PAKISTANI PEOPLE NOT READY TO EVEN CONSIDER TIES WITH ISRAEL
TEL AVIV 30 June (IPS) Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Monday welcomed the idea of Israel and Pakistan establishing diplomatic ties, reacting to the Pakistani President Parviz Mosharraf’s earlier interview suggesting the question "should be seriously thought over", "The Jerusalem Post" reported.
In an interview with the private "Geo
Television" channel, President Mosharraf said: "What is our dispute
[with Israel]? We should think. I have been saying should we be more Catholic
than the pope or more pious than the pope or more Palestinian than the
Palestinians themselves? Is this the right attitude or should there be some
change in it? There should be national consensus on it."
"This is the responsibility of the nation to decide. This should be seriously thought over. The media should have an open debate on this." "The debate should be serious. There should be no emotionalism of the extremists", he said.
Shalom said, "the time has come to do it and we are willing to do it", noting that Israel is negotiating directly with the Palestinian Authority, talking with Persian Gulf leaders and has diplomatic ties with Egypt and Jordan. He also said that Israel views Pakistan as a "very important" Muslim and Asian country.
"If it was just an official feeler to gauge public opinion on the controversial question of Pakistan's recognition of Israel, the government has an answer - the Pakistani people are not ready to even consider the option", commented Muddassir Rizvi in an Inter Press Service article published on Monday by the Hong Kong-based "The Asia Times" newspaper
On Saturday, Pakistan Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal has categorically stated, there is no plan to recognize Israel in near future and speculations in this regard are incorrect
Mosharraf had made similar comments before setting off on his tour of four Western nations, including the United States, where he had been greeted by his American host at Camp David, but Israel interpreted these as a largely "meaningless gesture meant to shore up his image in the U.S".
Commenting on the remarks, Israel’s influential neaspaper "Ha’aretz" said Monday that "these were both far more forceful than his previous comments and were made after President George Bush had already publicly promised him a $3 million aid package".
"His intention truly appears to be serious, not aimed merely at conciliating U.S. public opinion", the paper quoted a senior Israeli source said as having commented, adding "Musharraf is unlikely to follow through on this opening unless he musters significant public backing for such a step".
Israeli sources attributed Mosharraf's apparent change of heart regarding ties with Israel to his new strategic alliance with the U.S. and the recent thawing of relations between India and China. China has always backed Pakistan against India, but Musharraf fears the new Sino-Indian rapprochement could leave him increasingly isolated.
Musharraf's remarks were preceded by the visit to Israel last week of a Pakistani businessman who is considered one of the president's close associates.
The businessman was apparently sent to "test the waters" as to whether Israel, which has close ties with Pakistan's traditional foe, India, would be interested in relations with Pakistan as well.
Israel currently has no ties of any kind with Pakistan, and Pakistani passports even state that they are valid for entry into any country but Israel.
"We all know Mosharraf. He knows what to say when to appease his mentors in the West, whether he means it or not. But it was very careless of him to speak of an issue so simply that is very sensitive in nature and close to people's heart", Mr. Rizvi said, quoting Afsarol Molk, a leader of the Pakistan People's Party who belongs to the remote northern district of Shangla in North West Frontier Province.
Experts in security and foreign policy issues believe that Mosharraf's remarks about Israel were precisely meant to provoke a controversy at home in a bid to ease US pressure on the country to accept the Jewish state.
"The issue must have come up for a discussion during Mosharraf's meetings with the American and British leaders. With such a reaction at home, Pakistan can certainly put off the issue for some more time", commented a researcher at the government-run Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, requesting anonymity.
In Tehran, where the ruling ayatollahs are hysterical about Israel, a country they never name but by "The Zionist Entity" they want to destroy with an "Islamic" atomic bomb", the remarks by the Pakistani strong man was immediately interpreted as his "rejection" of recognising Israel.
"The big difference between Iran and Pakistan is that in Iran, the great majority of people have no problem with Israel as a State, it is the regime that is more Palestinian than the Palestinians, but in Pakistan, the majority of the people are staunchly against Israel", observed and Iranian political analyst.
Mosharraf's utterance raised tempers in a country where the majority of people sympathize with the Palestinian cause and continue to censure Israel for its continued occupation of Jerusalem, Islam's second holiest place after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
"Jerusalem is not just an Arab issue and is linked to the faith of every Muslim. Presenting Palestine, as a sole Arab issue is a heinous conspiracy of the imperialists and colonists aimed at disintegrating the Muslims and shattering the concept of Muslim unity ", Mr. Rizvi quoted Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, a component of the six- party Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA). ENDS PAKISTAN ISRAEL 30603