Amidst deafening chants of resurrection, Pakistan seems to be getting more and more entangled in suicidal entanglements that it would be better off staying away from. Among several others, there are two perspectives that require pragmatic and purposeful attention, which should be free from gross self-promotion.
Reports have emerged from various sources that Pakistan may be contributing troops to the International Stabilization Force being assembled in Gaza. The 20-point Trump Gaza plan envisages, among other things, an immediate ceasefire, exchange of prisoners including the remains of those killed, deployment of a multinational stabilization force to secure and demilitarize Gaza, followed by a Gulf-financed reconstruction of the enclave as a terror-free economic zone.
Once Gaza has been fully demilitarized under the supervision of independent monitors and it is ensured that it does not pose a threat to Israel, its security forces will withdraw in stages and the charge will be handed over to the International Stabilization Force to oversee its security.
The peace agreement is about legitimizing Israel’s genocide. The countries that would be involved in the implementation of the process, in one way or another, will be practical channels to ensure it. There is no mention of a Palestinian state in the document and no outlined process by which the genocide committed by Israel lasting over two years will be accounted for, involving over 75,000 people killed, thousands maimed, an entire population made homeless and hospitals, schools and offices razed to the ground. This has been a brazen display of a sinister, premeditated, murderous persecution of Israel, fully aided and abetted by the United States.
Despite the ceasefire that has been imposed, its flagrant violations continue by a trigger-happy Israel hell-bent on erasing the word Palestine from international memory. The Israeli killing spree continues unabated every day, but there are no checks in place to stop it from doing so: the US is silent, as is much of the Muslim world that helped make the deal possible.
Israel’s expansionist and genocidal designs have not been a secret. The same has intensified with time. Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran – virtually every country in the region has been the victim of Israeli expansionist aggression, which has now assumed barbaric, genocidal proportions, as evidenced in the Gaza Strip. Since this spree has had the support of the United States and part of the Western world, it has gone unchecked and has only expanded its operational repertoire in the process. It is the same expansionist and genocidal policy that has also been legitimized through the Abraham Accords.
Moaning the complicity of the Muslim world, Lieutenant (r) Asad Durrani has written thus in one of his latest papers, ‘Exhausting Non-Opportunities’: “Rallying around Trump to put our seal on the fate of the Palestinians is a show of slavery, hard to beat by any mafia that claims loyalty to the boss”. Indeed, the capitulation of the Muslim world to the American dictate has left a sickening feeling. We are thrown into a free fall and cross all barriers of wisdom and prudence. We crash as a sign of our unwavering submission to a cause that conflicts with the fundamental principles of the state.
To become part of the mechanism to keep a crooked agreement in place by sending troops to the peacekeeping force would be taking it a step too far. With our history of fighting the Palestinians in Jordan in the past, we need to be extraordinarily careful before venturing into a pitfall whose dire consequences may exceed our worst judgments.
There is no Palestinian state in this deal to protect, but there is a lot of notoriety that will come our way if we become part of this effort to liquidate what rightfully belongs to the people who live in the land. Since the Quaid’s time, we have been fighting for this cause in all bilateral, regional and international forums. What is the unknown compulsion that we need to violate its sanctity now?
Such a move becomes even more dangerous when there is no national consensus on the matter. The nation stands united with the Palestinian cause and opposes a US-imposed deal as well as the steps that Pakistan might contemplate taking – more specifically, an affirmative decision to join the proposed peacekeeping force, which would work under the command of the US and which would inevitably target Hamas to disarm it.
Instead of dividing a nation further, it would be advisable to take parliament and political leaders into confidence. Support should be sought from leaders who command the respect of the people of this country and who can play a role in articulating their thoughts and feelings effectively and productively. Making a decision independent of using the available forums can cultivate more fault lines in an already checkered national landscape.
Closer to home is a crisis brewing with Afghanistan. Negotiations between the two countries, mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, were deadlocked because Afghanistan is unwilling to commit anything in writing to its role in eliminating terrorist centers operating from its soil, mostly those of the TTP. Pakistan, on the other hand, has rightly insisted that such a commitment is the key prerequisite for moving forward in warding off terrorist activity filtering in from across the border.
Although there is a need to resolve the outstanding issues dispassionately, the acrimonious statements by officials from both countries have further damaged a tense situation. Let’s face the facts. This region has been embroiled in wars for a good part of the last half century, with Afghanistan and Pakistan bearing the brunt of these upheavals, largely due to a flawed and lopsided decision-making process. It is the aftermath of a series of conflicts that the two countries are struggling with today. This will not go away by continuing a relationship of bitterness and distrust.
War is not a solution to this crisis. Peace will come only when the two sides rise above mutual antipathy and sit together to resolve their outstanding disputes. Having suffered the ravages of bloodshed, both Afghanistan and Pakistan should show unwavering commitment to save the region from the prospect of another deadly conflict.
For Pakistan, political coercion should not influence the formulation of the country’s foreign policy. The need is to work for stability within to intermingle with carving out pioneering paths to cultivate relationships with the outside world. Only such a policy will stand the test of time.
The author is a political and security strategist and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute. He is a former Special Assistant to former Prime Minister Imran Khan and heads PTI’s political think tank. He tweets @RaoofHasan
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
Originally published in The News
