Silence of Justice Ignored: Why the Home Ministry Revisits the 2020 Report on Amri & Koh Only After Court Order

Silence of Justice Ignored: Why the Home Ministry Revisits the 2020 Report on Amri & Koh Only After Court Order


16 Nov 2025 • 7:00 AM MYT


Kpost
Operation Consultant who is a keen observer of politics and current affairs

Photo Credit: SinarHarian(Bernama) , Scmp , Malaymail


The disappearance cases of Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh continue to haunt Malaysia’s conscience: a painful reminder of how justice delayed can often feel like justice denied. Eight years after Amri’s vanishing and seven years after Koh’s abduction, their families are still battling for accountability, even as the government appears to move at a snail pace.


Amri’s wife, Noorhayati Ariffin, has voiced her deep frustration over Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s recent remarks that the ministry is “working on” the High Court’s order to reopen investigations into both cases. Her disbelief is warranted. According to Noorhayati, the special task force report - commissioned by the Home Ministry itself - was already completed and submitted to the minister in 2020.


Source:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/11/11/amris-wife-questions-delay-in-reopening-probe-into-husbands-disappearance


“Why does the home minister need to wait until now to ‘reopen investigations’?” she asked pointedly. “The report, prepared by his own ministry, already found that police officers acted illegally and negligently, enabling rogue officers to operate with impunity.”


The timeline paints a troubling picture. In 2019, Suhakam’s inquiry concluded that both Amri and Koh were victims of enforced disappearances by state agents. A year later, the task force report echoed those findings and was handed to the Home Ministry. Yet, instead of action, the findings were classified, hidden behind a veil of bureaucracy. Even in June 2023, when Saifuddin promised to raise the issue with “higher authorities,” little progress followed.


Now, after the High Court’s damning verdicts - ordering the government and police to compensate Amri’s family RM3 million and Koh’s family RM37 million for gross investigative failures - the ministry has finally awakened to “review” what it has long possessed.


Noorhayati’s question cuts to the core of public sentiment: what else does the government need before acting? The reports from Suhakam, the task force, and the courts all point to systemic negligence and possible state complicity. Continuing to stall only deepens the distrust between the public and the institutions sworn to protect them.


For the families, words are no longer enough. What they seek is justice, transparency, and accountability - and for Malaysia to confront the uncomfortable truth that enforced disappearances have no place in a democratic nation.


Until those responsible are named and held to account, every delay will only reinforce one painful truth: the silence of the state is as loud as the cries of the disappeared.

Siam, Not Kedah, Lost Penang: Why Sanusi’s 200-Year-Old Claim Holds No Legal Ground in Modern Malaysia

OPINION | Siam, Not Kedah, Lost Penang: Why Sanusi’s 200-Year-Old Claim Holds No Legal Ground in Modern Malaysia



16 Nov 2025 • 12:30 PM MYT


Kpost
Operation Consultant who is a keen observer of politics and current affairs

Image: Chow Kon Yeow (L) , Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (R) / Photo Credit: SinarHarian

The fiery debate over Kedah’s renewed claim on Penang and its demand for an increased annual “honorarium” payment has reignited a centuries-old territorial controversy - but history and the law may not be on Kedah’s side.


Penang Heritage Trust President Clement Liang recently dismantled the popular belief that Kedah had the sovereign right to lease Penang to the British in 1786. According to Liang, Kedah itself was under Siamese rule - known then as Saiburi - and had no legal authority to negotiate directly with the British. He noted that Thai historical records and exhibits at the National Museum in Bangkok clearly identify Penang (Koh Mak) as the first territory Siam lost to a Western power.

Image: Clement Liang / Photo Credit: Commonwealthofworldchinatowns


Source:


https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/10/29/siam-not-kedah-lost-penang-to-the-british-says-expert


Liang explained that Kedah’s defiance of Siam’s control led to repeated raids, culminating in the 1821 Perang Bisik, which saw Kedah’s royal court destroyed and thousands of people fleeing to Province Wellesley. The 1826 Burney Treaty between Siam and the British later formalised the arrangement: Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu, and Pattani were recognised as Siamese provinces, while Penang and Province Wellesley became official British territories, ending any notion of a “leasehold” arrangement.


It was not until 1909, through the Anglo-Siamese Treaty, that Kedah and the other northern Malay states were transferred to British control. Penang, however, had long been governed by the British and was never restored to Kedah. Liang stressed that Kedah’s historical instability and lack of recognised sovereignty make any modern claim over Penang invalid.

Image: Haniff Khatri Abdullah / Photo Credit: SinarHarian



Echoing this, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdullah noted that Kedah relinquished all rights to Penang when its ruler signed the Federation of Malaya agreements in 1948 and 1957. These legal documents contain no clauses granting Kedah territorial claims or lease rights over Penang. “The Federal Constitution recognises Penang as an equal state within Malaysia,” Haniff said.

Image: Ramkarpal Singh (L) , RSN Rayer:(R) / Photo Credit: Malaymail , SuaraMerdeka



The Dewan Rakyat was told that the Federal Constitution overrides any historical claim that Penang belongs to Kedah, reaffirming Penang’s sovereignty as an equal state within Malaysia. Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) and RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) dismissed opposition MP Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman’s (PN-Sik) call to review Penang’s sovereignty, citing constitutional provisions that clearly define Penang as part of the Federation.

Image: Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman / Photo Credit: MalaysiaGazette

Tarmizi had argued that Francis Light’s 1786 occupation of the island was unlawful and that Kedah’s historical rights should be reexamined.

His remarks came as Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced plans to appoint a legal team to pursue the state’s claim, following Sultan Sallehuddin’s call for clarification on Penang’s “lease” status.


Despite this, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has renewed his push to claim a higher “lease payment” - increasing it from the current RM10 million to RM100 million annually - arguing that Penang remains on lease. Historically, the federal government paid RM10,000 annually on behalf of Penang before raising the sum to RM10 million in 2018.


Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow maintains that the state was permanently ceded after independence and that such claims are both baseless and seditious. He has dismissed them as a political stunt, reiterating his earlier challenge to Sanusi: “See you in court.”


Government leaders and constitutional experts have been unequivocal: the Federal Constitution trumps colonial-era history. Article 1(2) explicitly lists Penang as a sovereign state of the Federation, and any claim to the contrary is constitutionally void.

Image: Wong Hon Wai / Photo Credit: Malaymail


As Penang state exco Wong Hon Wai aptly put it, “The 1957 Constitution marked a new chapter that supersedes all documents before it. Raising a 200-year-old issue only distracts from Kedah’s pressing need for real development.”

In short, the history books and the Federal Constitution speak the same truth - Penang belongs to Malaysia, not Kedah nor Siam. Sanusi’s repeated claims may stir emotions, but legally, they hold no water.

MIC pledges to back Anwar, even if it leaves BN

FMT:

MIC pledges to back Anwar, even if it leaves BN

3 hours ago
Rex Tan

MIC president SA Vigneswaran rules out the possibility of going solo, saying the party must join another coalition if it decides to leave BN

MIC president SA Vigneswaran said the party’s central working committee will make the final decision on whether to leave BN ‘as soon as possible’.

SHAH ALAM: MIC has pledged to continue supporting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim until the end of his term, even if the party decides to part ways with Barisan Nasional.

MIC president SA Vigneswaran ruled out the possibility of going solo, saying the party must join another coalition if it does leave BN.

However, he maintained that MIC will only decide which coalition to join if it decides to withdraw from BN, which it co-founded with Umno and MCA over 50 years ago.


Vigneswaran added that the party’s central working committee will make the final decision on whether to leave BN “as soon as possible”.

“Most importantly, we are in a dilemma because the prime minister himself has not committed any wrong (in this development). So we are firm about supporting him for the next two years.


“We have guaranteed before that we will support Anwar through this term. That decision is still in effect,” he told reporters after the conclusion of MIC’s annual convention at IDCC Shah Alam today.

The former Kota Raja MP said MIC delegates unanimously agreed today to pass two resolutions – leaving BN but deferring the final decision to the central working committee and party president.

“We’re not playing politics. We’re just fed up (about our position in BN). We made this decision to make sure any power-sharing formula must be based on the principle of dignity.”

Vigneswaran said Anwar was aware of the developments and that he had discussed the matter with the Pakatan Harapan chairman last Friday.


“I spoke to him, not to negotiate seats but to tell him we want to leave BN. He advised me to rethink because we have been with BN for a long time.”

The former Senate president added that BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had not been informed yet about the matter as MIC viewed it as an internal affair.

He also said he believed MIC elected representatives would be able to keep their seats if the party leaves BN as the anti-hopping law dealt with individuals hopping parties and not political parties switching support.

***

Vigneswaran sounded as if he wants to leave BN but NOT necessarily joins PN - probably angling for Pakatan, wakakaka, what with his continuing support for Anwar.

MIC AGM approves resolution to leave Barisan to join Perikatan – but defers decision to leadership

The Star:

MIC AGM approves resolution to leave Barisan to join Perikatan – but defers decision to leadership

Sunday, 16 Nov 20254:58 PM MYT





SHAH ALAM: Delegates at the 2025 MIC annual general assembly have unanimously approved a resolution to leave Barisan Nasional and join Opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional.

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the decision paves the way for MIC to officially apply to join Perikatan, reported Astro Awani.


He said joining Perikatan would build a new platform that is more inclusive, principled and provides a wider space for the voices of the Indian community in Malaysia.

This was "after taking into account the country's current political situation, as well as based on a comprehensive assessment of MIC's position and importance in the BN coalition," he said.


"The existing cooperation no longer provides space for MIC to play an effective role to champion the interests of the Indian community and contribute meaningfully to national development.

"With this, the 79th MIC AGM delegates meeting unanimously agree that MIC is prepared to end its participation in the Barisan coalition.

"However, it is subject to the process and provisions enshrined in the MIC constitution," he said during his speech on the amendments to the constitution and resolutions at the MIC AGM here on Sunday (Nov 16).

According to Saravanan, the decision was taken after in-depth and thorough discussions among grassroots members, divisional and branch level leaders, as well as state and central MIC leadership, office holders and delegates from across the country.

However, the delegates agreed that the decision be postponed until the next central working committee (CWC) meeting to make a decision.

Sinar Harian reported that although delegates discussed the motion, no vote was taken because the assembly agreed to leave the decision to Vigneswaran and the MIC top leadership.

MIC is one of the founding parties of Barisan, which has ruled since the country achieved independence in 1957.

MIC was established in August 1946 and later formed the Alliance coalition with Umno and MCA in 1955, before it evolved into Barisan in 1974 with the participation of more component parties.

***

Leaving BN is one thing, joining PN is totally another, a very idiotic one.

Is Turkey India’s New Enemy? How Should Delhi Respond Over Growing Pakistan-Turkey Nexus?

Sunday, November 16, 2025


Is Turkey India’s New Enemy? How Should Delhi Respond Over Growing Pakistan-Turkey Nexus? OP-ED

By Air Marshal Anil Chopra
-November 16, 2025


Turkey’s support to Pakistan during Op Sindoor is well known and was flagged by India during the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in Tianjin, China, in early September.

Turkey provided Pakistan with defence hardware, including uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and drones. Pakistani engineers and technicians have been working at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), including on the fifth-generation aircraft “KAAN.”

There is a religious angle to the Pak-Turkish relations, with both backing hard-line Islam. Both have large militaries and are among the strongest in the Islamic world.

More recently, there are reports that Turkey appears to have obstructed the delivery of the Indian Army’s second and final batch of six AH-64E Apache helicopters. Ordered in 2020 and en route to India, the cargo plane was abruptly turned back, further delaying an already troubled schedule.

The An-124 was stuck in England for a week before returning to the United States because Turkey refused to grant the cargo aircraft clearance to fly over its airspace. It is time to look at Pak-Turkish military and strategic relations and their implications for India.
Pakistan-Turkey Political & Economic Relations

Turkey and Pakistan have a strong, long-standing relationship built on historical, religious, and geopolitical ties, characterized by significant cooperation in defence, trade, and diplomacy.

Key aspects include defence partnerships through arms sales and joint exercises, political and economic cooperation, and mutual support on regional issues such as Kashmir. Both countries share a similar vision and ideology, which has strengthened their alliance in recent years. Both countries are important members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).


Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, expressed admiration for Turkey’s founding leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and also a desire to develop Pakistan on the Turkish model of modernism.

Similar ideas were expressed by the former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, who grew up in Turkey and had received extensive military training there. On 26 October 2009, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan and became the fourth world leader to address the Pakistani parliament.



Both Turkey’s and Pakistan’s populations practice the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. Turkey supports Pakistan’s position of holding a UN-organized plebiscite to decide whether Kashmir wants to join Pakistan, a position Turkish President Erdogan reaffirmed in a joint address to the Pakistani parliament, which was attended by Pakistan’s military high command, and provides diplomatic support.

Turkey supports Pakistan’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Turkey has also reportedly opposed India’s inclusion in the NSG and previously supported Pakistan in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Frequent high-level meetings between leaders of both countries reinforce the close relationship. A shared Islamic identity, strengthened by historical ties to the Ottoman Empire and ideological alignment with political Islam, underpins their relationship.


The two countries have signed preferential trade agreements to increase trade volumes. Turkish companies have made significant investments in Pakistan, including in the energy and consumer goods sectors. Collaboration extends to infrastructure, with projects such as solar energy plants. Turkey has also supported Pakistan in the healthcare sector by establishing medical centres.

Pakistanis enjoy the gracious attitude of ordinary Turks and are often termed as Kardeş (brother). The trade volume rose by nearly 30% year-on-year in 2024 to reach $1.4 billion. A Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed in August 2022. The two countries are now negotiating the Turkey-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement.

Illegal Pakistani Migrants

The issue of Pakistani migrants entering Turkey illegally with the ambition of reaching Europe for better living conditions has brought frictions. However, not all of them make it, and eventually end up being stranded in Turkey.


This has been a cause of great concern to Turkish authorities, who have tightened their borders with neighbouring European countries.


Some of these illegals are alleged to have been involved in crime, which has caused a great deal of negative sentiment towards Pakistanis among Turkish residents. It is estimated that some 5000 to 6000 Pakistanis reside in Turkey illegally, although the number keeps changing and the exact number is not yet known.

Plenty of Afghans on fake Pakistani passports, and some criminals evading prosecution in Pakistan, live illegally in Turkey and commit crimes.
Pakistan-Turkey Military Relations

Both nations were part of Cold War-era alliances such as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), an economic and security alliance among Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Today, Turkey is Pakistan’s second-largest arms supplier after China. The recent purchases include Bayraktar TB2 drones and Kemankes cruise missiles. Turkey is a supplier of anti-tank weapons to Pakistan. Pakistan has supported Turkey in conflicts such as those in Cyprus. In 2020, both the Iranian and Turkish governments were claimed to be recruiting Pakistani mercenaries to fight for their individual causes in Syria.

The nations engage in frequent joint military exercises and intelligence sharing, which enhance Pakistan’s operational preparedness against India. Turkish and Pakistani troops held joint counter-terror exercises with Uzbek forces in Uzbekistan in April 2019.

Over 1,500 Pakistani military officers have received training in Turkey since 2000. Additionally, there are indications of a trilateral military alliance forming among Turkey, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan to enhance their defence ties.

Pakistan and Turkey plan to strengthen their close ties into a strategic partnership. Both countries have grown even closer militarily owing to the security situation around their neighbours, as well as instability in ties with the US in recent years.

This handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office on February 13, 2025 shows Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shaking hands with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif before inspecting a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. (Photo by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / PAKISTAN’S PRIME MINISTER OFFICE” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Military Aviation Engagement

Turkey helped upgrade a batch of F-16 fighter jets for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), manufacturing engines and spare parts, and provided training to Pakistani air force officers on the upgraded F-16s.

Turkey continues to purchase minor aerial weapons and components from Pakistan. The PAF and the Turkish Air Force signed a deal to purchase 52 Pakistani-made MFI-17 Super Mushshak turboprop trainers.

Pakistan helped train new pilots and support the recovery of the Turkish Armed Forces in the aftermath of pilot shortages after the attempted coup of 2016. Pakistan is closely monitoring and working with them on Turkey’s new-generation TAI TF-Kaan fighter jet.

India successfully repelled a significant drone attack by Pakistan on its western border during “Op Sindoor”. Over 300 drones, suspected to be Turkish-made Asisguard Songar models, targeted military and civilian sites.

Pakistan is also jointly developing other UAVs with Turkey. Turkish firm ASELSAN supplied advanced targeting pods for Pakistan’s JF-17 jets. The Turkish company HAVELSAN delivered an electronic warfare training range.

Platforms for Pakistan Navy

In July 2018, Pakistan Navy signed a contract for the acquisition of four MILGEM-class corvettes from Turkey, which is the largest single military export deal of Turkey worth $1.5 billion.

Pakistan Navy Commander Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and Erdogan cut the first metal plate of the first of the four MILGEM Ada class corvettes during a ceremony held on 29 September 2019.

The naval tanker PNS Moawin was designed by the Turkish firm STM. Turkey is conducting mid-life upgrades on Agosta 90B submarines. Navies of both countries participated in drills in the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea.

India-Turkey Relations

India-Turkey relations are complex, marked by both significant economic and defence cooperation and periodic political tensions, primarily due to Turkey’s support for Pakistan and its stance on Kashmir.

The relationship once involved strong trade ties and growing defence collaboration, but recent events, such as the use of Turkish drones in conflicts and Turkey’s condemnation of Indian military operations, have created new strains.

As far as the military exercises between India and Turkey are concerned, there have been low-profile passage exercises (PASSEX) between the Navies of the two countries.

Once there was a goal to reach $20 billion in trade, but in 2024-25, India-Turkey bilateral trade was approximately $8.71 billion, with India experiencing a trade surplus.

India exported goods worth about $5.72 billion, including engineering goods, chemicals, and electronic goods, while it imported $2.99 billion from Turkey, primarily mineral fuels, pearls, and nuclear reactor parts.

Following Turkey’s support for Pakistan after India’s Operation Sindoor, there were calls for a boycott of Turkish goods, with negative impacts on travel and specific imports such as marble and apples.

India’s aviation regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), suspended Çelebi’s security clearance indefinitely on May 15, citing safety concerns over its presence in secure airside areas.

As of mid-2025, the Indian government had not imposed a complete trade ban on Turkey, but trade with Turkey and Azerbaijan remains uncertain. India supports Armenia, Greece, and Cyprus in return.

Implications & Options India

Despite India’s humanitarian gestures, such as aid after Turkey’s 2023 earthquake, the Turkey-Pakistan axis remains strong, impacting India’s international relations.

Because of Turkey’s considerable support for Pakistan, India chose its own geopolitical counterbalances. India has aligned with Greece-backed Republic of Cyprus against Turkish interests. India supports Armenia militarily in its conflict with Turkey-backed Azerbaijan. India’s strategic shift with the US focuses on Indo-Pacific partnerships, sidelining Pakistan.

Turkey dismissed media reports alleging its involvement in radicalisation or links to terrorist acts in India as baseless disinformation, after the two Delhi blast suspects were found to have visited Turkey.

Turkey’s aspirations to be a bridge between Asia and Europe are challenged by projects like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which strategically bypasses Turkey.

Erdogan criticizes IMEC, favouring Turkey’s route initiatives like the Iraq Development Road (IDR), which aims to connect West Asia with Europe by establishing a network of railways, highways, ports, and cities. Among its projects is the establishment of an economic corridor linking the Grand Faw Port in Basrah with Europe via Turkey.

There is a general belief that Turkish government-sponsored cargo planes carried military supplies to Pakistan during Op Sindoor. By doing this, Turkey has made a statement of taking sides, and perhaps giving higher importance to Islamic connections over trade with one of the fastest-growing economies and markets.

Is religion much more important than nation-building?

Are both Turkey and Pakistan seeking alternatives to their lost Cold War relevance within the Western security architecture? Both have had a “Blow Hot Blow Cold” relationship with the USA.

The United States is aware that Turkey is playing the Russia card and moving towards China. Pakistan, for all purposes, is connected to China through an umbilical cord and is vulnerably dependent on the Chinese defence industry and largess.

Despite being a NATO member, Turkey invited condemnation and CAATSA invocation on purchasing the Russian S-400 Air Defence System, including the denial of F-35 aircraft. Notwithstanding recent Trump administration Tariffs against India and overtures towards Pakistan, the USA’s interests lie in a much larger India, and as part of the QUAD and Indo-Pacific strategy.

Turkey’s support for Pakistan’s Kashmir politics and the arms supplies remain the two main challenges in India-Turkey relations, which have hit a low in the last few years.

Turkey also supported Bangladesh and the Maldives when their relations with India became strained recently. India agreed to support Armenia with the indigenous Akash air defence system. India has also tried to build or retain close relations with Turkey’s regional adversaries and critics, such as Greece, Cyprus, Iran, the UAE, and Israel, and in fact has held military exercises with many.

While the Islamic world cannot afford to let Pakistan become a failed state, should Turkey’s relations with Pakistan be at the expense of its relations with India?

There are lessons to be learned from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. President Erdogan’s propensity to speak about Kashmir so often, and even during a bilateral visit to India, is unacceptable. Turkey’s actions during and post “Op Sindoor” have angered and antagonised the 1.4 billion Indians, which will require conscious efforts to repair and undo.

At $4.2 trillion, India is the fourth-largest economy and is set to emerge as the third biggest, soon. Turkey, with $1.5 trillion, and Pakistan, with $410 million, are way behind.

In terms of global military power, India, Turkey, and Pakistan rank 4th, 9th, and 12th, respectively. Turkey-Pakistan is not an earth-shaking combination, albeit it adds a nuisance to India’s neighbourhood.

India does not need a knee-jerk reaction. Turkey-Pakistan partnership presents a multifaceted strategic challenge for India, requiring a calibrated response that includes strengthening its own defence capabilities and fostering strong alliances with like-minded regional partners.

India must continue to focus on developing its economic and military power. Turkey’s support for Pakistan is nothing new and is unlikely to create any significant impact on New Delhi.

Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired) is an Indian Air Force veteran, fighter test pilot, and ex-director-general of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. He has been decorated with gallantry and distinguished service medals during his 40-year tenure in the IAF.

Trump’s ploy at the UN is American imperialism masquerading as a peace process

Pearls and Irritations
John Menadue's Public Policy Journal

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Sybil Fares

Trump’s ploy at the UN is American imperialism masquerading as a peace process


November 16, 2025


The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine.

The resolution does three things. It establishes US political control over Gaza. It separates Gaza from the rest of Palestine. And it allows the US, and therefore Israel, to determine the timeline for Israel’s supposed withdrawal from Gaza – which would mean: never.

This is imperialism masquerading as a peace process. In and of itself, it’s no surprise. Israel runs US foreign policy in the Middle East. What is a surprise is that the US and Israel might just get away with this travesty unless the world speaks up with urgency and indignation.

The draft UNSC resolution would establish a US-UK-dominated Board of Peace, chaired by none other than Donald Trump himself, and endowed with sweeping powers over Gaza’s governance, borders, reconstruction and security. This resolution would sideline the State of Palestine and condition any transfer of authority to the Palestinians on the indulgence of the Board of Peace.

This would be an overt return to the British Mandate of 100 years ago, with the only change being that the US would hold the mandate rather than Britain. If it weren’t so utterly tragic, it would be laughable. As Marx said, history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. Yes, the proposal is farce, yet Israel’s genocide is not. It is tragedy of the first order.

Incredibly, according to the draft resolution, the Board of Peace would be granted sovereign powers in Gaza. Palestinian sovereignty is left to the discretion of the Board, which alone would decide when Palestinians are “ready” to govern themselves – perhaps in another 100 years? Even military security is subordinated to the Board, and the envisioned forces would answer not to the UN Security Council or to the Palestinian people, but to the Board’s “strategic guidance".

The US-Israel resolution is being put forward precisely because the rest of the world — other than Israel and the US — has woken up to two facts. First, Israel is committing genocide, a reality witnessed every day in Gaza and the West Bank, where innocent Palestinians are murdered to the satisfaction of the Israel Defence Forces and the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Second, Palestine is a state, albeit one whose sovereignty remains obstructed by the US, which uses its veto in the Security Council to block Palestine’s permanent UN membership. At the UN this past July and then again in September, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for Palestine’s statehood, a fact that put the Israel-US Zionist lobby into overdrive, resulting in the current draft resolution.

For Israel to accomplish its goal of Greater Israel, the US is pursuing a classic divide-and-conquer strategy, squeezing Arab and Islamic states with threats and inducements. When other countries resist the US-Israel demands, they are cut off from critical technologies, lose access to World Bank and IMF financing and suffer Israeli bombing, even in countries with US military bases present. The US offers no real protection; rather, it orchestrates a protection racket, extracting concessions from countries wherever US leverage exists. This extortion will continue until the global community stands up to such tactics and insists upon genuine Palestinian sovereignty and US and Israeli adherence to international law.

Palestine remains the endless victim of US and Israeli manoeuvres. The results are not just devastating for Palestine, which has suffered an outright genocide, but for the Arab world and beyond. Israel and the US are currently at war, overtly or covertly, across the Horn of Africa ( Libya, Sudan, Somalia), the Eastern Mediterranean ( Lebanon, Syria), the Gulf region ( Yemen) and Western Asia (Iraq, Iran).

If the UN Security Council is to provide true security in accordance with the UN Charter, it must not yield to US pressures and instead act decisively in line with international law. A resolution truly for peace should include four vital points. First, it should welcome the State of Palestine as a sovereign UN member state, with the US lifting its veto. Second, it should safeguard the territorial integrity of the State of Palestine and Israel, according to the 1967 borders. Third, it should establish a UNSC-mandated protection force drawn up from Muslim-majority states. Fourth, it should include the defunding and disarmament of all belligerent non-state entities, and it should ensure the mutual security of Israel and Palestine.

The two-state solution is about true peace – not about the politicide and genocide of Palestine, or the continued attacks by militants on Israel. It’s time for both Palestinians and Israelis to be safe, and for the US and Israel to give up the cruel delusion of permanently ruling over the Palestinian people.



Republished from Common Dreams, 13 November 2025

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

Jeffrey D. Sachs


Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, is Director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has served as Special Adviser to three UN Secretaries-General. His books include The End of Poverty, Common Wealth, The Age of Sustainable Development, Building the New American Economy, and most recently, A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism.


Sybil Fares

Sybil Fares is a specialist and advisor in Middle East policy and sustainable development at SDSN

al Jazeera:

Israeli air attacks across Gaza; deadly West Bank raids continue

By Caolán Magee, Tim Hume and Alma Milisic

Published On 16 Nov 202516 Nov 2025

Share

Save

• Israeli air attacks have taken place inside the yellow line in southern Gaza as well as in Gaza City.
• A young Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli fire during a raid on the Askar refugee camp east of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent told Al Jazeera.
• Israel returned 15 more bodies of Palestinians detained in Gaza, bringing the total number of dead received since the October 10 ceasefire to 330.
• Displaced Palestinians are reeling after heavy rains flooded their tents in makeshift camps in Gaza City, as the United Nations warns that Israeli restrictions on aid have left hundreds of thousands of families without adequate shelter.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 69,187 Palestinians and wounded 170,703 since October 2023

• 4m ago

   (08:15 GMT)

  ‘Trip of suffering’: Palestinian details journey to South Africa

  A resident of Gaza, who is one of 153 Palestinians that landed in South Africa without the correct paperwork earlier this week, says the group did not know where it would end up before leaving Israel.

  Loay Abu Saif, who fled Gaza with his wife and children, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the journey out of the battered and besieged enclave was a “trip of suffering”.

  “We were not too convinced that any group … would be able to make this kind of evacuation,” Abu Saif said from Johannesburg, a day after the chartered plane his group was on landed at the city’s OR Tambo International Airport.

  “I can say I feel safe … which means a lot for Palestinians, especially for those in Gaza,” he added.

  Details are slowly emerging of a controversial transit scheme run by a non-profit, through which activists say Israel is encouraging the displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza by helping them settle in other countries.

  You can read more here.

  

  2:26
• 19m ago

   (08:00 GMT)

  Search for bodies of deceased captives expected to resume in Gaza: Report

  The search for the bodies of deceased captives is expected to resume today in Gaza, Israeli public broadcaster Kan is reporting.

  The report added that the families were told Hamas had not carried out search operations for the past two days due to stormy weather in Gaza.

  

  Members of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, search for the bodies of Israeli deceased Israeli captives alongside Red Cross workers in the east of the Gaza City earlier this month [File: Mohammed Saber / EPA]
• 34m ago

   (07:45 GMT)

  Israeli strikes hit east of Khan Younis, in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood

  

  By Ibrahim al-Khalili

  Reporting from Gaza City

  The Israeli army continues to target locations inside the so-called yellow line, in areas still under its control.

  It has carried out multiple air strikes – one east of Khan Younis in the south and the other in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

  The situation is getting much more dire for families who live near this yellow line, including my own. We live a few metres away from the yellow line and the situation is going from bad to worse as the Israeli military continues to demolish residential buildings and spread panic with attacks in those areas.

  On top of this, winter conditions are adding extra suffering to the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who are still living in fear and in a deepening humanitarian crisis.
  Advertisement
• 49m ago

   (07:30 GMT)

  Displaced woman describes desperate conditions in Gaza

  A displaced Palestinian woman sheltering in a flooded tent in Gaza says the worsening weather has pushed her “to exhaustion”.

  Aid agencies warn that Israel is continuing to block tents and temporary housing from entering the Strip.

  “I have been crying since morning… How can I get rid of this water inside the tent? How can I deal with my problems? I am young, and I just need help,” she said.

  “I am a widow. I don’t have a father, brother, sister, or anyone else. I don’t have anyone to turn to. I am a stranger here. There is no one to help me.”

  Heavy downpours have drenched makeshift shelters across Gaza, with families reporting rising water levels, soaked bedding and collapsing structures. Aid groups say the flooding is worsening living conditions for thousands of displaced Palestinians and raising fears of waterborne disease.

  “We are exhausted from everything we’ve been through during this war. Look, I don’t have a mattress or a blanket. My children are young. They need winter clothes,” the woman said. “I just want my message to reach the whole world. My body is exhausted from all this.”

  

  1:46
• 1h ago

   (07:15 GMT)

  What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

  As we’ve been reporting, the Israeli army has have killed a young Palestinian man during a raid on the Old Askar refugee camp east of Nablus and wounded one more. Additionally:

  • Armed Israeli settlers attacked four Palestinian citizens on Saturday evening near the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah. The attackers followed the Palestinians’ vehicle into the mountainous areas near Beit Ur, and the victims’ whereabouts remain unknown.
  • The Israeli military demolished a residential structure and two livestock sheds in the Al-Maleh area of the northern Jordan Valley on Saturday evening.
  • Israeli forces continued imposing a strict closure on the Old City of Hebron for a second day, tightening movement across its streets and neighbourhoods. Military units maintained an expanded presence and restricted Palestinians’ access to multiple areas.
  • Thousands of Israelis stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque, citing Jewish holiday celebrations, as the military enforced a curfew and set up checkpoints across Hebron. Large groups also entered the mosque compound, while Palestinians faced widespread movement bans.
• 1h ago

   (07:00 GMT)

  

  Israeli helicopters bomb northern Rafah

  Israeli helicopters have bombed northern areas of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

  The attacks took place inside the so-called yellow line demarcating areas under the control of the Israeli military.
• 1h ago

   (06:45 GMT)

  Palestinians reel under winter rains as Israel blocks Gaza shelter supplies

  Cold temperatures and heavy rainfall are worsening already dire conditions for displaced Palestinian families across Gaza, as Israel continues to block the deliveries of tents and other critical shelter supplies into the besieged territory.

  Palestinians in Gaza attempted on Saturday to dig trenches around their flimsy tents to keep the water from flooding their tents, as others took shelter in destroyed buildings, even those at risk of collapse.

  “I have been crying since morning,” a displaced Palestinian mother of two told Al Jazeera from Gaza City, pointing to her family’s tent, which had been flooded as a result of heavy rainfall overnight.

  Read more here.

***

Evil continues its shailok work