(Harakah Daily) - PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has come out strongly against the recent statement by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on the state of Israel, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Urging Anwar to toe the stand by Islamic movements worldwide not to recognise the state of Israel as a legal nation, Nik Aziz said Anwar should retract the statement, or if the paper had wrongly quoted him, he should take legal action.

"As the Murshidul Am of PAS, with the agreement of all Shura council members, I urge Anwar Ibrahim to retract his statement as reported by WSJ. If it had been wrongly reported or conveyed a different meaning, we advise Anwar Ibrahim to take legal action against WSJ to clear his name,” said Nik Aziz.

Anwar, in an interview with the paper, was quoted as saying that he "support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel", but was mum on whether he would recognise the Zionist state.

Faced with intense criticism, Anwar later clarified that his statement was "conditional", and reflected the Malaysian government's support to the 'two-state solution', a plan endorsed by Arab regimes but viewed with suspicion by most Palestinians. Several other PKR leaders also rushed to defend the statement, by arguing that protecting Israel's security fulfils the two-state plan, and claimed that such a solution had also been endorsed by Hamas, which won elections in the Occupied Territories.

The series of explanation however triggered more reactions, with UMNO leaders saying that a Pakatan Rakyat government would recognise the Zionist state.

'No compromise to tyranny'

According to Nik Aziz, there is no question of according security to a state built illegally.

“The security of the illegal state of Israel is not the Muslims' or Arabs responsibility because the state is created through brutality. As a religion which emphasises human rights, justice, harmony and good international relations, we definitely cannot compromise with such tyranny,” he added.

The state of Israel, which borders Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, was carved out of Palestinian lands in 1948 through dealings by European colonial powers. In the past, its Zionist ideology, which among others claims that Palestine is God's "promised land" for the Jews, had been condemned by members of the United Nations General Assembly for its racist and discriminatory policies against Palestinians.

Following the publicity generated by the WSJ report, PAS leaders, including its president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang and his deputy Mohamad Sabu stood ground and reiterated the party's stand on the Palestinian conflict, saying Israel's was built on confiscated lands.

Explaining further, Nik Aziz said Israel was an illegal state and the result of pillage of Palestinian lands.

“It is incumbent upon all Muslims both in Palestine and the rest of the world, to struggle for a truly free Palestine. It is haram to accept the existence of such an illegal state. As such, PAS rejects the two-state solution, one for Palestine and one for Israel and Zionist Jews,” he stressed.