KARACHI: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” the sea of protesters, mostly members of civil society and youngsters from various universities of the city, chanted slogans at the top of their voices as they filled up the roads around the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.

The participants in demonstration held banners and placards with messages such as ‘You don’t need to be Muslim to stand up for Palestine’, ‘Human rights are not optional’, ‘Israel is a terrorist state, end occupation’, ‘I stand with Gaza’, ‘Free Palestine’, ‘Pakistan stands with Palestine, our hearts bleed for Palestine’, etc. They also played Arabic revolutionary songs.

Human chains were formed by the young women in the front and the men behind them. There were also loud ‘boos’ and ‘shame, shame’ for Israel.

‘We fully support the Palestinian resistance in all forms’

They condemned Israel and demanded an end to its aggression and genocidal war crimes on Gaza. They demanded an end to the demolitions, land grabbing, forced and illegal dispossession of local Palestinians and attacking the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Palestinian neighbourhoods, including the Sheikh Jarrah locality. They also asked the government of Pakistan to enact laws to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that promotes boycotts, divestment and economic sanctions against Israel and ban all Israeli products.

“Owners of factories and industries in Pakistan should refuse to provide the promised share of profit to Zionist-owned companies. Local workers should join hands and build pressure on their bosses for this to happen,” said Yasir Hussain, a student of a private university, who was wearing a black-and-white checkered scarf around his neck.

“We are here to spread awareness about the genocide in Palestine. We don’t care about the heat or the pandemic right now. We have to tell everyone about the horrors inflicted upon the Palestinians since 1948,” said Mohammad Hamza, another youngster at the protest.

“We fully support the Palestinian resistance in all forms and colour. Our support to the Palestinian cause of liberation and freedom is unconditional.”

Another young activist, Zahwa Hassan, said that her parents had named her after Yasser Arafat’s only daughter and she grew interested more and more in the history of Palestine as she grew. “We wish for a Palestinian state where every citizen is equal, irrespective of their race, colour and religion, where everyone will be given equal citizen rights. Such a Palestine will be governed by the working classes and this is only possible with the complete destruction of Zionist Israeli apartheid and occupation,” said Zahwa, who was also carrying a placard that read ‘Say no to genocide, say no to apartheid’.

“We want all capitalist and imperialist states such as the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and European countries to help the Palestinian refugees in their struggle for returning to their homeland, and pressure Israel to end their restrictions. We also want these countries to help the Palestinians rebuild their homes. They should also be given monetary assistance in compensation,” Zahwa said.

Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation Pakistan also came to support the youngsters. “We are seeing another kind of holocaust in the 21st century, this time against the Palestinian Muslims, and by those who were the victims in the last century. The illegal existence of Israel must end,” he said.

The protestors also demanded from the government of Pakistan and international bodies such as the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take action against Israel.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2021