Pro-Palestine rallies held across Pakistan to mark Al-Quds Day

By Islamuddin Sajid and Hilal Mir

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan/SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Thousands of people marched across Pakistan on Friday to mark Al-Quds Day and express solidarity with Palestinians, while condemning Israel’s ongoing "atrocities" against innocent people in Gaza and other parts of Palestine.

Al-Quds rallies were taken out by different Pakistani political and religious organizations, primarily the mainstream religipolitical party Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan, and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimin, in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, and parts of northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, as well as Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Al-Quds is an annual event held worldwide on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan to show solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israeli occupation.

In Islamabad, a major rally was led by Jamaat-e-Islami acting chief Liaqat Baloch and other leaders, including Mian Aslam and former senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, who were joined by hundreds of people, including women and children.

Carrying Pakistani and Palestinian flags, placards, and anti-Israel slogans, the marchers strongly condemned Israel's ongoing atrocities against Palestinians and urged the Muslim world to join hands against Tel Aviv.

"We strongly condemned Israeli barbarism and terrorism and urged the Muslim world to stand up for the Palestinian people and provide them with military and humanitarian aid," Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said while addressing the gathering.

Baloch and Ahmed also demanded that Muslim countries should stand with Palestinian people and provide them with military support against Israel.

"Today Gaza is the biggest graveyard in the world as Israeli forces killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children, but the world is still silent," Baloch said, urging Muslim countries to provide military assistance to the Palestinian people.

Protesters in Karachi, Pakistan's port city, carried Palestinian flags and banners depicting the Al-Aqsa Mosque and leaders of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, while chanting "Death to Israel."

Thousands of people In Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and other cities also attended the "Al-Quds" rallies.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a message on the occasion that his entire nation condemns the "Zionist oppression," expressing solidarity with the suffering Palestinian people.

“So far, 32,000 Palestinians, including 17,000 children, have been killed and 70,000 injured in Gaza. Hospitals, refugee camps and schools have been deliberately targeted. Despite the UN Security Council’s resolution for ceasefire, the unprovoked bombing of innocent civilians by Israel continues in Gaza,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Sharif as saying.

He urged the world community to play its role in pressuring Israel to stop oppression against the Palestinian people.

-Rallies held in Indian-administered Kashmir

Demonstrations were held in support of Palestine in several areas of Indian-administered Kashmir, where public rallies have become a rarity after the Indian government abrogated the region's autonomy in August 2019.

The biggest rally was held in Budgam district, where people carried pro-Palestine and anti-Israel placards and shouted slogans such as "Labaik Ya Gaza" (We stand with Gaza) and Marg bar Israel (Death to Israel).

Rallies were also held in the Gund Hassi Bhat area on the outskirts of the capital Srinagar and Magam town.

Meanwhile, authorities disallowed Friday prayers at the region's biggest mosque, Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of Srinagar, which used to be the hub of pro-freedom protests before 2019.