| This is going to push Boris over the edge. |
Musharraf is the first leader of a Muslim nation, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel to hold a public dialogue with Jewish leaders, officials of the Council for World Jewry said.
The Pakistan military general was given a standing ovation and big round of applause as he stepped into the conference room for the meeting cum dinner at a leading hotel in New York. âI cannot imagine that a Muslim and that too a Pakistani and more than that a man in uniform would ever get such a warm reception and such an applause from the Jewish community,â Musharraf said, as gave a military salute to the audience, which included Pakistani Americans.
Jack Rosen, the chairman of the American Jewish Congress, described the function as âan unprecedented evening.â It resulted from two years of secret talks, culminating with a May meeting with Musharraf in Islamabad. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke before the congress in January last year but his nation already has diplomatic relations with Israel, congress officials said.
âPresident Musharrafâs decision to be with us tonight is an act of individual courage, leadership and vision,â said Rohen, who is also chairman of the Council for World Jewry, which includes the American, French and Russian chapters of the Jewish community.
Sharing the dais with Musharraf, senior US legislator Tom Lantos, a Hungarian Jew who resisted the Nazis and then narrowly escaped the Holocaust for America, greeted the Pakistani leader as âa man of vision.â âAt a time when the civilized world is engaged in a global war against extremist Islamic terrorism, you have emerged as the quintessential Muslim leader of moderation, decency, reason, and acceptance of pluralism,â said the Democratic Representative of California.
Musharraf unveiled his so called âenlightened moderationâ doctrine encouraging Muslims to embrace pluralism, openness and tolerance at the Organization of Islamic Conference last year.
Pakistan has stressed that it will not officially recognise Israel until the Palestinians get their own independent state. Israel has long hoped that its historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after a 38-year occupation could usher in a new period in Israelâs hitherto largely non-existent ties with many of the worldâs Muslim countries. It currently has full diplomatic relations with only three Arab states -- Mauritania, Egypt and Jordan -- and a handful of Muslim majority states including Turkey.