Menteri Muslim Mundur, Protes Kebijakan Inggris `Tidak Bermoral` di Gaza
Muslim Foreign Office Minister Quits Over `Morally Indefensible` Gaza Policy
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
London (B2B) - Sayeeda Warsi, seorang anggota kabinet di Inggris mengundurkan diri, Selasa, karena merasa secara moral tidak bisa menerima kebijakan Inggris terhadap invasi militer Israel di Gaza.
Keputusan yang dibuat menteri di Kantor Kementerian Luar Negeri (Kemlu) dan Keyakinan serta Komunitas itu menambah tekanan baru atas Perdana Menteri David Cameron agar segera mengambil sikap lebih tegas terhadap Israel, seperti dilansir Yahoo News.
Pemerintah koalisinya telah menghadapi kecaman dalam beberapa hari belakangan, yang dipimpin oleh oposisi utama Partai Buruh, karena tidak mengeluarkan pernyataan cukup keras atas konfilk yang telah membunuh 1.867 warga Palestina dan 67 orang di pihak Israel.
"Pendekatan kita... di Gaza secara moral tak dapat dipertahankan, bukan kepentingan nasional Inggris dan akan mempunyai dampak merusak yang berjangka panjang atas reputasi kita secara internasional dan domestik," kata Warsi dalam sepucuk surat pengunduran dirinya yang ditulis untuk Cameron.
Dia mengatakan sudah ada "perasaan tak tenang" di Kantor Kemlu, tempat Philip Hammond menggantikan William Hague bulan lalu, tentang bagaimana keputusan-keputusan kebijakan belakangan ini telah dibuat.
Sementara bintang Warsi telah meredup dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, ia pernah menjadi contoh pejabat tinggi dari keinginan Cameron untuk mendiversifikasi Partai Konservatif menjauhkan diri dari secara tradisional mendasarkan pada kaum pria dan kulit putih.
Orangtua Warsi adalah imigran Pakistan dan ia merupakan seorang pengacara sebelum diangkat menjadi anggota parlemen majelis tinggi pada 2007.
Ia ditunjuk menjadi anggota kabinet Cameron ketika pemerintahan koalisi Cameron berkuasa pada 2010 tetapi tak menduduki posisi di kabinet penuh, lingkar dalam yang kuat dari menteri-menteri pemerintah, pada 2012.
London - Sayeeda Warsi, a senior minister in Britain´s Foreign Office, resigned on Tuesday, accusing Prime Minister David Cameron´s government of taking a "morally indefensible" approach to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
While the British government has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Cameron has come under criticism from political opponents for what they say has been his reluctance to condemn Israel´s actions in stronger terms.
Warsi announced her decision as Israel pulled its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip and started a 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas mediated by Egypt as a first step towards negotiations on a more enduring end to the month-old war.
Her resignation is embarrassing for Cameron, who has been accused of filling his government with too many middle-class white males. Warsi was not a full cabinet member but had the right to attend and played an important role in mediating between the government and Britain´s Muslim community.
Warsi, a baroness who sits in Britain´s upper house of parliament, in 2010 became Britain´s first Muslim to serve in cabinet but was later demoted to be a senior minister of state at the Foreign Office and a minister for faith and communities.
She announced her resignation on Twitter, publishing a copy of a letter she had sent Cameron giving the reasons for her decision.
"Our approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza is morally indefensible, is not in Britain´s national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically," Warsi, 43, said.
Gaza officials say the war has killed 1,865 Palestinians, most of them civilians. Israel says 64 of its soldiers and three civilians have been killed since fighting began on July 8, after a surge in Palestinian rocket launches.
In her role as a foreign office minister, Warsi held specific responsibility for government policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Born in northern England, she is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants to Britain and speaks fluent Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati.
