Panakkad Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president, has called Israel a “terrorist nation” for its massacre of the hapless Palestinian people in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7.
He was opening an event organised by the IUML on the Kozhikode beach on Thursday to extend support to Palestine.
The Thangal said the Palestinian people had been resisting the invasion attempts by Israel since 1947. “Their land, properties, everything is being taken over and they are displaced from their land. Resistance has been their oxygen for long. A well-known Palestinian poet has described his people as dead bodies that breathe,” he said.
The IUML leader pointed out that India had been supporting them after realising Israel’s hidden agenda of invasion. “People like Mahatma Gandhi, father of our nation, have criticised the invasion. Prime Ministers from Nehru to Manmohan Singh continued that line. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee was supporting Palestine. The current dispensation at the Centre, however, has diluted our position and is seen whitewashing Israel. It is condemnable,” he said.
Terming Israel “the biggest terrorist nation in the world”, the Thangal said countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom were found to be supporting it. These Western nations, which always talk about human rights, were turning a blind eye towards what was happening in Gaza. “A free Palestine is the only solution, for which political talks should be held. Israel should stop its terrorist activities and fall in line,” he added.
Thousands of people, including a large number of women, from across northern Kerala districts gathered on the beach to attend the event, which also proved to be a show of strength of the IUML ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The party’s elected representatives, including MPs and MLAs, were present.
