Plight of Palestinians draws several people to JI rally
Party holds rally to condemn Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
KARACHI:
The rage and helplessness on the plight of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza drew several people to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) rally on Sunday.
As Israel’s increasingly bloody offensive in Gaza entered its sixth day, soaring up the Palestinian death toll past 150 with over 1,000 injured, the JI organised the rally as an attempt to “voice solidarity with humanity that is currently under siege”.
There were elderly as well as charged youngsters among the participants, who held posters, placards and banners against what they termed is “Israel’s inhumane massacre of Palestinians”. They marched from Numaish Chowrangi to MA Jinnah Road. A few participants also held portraits of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, the man who helped broker truce between Israel and Hamas less than two years ago in 2012.
The youth appeared to be closely following the day-to-day happenings in Gaza through their television sets and international news websites as they argued their support along with statistics.
“It does not take rocket science to determine who the real aggressor is, and who are merely defending themselves with whatever they have got,” said Asad Rashid, a rally participant in his early 20s. “Even the United Nations had officially confirmed that around 77 per cent of those killed in the Israeli strikes were civilians.”
Others questioned the silence adopted by other countries. “Why are the so-called champions of human rights keeping mum over this flagrant violation of rights and massacre in Gaza,” asked 66-year-old Tariq Islam.
Talking to The Express Tribune, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that the Israelis have been illegally occupying Palestinian land for decades and have carried out a brutal blockade on Gaza. “Israel has been financed by the United States to the tune of $3 billion in annual aid, ironically to perpetrate unprecedented human rights infringements and violations of UN resolutions,” claimed Rehman. “Even the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem had accepted that around 86 per cent of those killed in this conflict during the last 11 years were Palestinian, while around 91 per cent of all children killed were also Palestinian.” Despite these facts, Rehman said several so-called intellectuals are insisting that the Palestinians are the aggressors.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2014.
The rage and helplessness on the plight of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza drew several people to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) rally on Sunday.
As Israel’s increasingly bloody offensive in Gaza entered its sixth day, soaring up the Palestinian death toll past 150 with over 1,000 injured, the JI organised the rally as an attempt to “voice solidarity with humanity that is currently under siege”.
There were elderly as well as charged youngsters among the participants, who held posters, placards and banners against what they termed is “Israel’s inhumane massacre of Palestinians”. They marched from Numaish Chowrangi to MA Jinnah Road. A few participants also held portraits of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, the man who helped broker truce between Israel and Hamas less than two years ago in 2012.
The youth appeared to be closely following the day-to-day happenings in Gaza through their television sets and international news websites as they argued their support along with statistics.
“It does not take rocket science to determine who the real aggressor is, and who are merely defending themselves with whatever they have got,” said Asad Rashid, a rally participant in his early 20s. “Even the United Nations had officially confirmed that around 77 per cent of those killed in the Israeli strikes were civilians.”
Others questioned the silence adopted by other countries. “Why are the so-called champions of human rights keeping mum over this flagrant violation of rights and massacre in Gaza,” asked 66-year-old Tariq Islam.
Talking to The Express Tribune, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that the Israelis have been illegally occupying Palestinian land for decades and have carried out a brutal blockade on Gaza. “Israel has been financed by the United States to the tune of $3 billion in annual aid, ironically to perpetrate unprecedented human rights infringements and violations of UN resolutions,” claimed Rehman. “Even the Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem had accepted that around 86 per cent of those killed in this conflict during the last 11 years were Palestinian, while around 91 per cent of all children killed were also Palestinian.” Despite these facts, Rehman said several so-called intellectuals are insisting that the Palestinians are the aggressors.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2014.