Massive JI rally expresses solidarity with Palestinians

KARACHI: Thousands of people in Karachi, including women and children, took out a rally to express solidarity with the Palestine resistance movement and denounce Israeli atrocities and the killing of Palestinian people in Gaza.

Addressing a massive Gaza solidarity march organised by Jamaat-e-Islami at Shahra-e-Faisal, JI Amir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that no two-state solution for Palestine is acceptable; the state belongs to only one Palestine, and the leadership belongs to only one, which is Hamas.

He made it clear to Pakistani rulers that any paradigm shift in Pakistan’s policy on Palestine, set by none other than Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, will not be tolerated at any cost.

He reminded the rulers that even a hundred years ago, the All India Muslim League used to protest against Israel. On March 23, 1940, two resolutions were passed by the Muslim League — one is called the Pakistan Resolution, and the second one was for Palestine.

There is only one state, and that is Palestine, whereas there is only one leadership in Gaza, and that is Hamas, he said while demanding the government to recognise Hamas and support them as they represent the people of Gaza.

He said that Hamas, which had won the elections in 2006, is a legal movement according to the UN Charter and if Hamas has taken up arms, it has taken them up according to the UN Charter

He said that the opposition and other ruling parties should also support Hamas and the people of Gaza and openly condemn America and Israel. “Don’t dare accept Israel or join the Ibrahim accord,” he warned strongly.

He said that the massacre in Palestine was caused by the insensitive and defenseless rulers of the Muslim Ummah. He said that if the rulers unite and take practical steps against Israel, it will not have the courage to shed the blood of the Muslims.

He stressed the need for another United Nations, as the present one became a total failure and an agent of the US and Israel, and it never solved the issues of Muslims.

He praised the insight, vision, resistance, struggle, sacrifices, and diplomatic efforts of Hamas, which has negotiated and not laid down arms. He said that the real leadership in Palestine is Hamas; all the rest are a sham. He said that if the Prime Minister of Pakistan does not know how to do diplomacy, he should learn from Hamas.

The JI Amir said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s founder Imran Khan is undoubtedly a political prisoner; however, he also has a responsibility to support Hamas and condemn America and Israel, just like other announcements from prison.

“Greta Thungberg was tortured and forced to kiss the Israeli flag; this is the real face of the Zionist state,” he highlighted.

He said that centers of power in the world are changing and even the people of the West themselves are protesting against their rulers. He said that the balance of power is moving out of the hands of rulers and into the hands of the people.

He announced that on October 7, on the occasion of the International Day of Protest, a protest will be held across the country at 11 am to express solidarity with the Hamas resistance movement and Palestinian people.

He said that a public gathering will be held at Minar-e-Pakistan Lahore in November, with the message that the country cannot be run with the rule of guns, direct martial law or indirect martial law.

JI Pakistan deputy chief Dr Osama Razi in his address said that solidarity marches have shown that people across Pakistan support Gaza and Palestine, but what about the government and ruling elite?

He demanded that the government’s draft be brought before the nation, that the prime minister’s tweet in support of Trump’s peace plan be deleted, and that an apology be made to the nation.

He said that Pakistan should play a diplomatic role and start the flotilla together with Egypt, and if Egypt does not open the Rafah border, relations with it should be severed.

He said, “We support every decision of Hamas, which has accepted 9 out of 20 points, and the same have also been accepted by Arab countries.”

JI Karachi Ameer Monem Zafar, President of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Sindh Baqir Zaidi, Head of Ummat Wahdat-e-Pakistan Allama Amin Shahidi, Jamaat-e-Islami Member of Sindh Assembly Mohammad Farooq, Nazim of Karachi Islamic Jamiat Talaba Mohammad Abish Siddiqui also addressed the rally.