Education Among Malaysia's Focus to Assist Palestine

PUTRAJAYA, 19 June (Bernama) -- Malaysia will help ease the suffering of Palestinians in any way, with one of the focus being education for their younger generations, said deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He said, with that purpose in mind, the government has agreed to explore ways to provide the much needed infrastructure for education and human resource training with the Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia and Al-Quds Foundation International non-governmental organisations (NGO). "I hope government linked and private companies and NGOs can assist in this education initiative for the people of Palestine through Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia," he said during the launching of the foundation at a hotel here this evening. Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia is affiliated to Al-Quds Foundation International, which was established in 2001 to fight for the rights and freedom of Palestinians. Malaysia's stance on the Palestine-Israel conflict was that the best outcome to ensure the sustained peace, security and stability of the region would be achieved through talks, emphasised Muhyiddin. He added that Malaysia urged all parties to seek a comprehensive and fair solution based on the Roadmap for Peace which was being worked on by the Middle East Peace Quartet, Arab Peace Initiative and related United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions. He said Malaysia also fully supported Palestine's wish to become a member of the United Nations (UN) and was confident the international community would extend its support to the country as well. He said, last year Malaysia contributed to Viva Palestine to fund educational projects in 11 schools in Jaballia, North Gaza, through the UN Relief and Works Agency and other UN agencies. We also offered human resource training in various fields including administration and banking under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme, he noted. He expressed confidence that Al-Quds Foundation Malaysia would have a role to fulfill in efforts to raise awareness on the Palestine issue, under the able leadership of Mukhriz Mahathir (International Trade and Industry deputy minister as the foundation's Board of Trustees, director) and Nasharuddin Md Isa (former PAS deputy president as Board of Director chairman). -- BERNAMA