Bangladesh First Lady joins 'United for Peace in Palestine' summit

First Lady of Bangladesh Dr. Rebeka Sultana led the 7- 7-member Bangladesh delegation to the summit of the spouses of heads of states and governments titled 'United for Peace in Palestine'' held on Wednesday (15 Nov) in Istanbul, Turkiye.

Chaired by Emine Erdogan, First Lady of Turkiye, the summit was attended by 16 delegates led by spouses of the heads of states/governments from Muslim countries including Egypt, Qatar, UAE, Malaysia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Scotland, and so on. 

The summit after exhaustive discussions, adopted a Joint Declaration, reads a Foreign Ministry press release.

The summit expressed deep concerns over the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine including the deaths of over 11,000 civilians, mostly children and women in Occupied Gaza and the West Bank, and underlined the need to take urgent actions to establish a ceasefire and withdrawal of the blockade and embargo imposed on Gaza in gross violations of international laws including HR accords. 

The Declaration also stated firm rejection of Israeli attempts to forcibly displace the civilian population by any quarter and called on the entire world to take immediate and collective action to stop the continued massacres in Gaza in addition to cessation of Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructures including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, UN facilities etc in Gaza.

In her remarks, the First Lady of Bangladesh briefed the summit about the initiatives taken by the Bangladesh Government at the domestic and international fronts including the adoption of a general resolution in Bangladesh National Parliament demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza war, its efforts in the UNSC, the UNGA, OIC Conference in Jeddah and the latest OIC Summit in Riyadh to de-escalate the conflict in addition to repeated calls by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stop violence and atrocities in Palestine.

She also expressed Bangladesh Government's firm support for the Palestinian's inalienable 'rights to self-determination' and independence against Israeli aggression and illegal occupation. 

Rejecting the Israeli justification of violence in Gaza in self-defence, she termed this ongoing massacre as genocide against humanity and stressed the need to bring Israel's atrocities to accountability under relevant international frameworks. 

She reiterated the government's position on the Palestinian's rightful demand for an independent state based on the UNSC Resolutions on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The remarks by the First Lady were warmly welcomed by the dignitaries and audience present at the Summit. The first lady of Brazil, Venezuela, and Azerbaijan also joined the summit online to express solidarity with the people in Gaza.