Dr Mahathir makes an appearance at Jerusalem rally

PUTRAJAYA: Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) made an appearance at the “Solidarity to Save Jerusalem” rally here at Putra Mosque.

The former premier and his entourage arrived at the mosque at about 12.30pm on Friday (Dec 22).

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Pribumi) youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said that Dr Mahathir made the decision to appear in the rally just an hour before his arrival.

“We were surprised. It was a last minute decision,” he told The Star.

Syed Saddiq added that the Pribumi chairman's appearance was to show support of the Palestinian cause, regardless of political differences.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived at the mosque at about 12.30pm.

However, Dr Mahathir did not cross paths with Zahid.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is set to make an appearance at 2pm.

The Barisan Nasional-organised rally is a solidarity rally against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital

On Thursday in New York, Malaysia joined 127 other countries to vote in favour of a United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Nine voted against the resolution while 35 abstained.

This came despite President Trump threatening to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favour of the resolution.

“Malaysia joins the international community in expressing our deep concern and rejects the decision by the United States to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” said Malaysia's permanent representative to the UN, Datuk Seri Mohd Shahrul Ikram Yaakob.

“It is also an infringement of the Palestinian people’s rights and their right to self determination,” he said, advocating a peaceful two-state solution and adding that Malaysia is concerned that this dire situation will only feed into the agenda of extremists.

He was speaking at the 37th plenary meeting of the 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, which was entitled “Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.