From The Edge Daily
by Sharon Tan

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of parliament (MPs) from both sides of the bench stopped their usual bickering and crossed partisan lines yesterday to support a motion tendered by Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi (Batu Pahat-BN) to discuss Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza.

In rejecting the motion, Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee said the Malaysian government has made its stand known to the world on the matter through a statement in October when it asked for strict action to be taken against the Israeli regime.

“I am satisfied that the issue is not urgent and need not be discussed here,” he said, drawing protests from both sides of the House.

Mohd Puad said in his motion that Israel has shown disrespect towards the demands of the international community and United Nations resolutions, which had called for the conflict in Palestine to be resolved peacefully and Palestinians to be given the right to form their own government.

“Israel again had used the blockade tactic and closed all border crossings so that the Palestinians in Gaza were left starving and faced with humanitarian crisis. The regime also has no respect for the Hamas government, which has been chosen as the rightful government during a democratic and fair election,” he added.

Datuk Mohamad Aziz (Sri Gading-BN) who protested Kiandee’s move said the big powers must be alerted so that they can make the Zionists withdraw the blockade.

Salahuddin Ayub (Kubang Kerian-PAS) then asked whether the House could call for those in favour of the motion to stand up but Kiandee said there was no need for that as he had made his decision.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Permatang Pauh-PKR) said it was a good opportunity to show that the BN and PR MPs could unite to agree on an important issue, irrespective of their political stand.

At this juncture, Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan-BN) asked Kiandee to reconsider his decision. Kiandee explained that he rejected the motion after discussing the matter with relevant parties who were satisfied with the government’s stand.

N Gobalakrishnan (Padang Serai-PKR) told Kiandee that the parliament is different from the government, so it needs to take a stand of its own.

Anwar, when met in parliament lobby, said: “I’m upset because this was an opportunity for us to debate this matter. There is a big difference between a government decision and the parliament’s stand.

“A parliamentary stand includes representatives from all the parties. The act of halting food supplies to the Palestinians by the Israeli government is too much. If this had happened to an African nation, it would receive a lot of international criticism. But because it’s done by Israel, it’s seen as trivial.

“The question of supporting Palestine does not come up as this is about humanitarian matters concerning blockade of food.”