Earlier, Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri held what was described as a 'historic meeting' with Israeli foreign minister on September 1 in Istanbul. These cannot be isolated incidents but must have been carefully choreographed diplomatic overtures as a prelude to rapprochement and repudiation of Pakistan's past stance of not recognising Israel.

After Turkey which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1948, Pakistan will be the second Muslim state to recognise Israel apart from the Arab states Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania. According to press reports, hushed but real normalisation of relation with Israel are taking place by Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar, Libya and most likely by the America backed new Establishment of Iraq.

Yet, the crack and defection of Islamic solidarity against Israel is baffling. There is no denying that regardless of geographical immediacy, the spiritual underpinnings in the collective imagination of the Arab and other Muslim world 's opposition to Israel is rooted in sympathy and support for Palestinians as fellow Muslims suffering the pain and agony of ethnic cleansing, displacement and dispossession, persecution and injustice caused by their ouster first from their homeland what is now Israel and later by the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories of Gaza and West Bank including East Jerusalem. The concept of Arab unity was forged in 1945 by Arab League as a collective response to conflict in Palestine and Zionist territorial designs. The first meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference(OIC) in Morocco in 1969 was held in the wake of 'criminal arson' perpetrated by Israel in August1969 against Al Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Arab and other Muslim countries have been forcefully supporting Palestinian demand raised in the UN General Assembly and the Special Political Committee for an immediate end of the occupation of Palestinian territories and grant independent statehood to Palestine. Diplomatic recognition of Israel at this time could be seen as reconciling with the status quo of Israeli occupation and denial of Palestinian rights of self determination for an independent Palestine state.

The change of attitude towards Israel may be due to the Israeli propaganda for ending occupation as manifest in the withdrawal of Israeli settlers and troops from Gaza. Despite the withdrawal, the occupation remains as Israel controls the land and sea borders and air space of Gaza. Virtually the entire 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza will be confined to live in an open-air prison. Israel will relocate 9000 settlers evacuated from Gaza in the newly expropriated land in West Bank adding to the existing 430,000 Israeli settlers. Besides, the construction of the wall in West Bank, a symbol of apartheid and occupation, declared illegal by the World Court in Hague, separates Palestinians from their lands, divides their towns and families, disrupts their health care, transportation, agriculture and jobs and reduces them to live in disconnected ghettos and enclaves, cantons and Bantustans.

Swill never allow a territorially contiguous Palestinian state on 95 percent of Gaza and West Bank, as provided by the Oslo Accord, under his watch. He intends to disperse the Palestinian people as a unified national entity and prevent them from ever becoming a viable national state. Sharon's disengagement from Gaza is a veiled strategy to avoid peace negotiation, maintain an obfuscated occupation of Gaza and consolidate control, integration and annexation of West Bank and foil the creation of viable Palestinian state. Sharon is bent on resurrecting the Biblical Jewish Empire encompassing most of the fertile crescent

It is significant that all those Arab countries and Pakistan who are willing to normalise relations with Israel are self- imposed authoritarian or military regimes without any popular support but having special political, economic and military ties with the United States which is a patron Saint and chief sponsor of Israeli military dominance in the Middle East to serve US interests by uninterrupted supply of oil. Out of 80 US vetoes in the UN Security Council, 39 were for Israel, the largest recipient of US budget.

Pakistan a front line state, the Trozan horse to fight America's war in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union earlier and the Taleban rule later has been more than adequately compensated by lifting of economic sanctions, lucrative offer of military aid , cancellation of debt payments and generous largesse of economic assistance. No wonder, Pakistan a trusted ally of US in its war on terror, under the apron strings of Washington as its strategic partner outside NATO, will recognise Israel at US behest and prodding. But Musharraf should look back at the fate of erstwhile favourites, president Ziaul Haq, president Suharto, President Marcos and the Shahinsha of Iran who were forsaken in cynical abandon when their usefulness to US was felt no longer essential. If US muscle flexing towards Iran's nuclear ambitions is any indication, it is a matter of time when America will tell Musharraf that it will not countenance Pakistan, a Muslim state, home to Taleban fugitives and Al Qaeda sympathisers, in possession of nuclear bomb. His political survival will depend on the choice he makes between the aspirations and pride of his people and the American pressure.

The danger of unconditional normalisation of relation with Israel, specially by those who have historically been staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, is that it will alienate popular support, foster anti-Americanism, spawn terrorists and deprive the Palestinians from a very valued support and lead pathetically to delegitimising their struggle for self-determination of their rights to statehood of their own. Palestine might recede into the background and ultimately forgotten as an old story. That would be a severe blow to Palestinian aspirations and a shameless and sad betrayal of the Palestine cause.

Abdul Hannan is a former press counselor, Bangladesh UN mission in New York