PKR’s Nur Manuty should not put words into Qaradawi’s mouth

(Alias Shariman, Harakah Daily) – I am disappointed with statements by PKR’s Muhammad Nur Manuty, its information chief, defending Anwar Ibrahim’s statement in the Wall Street Journal regarding Israel’s security.

It seems Nur Manuty has no qualms about putting words into people’s mouths, pointing to what he said were statements made by Islamic leaders with regards to the Palestinian conflict. In doing so, Nur Manuty hopes to show that Anwar’s statement was in tune with much of the Arab world.

That he had to drag the Saudi Arabian leaders’ view to justify PKR’s stance on the Israel-Palestine question should be enough to show how thin his argument is. The Saudi royal family and most Arab leaders, as pointed out by an article published by Harakahdaily recently, is just the extension of the West’s hegemony. This is also why the West who are obsessed with “freedom for the Arab world” could not care two hoots about freedom in Saudi Arabia, ruled by royalties, without any semblance of democracy.

In his latest speech as reported by Sinar Harian today (Feb 23, 2012), Nur Manuty reportedly quoted yet another Islamic leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who he said supported Arab leaders’ efforts to find a solution to the conflict, which would result in a “guarantee of peace” for Israel from the Arab states.

Yet, a quick check will tell us that this is another lie by Nur Manuty or an attempt to put words into Qaradawi’s mouth. Addressing a Friday congregation in Doha, Qatar in 2010, Qaradawi made it very clear that the establishment of Israel was a “great calamity” (as reported in the Arabic newspaper Al-Shorouk, May 14, 2010).

Al-Qaradawi had also stated that the Arab regimes’ demand for Israel to retreat to its pre-1967 borders is also wrong, saying: “as if its 1948 borders were legitimate…”. Clearly, Al-Qaradawi is the last person to recognise Israel as a state.

He also did not mince his words when he described current efforts by Arab nations and the Arab League to achieve peace with Israel as “panting behind the mirage of peace.”

It would be good if Nur Manuty could provide clarification of his claims, as there have been too many attempts to defend the indefensible. This does not augur well for the future leadership of the country.