The Asia-Middle East Forum concludes the second session "Palestine Session" of the first international conference "China and the Palestinian Question" in cooperation with the Council on International Relations-Palestine (CIRP)
The Asia-Middle East Forum concluded the second session "Palestine Session" of the first international conference entitled "China and the Palestinian issue in light of its strategy in the Middle East" on Saturday, November 6, in Gaza City. This session is a continuation of the conference sessions in Istanbul, which was held in the presence and participation of international and Palestinian figures at the political and academic level, in cooperation between the Asia-Middle East Forum in Istanbul, which was established in 2016, and its partner, the Council on International Relations in Palestine, which was established in 2013.
This conference came to revive China's historical role in supporting the Palestinian cause, strengthening the ties of relations according to historical connotations in order to reach an effective partnership that serves all political, economic and developmental fields, and strengthening bridges of partnership and cooperation in order to create a bright future for Sino-Middle Eastern relations. Focusing on Palestine as a humanitarian issue and as a just right that relates to the future stability of the entire region. This conference comes to emphasize the role of major powers, such as China, in creating effective balances at the international level to stand by Palestinian rights and confront the reality of American hegemony and its complete bias towards Israeli interests.
Dr. Bassem Naim, Chairman of the International Relations Council and Head of the Political and Foreign Relations Department in the Hamas movement, opened the first speech in the session by emphasizing that the Palestinian issue is an international issue par excellence, and that the international community is the one who created the Palestinian issue. The Zionist movement could not realize its ambitions and aspirations without the unlimited support of the international community, which began before the British Mandate for Palestine was established in 1917. This international conspiracy against the Palestinian people's rights to freedom and independence would not have existed without the international community and the United Nations. The international community tried to mitigate the impact of the repercussions of the establishment of this entity by issuing a decision to recognize the entity as a state on the land of Palestine but tied it to two conditions: The first condition is the establishment of the State of Palestine, and the second condition is the right of Palestinians to return to their homes from which they were displaced.
Dr. Naim added that: "The international community should adopt the two-state solution, because over the course of 70 years of struggle against this occupation, the international community has failed to protect the legitimacy it adopts or the resolutions it has issued." Therefore, "without an international element to counterbalance this Western hegemony, especially the US, and the British before it, over the international decision and the Palestinian people, it will be difficult for the Palestinians to achieve the great dream of freedom and independence." Dr. Naim emphasized that the Palestinians have the right to seek a two-state solution. He stressed that the Palestinians have the right to look for a window to rebalance the decisions of the international community in favor of the Palestinian people.
Regarding China, Dr. Bassem Naim stated that there are many Chinese elements that are in the interest of the Palestinian people, and that China has never been a colonialist state - meaning that it did not colonize other peoples. In all the locations in which China has operated, whether in the Middle East or outside the Middle East, it has not waged wars. The grand strategic project "Belt and Road Project" that China is investing in is based on one idea: "how people and human beings can cooperate in each other's development." This is a very different idea from the powers that have dominated the globe for a century or more, whose only primary goal has been how to control people, plunder their wealth, weaken them, and dismantle them. "We must put our hands in the hands of the great country of China to stand up to this imbalance and this American hegemony in the region and restore normalcy and help our Palestinian people to freedom and independence."
For his part, Dr. Mohammed Makram Al-Balaawi, Chairman of the conference and President of the Asia and Middle East Forum, said that our Arab and Islamic region is still suffering from the effects of the Israeli occupation and aggression, which "occupied our country, divided it, plundered its resources and turned it into a land of suffering, poverty, debt, disease and civilizational backwardness." A few months ago, we witnessed the defeat of the US occupation in Afghanistan, and we hope that this will be a sign of the near liberation of the Palestinian people and the realization of their full rights.
Dr. Balaawi added: "China has been a source of inspiration for many people around the world. After suffering from foreign occupation and the tyranny of Western colonizers, China was able to gain its freedom and build a modern and developed state. It lifted half a billion people out of poverty. It has been a major reason for the renaissance of its region, and today it is the leading economic partner of most Asian countries, and indeed of the entire world. At the same time, it has not imposed its hegemony on others. Rather, its policy was based on the principle of non-interference in the affairs of others, respect for national particularities, and the adoption of the principle of dialogues to resolve disputes, which earned it the trust of its partners."
Dr. Mohammed al-Balaawi stressed that there are countless cultural, strategic, geographical and historical links between China and Palestine, and the fate of the Palestinian people has been linked existentially throughout history. As long as China has supported the Palestinian people, their association has become a necessity, especially as we are witnessing today an American-Western attempt to demonize the Chinese renaissance and continuous attempts to obstruct its deserved existence. "The world cannot stabilize without the stability of the continent of Asia, especially the West Asian region, with Palestine at its heart, and any disregard for this fact will lead to much suffering, wasted wealth, and loss of life. No economic or developmental projects can succeed as long as the aggression against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian land continues."
Dr. Balaawi welcomed the growing Chinese interest in the Palestinian cause, which could be a gateway to the freedom of the Palestinian people and their full and undiminished freedom away from the blind American bias towards Israel and the legitimization of its aggression.
Head of the Arabic Language Department and Director of the Cultural Center at Sun Yat-sen University, Dr. Seid Ma Yanzh said.
In his speech titled "China and the Palestinian Question: Morality of Motives and Humanity of Goals," he said that throughout its long history, China has always been a country that loves peace, coexistence and cooperation among nations, as evidenced by its long history free of any colonialist behavior. Because political behavior is a reflection of a certain political thought, China's foreign policy has been a just and principled policy based on certain foundations and constants that have not changed over the ages. Based on this rule, China has always stood by the Palestinian cause and supported the oppressed Palestinian people who have been subjected to all forms of oppression, displacement, and deprivation of their rights; because it realized that the Palestinian cause was never a religious conflict but rather the rights of a people who were expelled from their homeland by the force of an unjust international order. Thus, "China strives with all its might to promote justice and fairness, rather than injustice, oppression and the arrogance of power."
Based on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, Beijing seeks to have a role in the Middle East based on cooperation and exchange of interests and encouraging the parties to find a solution to the Palestinian issue that is acceptable to the peoples of the region and achieves peace and security. Dr. Saeed added that "the Chinese approach to the Middle East stems from Chinese interests with the countries of the region, and not only from the desire to disrupt and limit the American role in this region."
"China believes that the Palestinian cause is a just cause and must be supported; one of the principles on which the People's Republic of China was founded is to support peoples under occupation," said Dr. Ghassan Mahmoud Washah, head of the Department of History and Archaeology at the Islamic University and a Palestinian historian. China has been supportive of the Palestinian cause and the causes of peoples under occupation.
At the end of the first "Palestine Session" of the conference, Dr. Ghassan Weshah called on China to redouble its efforts in its role in influencing the Palestinian cause, saying: "Recently, it is noticeable that China's role in influencing the Palestinian issue is now not commensurate with China's power. China is a permanent member of the Security Council and has the right to veto, so China needs to double this role to be more influential." He emphasized that in order for China to become the world's largest power in all fields, it must be seen to have a permanent footprint in resolving just causes as it once was.
