Kuala Lumpur (TDI): The Muslim World League (MWL) and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday co-hosted a global conference of religious leaders, urging them to take a stronger stand against the genocide in Gaza.
The Second International Summit of Religious Leaders, themed “The Role of Religious Leaders in Resolving Conflicts”, brought together representatives of major faiths, including Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist authorities. The event was organized by the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office and the MWL.
MWL Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, opening the conference alongside Prime Minister Anwar, said the summit placed religious leaders before a “historic responsibility” to uphold the values of their faiths and actively work toward global peace and harmony.
“What is happening today in the Gaza Strip, genocide and heartbreaking famine witnessed by the entire international community, is a dangerous precedent in the principles of human rights,” he said, warning that the crisis undermined the credibility of international commitments since the UN Charter.
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Anwar Ibrahim delivered an impassioned plea for global conscience. “Every day you see babies being killed, houses and people being bombed … What on earth is happening in this world?” he asked. “We have to rise up, and religious leaders have to be more assertive in their views.”
Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed at least 62,895 Palestinians, with the true toll believed to be far higher due to famine, untreated injuries, and the destruction of health and humanitarian infrastructure.
About 1,500 guests attended the summit, including 150 foreign delegates from 54 countries. The gathering followed an MWL-hosted forum on Islamic jurisprudence earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur.
The summit underscored growing international frustration with the failure of global institutions to halt the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Participants called for religious leaders to move beyond rhetoric and mobilize faith communities into coordinated action for peace and justice.
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Analysts note that the involvement of figures from multiple religions lends moral weight to calls for an end to the bloodshed, signaling that outrage over Gaza transcends political divides.
Observers said the Kuala Lumpur summit could emerge as a platform for sustained interfaith cooperation, amplifying the voices of moral and spiritual leadership in confronting what many view as one of the gravest humanitarian crises of the century.
