Dewan Rakyat Special Sitting

Pain in the butt. Malaysia's parliament meet for a Special Sitting to discuss the Gaza issue today at 2.30 pm.

As I see it, here is an opportunity for outgoing PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to go out with a bang.

An opportunity to condemn Bush for protecting Israel and to condemn Tel Aviv for Gaza.

And here is a chance, too, for Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition leader, to do the same.

Go to hell with talk about his friendship with Paul Wolfowitz, who not too long ago was probably the second most powerful Jew in the Bush Administration.

[See The Jews in George Bush's Cabinet]

Here is a chance for Anwar to condemn Wolfowitz for his close ties to the Israeli military.

Today at the Special Sitting, Malaysia has a chance to be a pain in the butt. Such pain helped end Apartheid in South Africa. It also helped end the Balkan War. Let's help end the Israeli atrocities and let Gaza live.

Here's an opportunity to consider several proposals.

1. An OIC peace-keeping force to oversee conflicts in Islamic counties, including Palestine. The proposal was made by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi;

2. Adopt a resolution for the UN to set up an international tirbunal to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, as had been suggested by Francis Boyle, an expert in international law and human rights, from the United States. Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has proposed that the special sitting of the Dewan Rakyat discuss this;

3. Boycott of products of Israel's allies, including the United States. This proposal has been made by various quarters in Malaysia and globally; and

4. To get the OIC members to gazette Gaza and the West Bank as concentration camps (like the infamous Auschwitz which the Nazis created to incarcerate and kill Jews during the Second World War). The proposal was made by Information Minister Shabery Cheek.