend signifies demand to mobilize armies of the Islamic world to liberate Palestine, he says.
Some media heavyweights and influentials have supported this call through their tweets.
Turkey on Sunday proposed an international ‘protection force’ for Palestine in the emergency Saudi-led OIC’s meet.
Pakistan reportedly endorsed Turkey’s proposed ‘protection force’ for Al Aqsa and Palestine.
Malaysia said OIC’s “lack of political will” should no longer be tolerated as an excuse to lengthen Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“While unintentional, we have shamefully contributed to encouraging the occupying power [Israel] through our inaction,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told OIC members.
“These efforts should also include physical protection through forming an international protection force with military and financial contributions of willing countries,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the virtual meeting of the 57-member Islamic bloc, adding such a mechanism is in line with a 2018 UN General Assembly resolution.
It is time to show unity and determination for Palestine, and Turkey is ready to take any necessary step, he said.
Turkey’s President Erdogan last week pointed out that “if we lose Al Aqsa we won’t be able to protect Madinah…if we lose Madinah then we won’t be able to protect Makkah also…we will then loose Kaabah…don’t forget Al Aqsa means Istanbul, Islamabad, Jakarta…”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister at the OIC meet condemned Israel’s “flagrant violations” of Palestinian rights and called on the international community to act urgently to put an end to military operations.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud called for global action to end military operations while fellow Gulf states that forged ties with Israel said a ceasefire was needed for regional stability.
He also condemned what he called the violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites.
Cavusoglu also made phone calls to his three counterparts following the Islamic countries’ executive committee meeting. Cavusoglu on Sunday spoke to his Qatari, Palestinian and Pakistani counterparts to discuss the evolving situation in Palestine.
The fighting comes at a sensitive time for Arab states like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain which last year broke a longstanding taboo in the region by establishing formal ties with Israel, with tacit approval from Gulf power Saudi Arabia.
Emirati and Bahraini ministers at the gathering of the 57-member OIC called for a ceasefire and stressed the importance of preserving the identity of occupied Jerusalem, which contains sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
“De-escalation and the highest degree of restraint are important to avoid dragging the region to new levels of instability,” said UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al Hashimy.
But Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al Maliki criticized countries that moved to normalize relations with Israel last year.
“Normalization and running towards this colonial Israeli system without achieving peace and ending the Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands represents support for the apartheid regime and participation in its crimes,” Maliki told the OIC meeting.
“This colonial occupation must be confronted, dismantled, ended, and banned. The recently accelerated normalization will not have an impact on the sentiments of the Arab world or change their assessment.”
Tensions spread from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against recent Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.