Local and global analysts hailed Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations Munir Akram after he lambasted Canada’s proposed amendment to condemn Hamas for the October 7 attacks, but skipped to condemn the Israeli forces’ actions against civilians.
“The enormity of the crimes that are being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people are so great and enormous that it is amazing that when my friend from Canada insists on naming the organisation Hamas that he does not feel the need for the equity and balance and fairness for which Canada is so well known,” he said during a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Saturday.
The Canadian ambassador does not feel the need to name Israel for killing 7,000 Palestinians and injuring 177,000 and condemn only Hamas, he added.
“Is this balance?” Akram asked.
Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan praised Akram for his speech at the UN.
“Excellent Ambassador Munir Akram,” he wrote on X while sharing a video.
During his speech, the Pakistan envoy said that the Canadian representative said what needs to be named has to be named. “We Believe Israel needs to be named if you are fair if you are equitable if you are just, you will not blame one side and not the other.”
“The crime originated with the Israel. The Israeli occupation is the original sin in this case. It is not what happened on October 7,” he said.
“When you push a people into the corner, they will respond. This is what the Secretary-General said [that] it did not happen in a vacuum and look at the reaction that was that came from the Israeli representative insulting Secretary-General [and] calling for his resignation,” he added.
Loureen Sayej, who has a Diplomat and legal advisor at the Mission of the State of Palestine to the UN written in her X bio, said Akram’s speech was the “most applauded comeback at the GA.”
Dimitri Lascaris whose bio on X says Lawyer and journalist, said that Akram essentially told Canada’s UN ambassador Bob Rae that he is an anti-Palestinian bigot.
“And that’s exactly what Rae is. That’s what Rae has always been. A shameless bigot,” he wrote on X.
Vidya Shankar Aiyar expressed dismay after “Pakistan was brilliant at the UNGA vote yesterday. India completely failed to stand up for the underdog.”
“It [India] voted YES to Canada’s amendment, abstained on the final vote n then dithered n could not explain why,” he wrote on X.
Journalist Hamid Mir shared Akram’s speech in a post on X.
“Who started all this? Munir Akram @PakistanPR_UN blamed Israel in @UN for the current situation in #Gaza,” he wrote.
Mosharraf Zaidi said that Akram’s UN speech was rightly being hailed for its moral clarity and its artfulness.
“But it is most important because it represents the effective use of the power Pakistan has–even at a time of intense national crisis & weakness,” he wrote on X.
