Palestine President Mahmood Abbas is in Islamabad on a three-day state visit on the invitation of President Asif Ali Zardari. This is the first ever visit of the Palestinian leader to Pakistan after the recognition of Palestine as a non-member Observer State by the United Nations. Pakistan is proud of being a cosponsor in the United Nations General Assembly resolution that granted this longstanding demand of Palestinians struggling against the Zionist regime to liberate their motherland. In the post-Arafat era, Mahmood is symbolic of a mindset that believes that the Palestinians would secure their territory though peaceful means. Kashmiris too have also been struggling to assert their right of self-determination. Both Israelis and the Indian forces have so far been successful in their maniacal urge to subjugate these Muslim states. So far hundreds and thousands of people have been butchered. Virtually all international organisations, human right bodies and so-called champions of democracy have long been watching their crimes but as silent spectators. This apathy has now forced the youth of Palestinie and Kashmir to believe that only an armed struggle would bear fruits. Now that Palestine has been granted the status of an observer state at the United Nations, it should give the much-needed fillip to the aspirations of the Kashmiris and Palestinians.