ISLAMABAD: The government and people of Pakistan Friday marked "Palestine Day" to show solidarity with the people of Palestine who have been braving a massacre at the hands of Israel for the past 11 days.
Massive rallies were held in all parts of the country to express solidarity with Palestinians. The PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Maulana Asad, and several other parliamentary leaders issued statements on the occasion of the solidarity day with the people of Palestine as they visited the United Nations office in Islamabad.
"Innocent people are being massacred in Palestine and Kashmir. The issues of Palestine and Kashmir should be resolved in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)," said Shehbaz Sharif.
He said that if the problems of Kashmiris and Palestinians are not resolved, there would no peace in the world. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri also attended a rally to show solidarity with the people of Palestine.
National Assembly on Monday also unanimously passed a resolution expressing deep concern over the increasing violence and brutality perpetrated against the Palestinian people by the Israeli apartheid regime. The resolution was submitted to the office of the United Nations Friday. Shehbaz Sharif led the parliamentarians who handed over the resolution of the House on Israel's aggression and murderous barbarism against Palestinians to the UN representative in Pakistan Julian Harnes.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said the government has effectively raised the issue of Palestine internationally, adding that Pakistan welcomes the ceasefire decision of the parties.
Akin to that, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid addressed a Palestine solidarity rally at Lal Haveli and said that he hopes the issue of Kashmir and Palestine will be resolved one day. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has effectively voiced the plight of Palestinian people at all the international forums.
“Not only Prime Minister Imran Khan raised his voice against the brutal killing of over 250 innocent people in Palestine, but also Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi took a leading role and pleaded the case of Palestinians at the United Nations General Assembly meeting,” the minister said while addressing Palestine Solidarity Day celebrations at Eidgah Sharif.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Islamic Ideology Council Dr Qibla Ayaz thanked Allah Almighty for the ceasefire in Palestine and said: “The dominant nation agrees to a ceasefire when there is pressure in international politics and political and diplomatic commitment is shown.”
The JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the PTI-led government had been thinking of establishing relationships with Israel, adding that the people of Pakistan came together to condemn the Israeli atrocities in Palestine.
Meanwhile, Palestine solidarity rallies were held in all major cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and also in small cities and towns in which tens of thousands of people participated.
In Friday sermons, Ulema, imams and religious scholars across the country announced their support for the oppressed Palestinians and strongly condemned Israeli atrocities.
Meanwhile, leadership of different religions and religious schools of thought in Lahore church expressed solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians and appealed to the world community to play its role to end oppression on permanent basis so that an independent Palestinian state can be established with Al-Quds as its capital.
Addressing Palestine Solidarity Seminar along with leadership of different religions and religious schools of thought, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council and Special Aide to Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and Middle East, said that Palestine and Kashmir are issues of humanity. He said Israel has attacked Muslims and Christians without any discrimination. On this occasion, he was also flanked by leaders of different religions and religious sects at Lahore Church including Archbishop Sebastian Shah, Irfan Jamil, Hafiz Zubair Ahmad Zaheer, Maulana Ramzan Sialvi, Father James Channan, Sardar Bishan Singh, Dr Munawar Chand, Maulana Aslam Siddiqui, Maulana Aslam Qadri, Qari Shamsul Haq, Maulana Asadullah Farooq, Allama Pir Zubair Abid and others.
