KARACHI: To express unwavering solidarity with Palestinians as they brace relentless attacks from Israel, more protests were staged in Karachi on Saturday.
Tensions had erupted after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday last week, attacking Palestinian worshippers using rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.
Since hostilities caught pace on Monday, at least 122 Palestinians, including 31 children, have been killed and more than 900 wounded since, according to media reports.
The Milli Yakjehti Council (MYC), an alliance of several religious groups, representing all schools of thoughts — and including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen, Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran, Tanzeem-e-Islami, Jamaat-e-Ahle Hadith — gave a call for countrywide protests on Sunday (today) against Israeli brutalities against Palestinians.
In a statement, YMC leaders, including president and former MNA Dr Abukhair Zubair, and secretary Liaquat Baloch, asked Muslims across the world to stand up to protest against Zionist atrocities while fulfilling their human and Islamic duty. “The genocide of the Palestinians is continuing while the world colonial powers were arrogantly patronising the occupying Israel,” the statement said.
They said that the United States was obstructing the Security Council meeting so that Israel could fire on the Palestinians from the sky and the ground.
“Israel has also threatened ground attacks, in which case the awakened human conscience cannot remain silent. The protection and liberation of the first Qiblah is the common responsibility of the Islamic world,” they said.
The MWM staged a protest to condemn the killing of innocent Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces.
A large number of MWM workers and supporters, carrying placards and banners, chanted slogans against the Zionist regime.
Addressing the protest held outside the Karachi Press Club, MWM leaders Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi, Allama Mirza Yousaf Hussain, Mahfooz Yar Khan of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Qazi Ahmed Noorani of the JUP, Israr Abbasi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and other leaders expressed their anger against the Israeli attacks on Masjid-e-Aqsa and unarmed Palestinians.
They said that recent attacks were a continuation of Israeli terrorism, and being a Zionist state, Israel wanted to extend its agenda to Afghanistan and Pakistan to harm the peace of the region.
They asked the governments of the Muslim world to take notice of the Israeli aggression and raise their voice against the American-Israel nexus.
MWM leaders also announced they would hold protests today (Sunday) across the country to show solidarity with the Kashmir people.
Archbishop Benny Mario Travas of the Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, along with all the Christian community of Karachi, joined their voices in condemning the violent attacks on Palestinian people in Gaza and the loss of innocent lives in these brutal attacks, a press release said.
The archbishop has emphasized the need for peace and an end to the raging conflict. He offered special prayers for the eternal rest of those who had died in the conflict and prayed also for the health of those who had been injured in the conflict.
Rev. Fr. Edward Joseph, the vicar general of the Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, has highlighted the concerns of Pope Francis where he has called for an end to the clashes in Jerusalem and for the holy city’s multi-religious and multi-cultural identity to be respected.
The archbishop, along with his vicar general, in their joint statement, have requested their clergy, religious, and all the Christian faithful to have special prayer services at their churches, on today (Sunday), and have asked all Pakistanis to pray for an end to the conflict and for peace to prevail in Jerusalem.
Archbishop Travas has also called upon the United Nations and the international community to make every effort possible to bring peace, stability and harmony to the region and protect the lives and property of all people living there.
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