DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 Oct)—“Now is not the time to be silent … We are Palestine and Palestine is us,” Member of Parliament Anna Tarhata Basman said in her sponsorship speech for a resolution approved by the Bangsamoro Parliament on Tuesday, condemning acts of violence and collective punishment against the Palestinian people and calling for unconditional cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor for Gaza.
“As a people who know all too well what it means for others to recognize and echo your call for the right to exist, we the Bangsamoro people, should raise our voices on behalf of those struggling for survival, the people of Gaza, the people of Palestine,” said lawyer Basman, Deputy Floor Leader of the Bangsamoro Parliament.
The resolution was co-authored by MPs Sha Elijah B. Dumama-Alba, Raissa H. Jajurie, Suharto Esmael, Tawakal B. Midtimbang, Ramon Piang Sr., Abdulwahab Pak, Ibrahim Ali, Matarul Estino, Ubaida Pacasem, and Baileng Mantawil, consolidated with a similar resolution proposed by Deputy Speaker Omar Sema.
Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8 and launched air strikes a day after the militant group launched an unprecedented coordinated attack on Israel. Thousands have been killed and displaced since.
Citing international humanitarian law that considers collective punishment and intentional attacks against civilians as war crimes, and the broader context of the Palestinian people’s history and right to self-determination, Resolution No. 442 calls for an end to the hostilities and attacks against the civilian population of Palestine, especially in Gaza and to “allow their safe return to their homeland, their humane and dignified treatment therein, and the complete rehabilitation thereof.”
Amendments introduced during the deliberations on the resolution include a call on Israel and Hamas “to allow the United Nations to facilitate the establishment of a humanitarian corridor that will allow humanitarian actors to provide protection and immediate relief assistance to the people in Gaza.”
“We call on world leaders to prioritize the just resolution of the conflict that gives, first and foremost, the right of statehood to the Palestinians and establishes security in the areas of Palestine, Israel, and other adjoining countries. We are left with no choice. Our common humanity compels us to issue this most urgent appeal. We are Palestine and Palestine is us,” said Basman, who once served as head of the legal team of the government’s peace panel in the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
According to the peace agreement, the MILF takes the lead in the 80-member Bangsamoro Parliament during the transition period that should have ended on June 30, 2022 but was extended until June 30, 2025.
Copies of the resolution are to be sent to the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in the Philippines, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Embassies to the Philippines of Israel and of Palestine.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is a product of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace agreement signed by government and the MILF on March 27, 2014, after 17 years of negotiations.
In Marawi City on Thursday morning, October 19, civil society organizations will hold a “Bangsamoro Grand Solidarity Rally for Palestine.”
Marawi was the subject of urgent calls for a humanitarian corridor in 2017 when Islamic State-inspired groups laid siege on the country’s lone Islamic City and government responded by declaring martial law, deploying troops and launching air strikes.
On October 10, about a hundred residents marched the streets of Marawi shouting “Palestine is free.”
“When we saw the TV news footage of Israeli planes bombing Gaza City, it brought back memories of Marawi City being bombed during the 2017 siege,” civil society leader Drieza Liningding said.
Last Monday, thousands of residents gathered at the Cotabato City plaza for a “Bangsamoro Rally for Free Palestine,” to express their solidarity with Palestinians. (MindaNews)