Thousands of people protested across Pakistan after Friday prayers against Israel’s siege and fierce bombing on the Gaza Strip in retaliation to Hamas attacks.
Political and religious parties staged dozens of demonstrations across the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and the capital Islamabad, where US and Israeli flags were burned.
“We came to the streets to make our rulers realise that they don’t need to be scared of the US and that the public wants them to be on the side of Palestine — not Israel and America,” he one protester from Peshawar’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar said.
People also gathered in the Afghan cities of Kabul and Jalalabad for pro-Palestinian rallies organised by Taliban authorities.
“Palestine you are not alone, we are with you,” one speaker told the crowd. “We are poor, but we will do whatever we can. We can’t do much today but use our feet and stand in your support.”
The Pakistan government has condemned the “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by Israeli authorities” and “the inhumane blockade and collective punishment by Israeli forces”.
The United Nations has called on the Israeli army to rescind its order for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people from north to south Gaza, as it relentlessly pounds the enclave.
The cramped and impoverished territory, where 2.3 million residents live on top of each other, has been under a land, air and sea blockade since 2006. Israel has now cut off water, electricity and food supplies, leaving the enclave in a state of siege.—AFP
