By FMT Team
FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: As thousands joined a protest organised by Pakatan Rakyat, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin told a separate group of protesters that if Israel attacked another ship carrying aid to Gaza, the Zionist regime would have to deal with him and those who are angered by their action.
Fresh from his territorial army training stint, Khairy said: “If another attack happens, we will rise. I am sure the people here will sacrifice our lives to fight for this.”
The Umno Youth chief was addressing some 200 protesters at the National Mosque here, who gathered to condemn the Israeli security forces' attack on an aid flotilla enroute to Gaza.
“We will not only demonstrate, but we will also make sure that we go to Gaza to defeat the Israeli regime,” said Khairy, who graduated as a "private" after turning down an offer to be awarded an honorary major rank in the territorial army.
'Mampus rakan-rakan Apco'
In Kampung Baru, some 10,000 protesters gathered after the Friday prayers and marched towards the US Embassy, located some 4km away.
Leading the protest march was Pakatan supremo Anwar Ibrahim. Others present included DAP leader Lim Kit Siang and PAS leaders Nasharuddin Mat Isa and Sallehuddin Ayub.
Scores of Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel, who set up a barrier outside the embassy, prevented the crowd from marching towards the foreign mission.
The protesters, who carried banners and torched an Israeli flag, also shouted anti-Israel slogans. Among others, they chanted: “Mampus rakan-rakan Apco” (Death to friends of Apco).
Anwar, Lim and the PAS leaders were then allowed to enter the embassy to submit a memorandum on the matter.
'Weak' Obama must make strong stand
Addressing the crowd later, Anwar said: “The US and its president (Barack Obama) are too weak to stop the violence unleashed by Israel on the Palestinian people. We want Obama to use his influence and power to stop this.”
“We believe that the Israelis are able to continue with their aggression because of the 'soft position' taken by the US president
“When the entire world took a strong position to condemn Israel over the latest episode, the US president merely expressed 'deep regret', not even disgust,” he said, adding that the large turnout for the protest showed that Muslims were united on this issue.
The crowd dispersed about 3.30pm and no untoward incidents were reported. Some 150 FRU personnel and 250 policemen were deployed at the scene.
Khairy: I'm ready to go
At the National Mosque protest, Umno Youth was joined by several NGOs such as Perkasa, Aman
Malaysia, Gerakan Belia 4B Malaysia and the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association (PPIM).
The protesters, who were armed with banners, also shouted slogans condemning Israel.
Speaking to reporters after his rousing cries of "Jahanam Israel” (To hell with Israel), Khairy said: "All over the world, people are protesting against this. We are pushing the government to make a strong stand against the Zionist regime.”
"We are still not satisfied because Israel is not accepting an idependent investigation, when even the US accepts this. That is why we are urging the government to make this issue a priority in our foreign relations until there is a settlement.
"We are ready to go there ourselves to help in Gaza. We hope the Malaysian government allows more ships, 10, 20 or even 100. We want to open the eyes of the world to what has happened,” he added.
On whether he will be proposing for more ships to be sent to Gaza, Khairy said he will discuss this with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other NGOs.
"Our fight doesn't just stop here. Imagine if 100 ships from all over the world go over, how can they stop us. If we have strength in numbers, Umno Youth and everyone will all go," he said.
Asked if he is prepared to go, Khairy replied: "Of course."
On whether he would join the massive Pakatan rally at the US Embassy, Khairy said:"No, but not because we do not support the same cause. I think that it is good that everyone is protesting against this. It's all right. We do our own. We don't want to politicise this issue; the most important thing is that we are united in opposing this."
Boycott Coke, Colgate and Starbucks
Aside from NGO representatives, a Turkish man also spoke to the crowd, saying: "Blood has been spilled and because of that, we must boycott and reject everything that represents Israel, don't use products like Coke and even Levi's."
Leading the product boycott call was PPIM which urged Malaysians to steer clear of Colgate, Starbucks and Coca-cola.
Aman Malaysia president Ahmad Zaki Zahid said the organisation has launched an SMS Gaza aid programme and all Malaysians can send "GAZA" to 32928, where a charge of 50 sen will be forwarded (apart from telco charges) to Gaza through the Foreign Ministry.
The entire rally took about 20 minutes and the crowd dispersed by 2.20pm.
Report/photos by Rahmah Ghazali, Teoh El Sen, G Vinod, Ken Vin Lek, B Nantha Kumar and Saiful Hisyam Salleh.
No comments:
Post a Comment