Islamic Travel Newswire Executive Editor Imtiaz Muqbil was the keynote speaker at the first event held at the UN Asia-Pacific regional commission headquarters in Bangkok to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

In his speech, Muqbil said, “Today, the Palestinians are still awaiting freedom, independence and statehood. The same statehood enjoyed over the last 20 years by the peoples of Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Croatia, the Czech republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Timor Leste, South Sudan and many more. Can anyone explain how and why these peoples deserve freedom, and not the Palestinians?”

The event in Bangkok was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) Thailand branch which is chaired by Stuart Ward. It was attended by a number of academics, diplomats and UN officials. The statement of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was also read out on the occasion.

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, sent a message to the meeting of the United Nations on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

In his Statement which was read on his behalf at the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva, Professor Ihsanoglu reiterated solidarity of the OIC and its support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle to achieve their national rights including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, and their right of return according to the international legitimacy resolutions.

Professor Ihsanoglu also condemned Israel for the violations it commits in the occupied Palestinian territories and its continued killings, destruction of settlements, building of the apartheid wall, arrest of thousands of Palestinians and its continued imposition of blockade on the Gaza Strip.

He also condemned Israel for letting settlers making trouble in the Palestinian lands and causing destruction, murder, damage and aggression on mosques through burning and desecration.

Professor Ihsanoglu emphasized that time has come for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state whose establishment would be a foundation for peace in the region. He considered that the membership of Palestine at the United Nations and its institutions, particularly the brilliant success achieved in gaining membership of the UNESCO is a right that requires support and backing from all justice and peace-loving countries, and does not contradict with the obligations of Palestine to reach a peaceful solution based on the United Nations' resolutions which do not recognize legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

In Jakarta, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation Dr. Makarim Wibisono spoke in a panel discussion at Atmajaya University here Wednesday. Invited by Michele Zaccheo, the Director of the UN Information Center in Jakarta, Makarim made a presentation on "United Nations and the Question of Palestine: An Indonesian Perspective", the ASEAN Foundation said in a statement here Thursday.

He said the Palestinian independence is not an optional to the Indonesian people, but it is a necessity due to the mandate of the preamble of the 1945 Constitution. The question of Palestine in the United Nations is not a religious issue but it is an issue of foreign occupation, human rights abuse, and discriminatory treatment against the Palestinians, he stated.

Other speakers were Fariz Mehdawi, the Ambassador of State of Palestine in Indonesia, Hamzah Thayeb, the Director General for Asia, Pacific, and African Affairs of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the UN Resident Coordinator in Indonesia.