The Al-Quds platform aims to create a multination political and legal umbrella for pro-Palestinian initiatives, President of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds and Palestine, Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar said, as Israel’s war in Gaza continues relentlessly.

"The public opinion has shifted greatly as more people around the world understand how unjust the life in the occupied Palestinian territory is. Yet, this moral awakening has yet to translate into legislative actions due to political complications," al-Ahmar told Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview.

Last week, the fifth conference of the league took place in Istanbul with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş. A 27-point declaration was adopted, strongly condemning the war and supporting a global boycott movement against Israel. Over 500 MPs from 80 countries, among which are 16 Latin American, 19 African and 15 East Asian countries, participated.

The declaration condemned the efforts of the U.S. and some Western countries to support the occupying entity militarily and economically, and called for the smooth delivery of sufficient food, drinking water and medical aid to the residents of Gaza.

"One of the main focuses of this conference is to convince Türkiye and other honest countries to create a multinational political and legal umbrella for pro-Palestinian initiatives, which would allow them to provide more effective and organized support toward relieving Palestine from Israeli occupation and achieving Palestinian self-determination and an independent state," al-Ahmar pointed out.

He elaborated that the Al-Quds Platform, which was established in 2015, is an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) specialized in serving the Palestinian cause and garnering global support for Palestine on a parliamentarian level.

"Our aim is to create a global parliamentarian network of MPs around the world to advocate the Palestinian cause and the rights of Palestinians within parliaments worldwide and encourage more officials to stand against Israel’s injustice and aggression upon the people of Palestine," he said, indicating that the platform managed to increase international support on a legislative level.

He said the league had established two sub-leagues in Asia, another two in Africa as well as one in Latin America and Europe each, while the league has obtained observer status in several international and regional parliamentarian unions in the African, Asian, Arab and Islamic parliamentarian union.

Saying that the league provides coordination between the pro-Palestinian nations within international parliamentarian gatherings, al-Ahmar said: "We have also succeeded in encouraging a growing number of parliaments worldwide to create committees within their structure that focus on issues related to Palestine. We work with these committees toward encouraging legislative action that hinders normalisation efforts that overlook the constant breach of international law and encourage actions such as banning goods imported from the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

Since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the league has been actively engaged with parliamentarian committees and delegations across the world, including the secretary-general of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, Mohammad Reza Majidi, the Foreign Relations Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, Deputy Chairperson of the Qatari Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti, the leader of the African National freedom party in South Africa and many other.

"In all meetings, the league emphasized the importance of turning solidarity positions with the Palestinian cause into practical steps toward holding Israel accountable for its crimes of genocide against the Palestinian people while also encouraging larger immediate humanitarian support."

Close co-op with Türkiye

Al-Ahmar said that Türkiye is a hosting country of the league and has been very supportive for its work in many ways.

"Türkiye has a critical role to play in stopping the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip and has shown willingness to strengthen its stance against Israel’s awful actions in all occupied territories of Palestine," he underlined, saying that the league had various meetings with Turkish officials.

"We work closely with the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Comittee within the Turkish Parliament in organizing stronger steps to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and keep the Palestinian cause present on the global agenda," al-Ahmar added and said that the league works with Nureddin Nebati, who is vice president of the platform.

Following the outbreak of the conflict, Türkiye has been trying to facilitate diplomatic channels to push for a cease-fire amid incessant Israeli airstrikes, which killed thousands and destroyed hospitals, homes, schools, marketplaces, churches, mosques, refugee camps and more. Within this scope, Ankara has assured Türkiye is ready to undertake responsibility if a regional security mechanism is established for the conflict and proposed a guarantorship model.

"It is a good proposition, but who would hold Israeli accountable for its actions, and what would be Türkiye’s response when Israel, as usual, violates any potential agreements," Ahmar asked, saying that the model requires several countries as Israel never commits to international decisions.

"We know that Israel has failed to comply with at least one measure in the legally binding order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South Africa’s genocide case. Israel did not comply with the UNSC’s resolution which called for an ‘immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting, sustainable cease-fire,’" Ahmar reminded.

Emphasizing that although Arab and Muslim nations have a bigger duty toward Palestine, Ahmar said that the Palestinian cause has become a global issue that requires a serious and immediate political and on ground actions from everyone.

"It is truly concerning to think of a future where the world has accepted that human rights and international law has no meaning or barring."

Global boycott efforts

On the other side, al-Ahmar said that boycotting Israel’s products should be a priority and is the very least that could be done to support Gaza.

"Türkiye is doing well in this regard as it recently announced restrictions on exports to Israel."

Erdoğan said on Friday that his government has halted all trade with Israel that amounts to some $9.5 billion.

The Trade Ministry announced that Ankara suspended all export and import operations with Israel due to its "aggression against Palestine in violation of international law and human rights."

The move is in sync with the league’s recent declaration that said among other articles "Supporting the global boycott movement of Israel and its supporters and calling on parliaments to enact laws that contribute to the global boycott movement in addition to criminalizing dealing and communicating with Israel in all fields."

Turkish officials would coordinate with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinians are not affected by the suspension of imports and exports, the ministry said.

It also called on Erdoğan to take the lead to "establish a global alliance to revive the system of rights, justice, values and rational principles across parliaments, governments and peoples in the face of the alliance of oppression, injustice, tyranny, occupation and racism that supports Israel in its criminal war on the Gaza Strip and to devote the right and support it everywhere in the world."

The league thanked Türkiye for "their role in supporting the league and hosting its conferences in Türkiye, which contributed to its prestigious global status as an international parliamentary platform defending the Palestinian issue."

Hasan Turan, chief administrative officer of the Turkish Parliament was elected as the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Al-Quds Platform Türkiye, and AK Party Ankara MP Asuman Erdoğan was elected as a member of the board of directors of the platform. Al-Ahmar was reelected as president of the league.

Türkiye recognized Israel in 1949. Under Erdoğan, tensions have ebbed and flowed between the countries. The Turkish leader stepped up his criticism of Israel following its military offensive in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out war crimes and genocide.

Moreover, this week, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye had decided to join the legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the ICJ and would soon submit a formal request to intervene in the case.