KARACHI, Aug 7: Speakers at a seminar on Monday condemning Israeli aggression against Lebanon demanded that the bombing should be stopped immediately and Israel and its patron, the United States, must be tried for war crimes.
The seminar, organised by the Jamaat Islami at its office, Idara Noor-i-Haq, was addressed by people from different faiths and religions, including Christians, Sikh, Hindu and Muslims.
Terming the Israeli aggression a war against humanity, they stressed that the war victims should be paid compensation. They said that Israel had imposed the war on Lebanon to grab its territory. By bombing the civilian localities, Israel had violated the Geneva Conventions.
The speakers demanded that army of non-aligned countries be deployed in Lebanon to ensure lasting regional peace. They also condemned the Israel for dropping pamphlets on Lebanese cities asking people to vacate cities.
A resolution condemning Israeli aggression and calling for an immediate ceasefire was passed unanimously. A message from Bishop of Church of Pakistan, Bishop Sadiq Denial was also read.
Addressing the seminar, Prof Ghafoor Ahmed said that Israel waged war against Lebanon thinking that Christian population would support her act. Later, he said, the cities with Sunni population were attacked to fan sectarian differences in Lebanon. However, he said that the unity among Lebanese foiled her evil designs.
Prof Ghafoor urged the international community to direct Israel for an immediate ceasefire vacating all occupied territories and release the prisoners of war.
He further demanded that Israel and the United States should be tried for war crimes and the United Nations be allowed to play its due role.
He said that when war was imposed on Muslims of Iraq, Christians raised objections and held large protest demonstrations around the globe. Now again, he said, it was the time that they should raise their voice in support of the innocent Lebanese people. He said that Israel was victimising not only Muslims, but Christians as well.
Bishop Ashraf Rehmat said that no matter what the Israel’s fears or objections had been, it could not justify its war on its neighbouring country in which a large number of innocent Lebanese people had been killed. He said that no issue could be resolved through war. He said that all religions preached peace and demanded that Israel must stop the war and start negotiations to solve its disputes.
Other speakers urged the United Nations to play its due role and ensure immediate ceasefire. Besides, they said that there should be a permanent peaceful solution to the Middle East crisis so that lasting peace in the world could be ensured.
They criticised Israel, the United States and their allies who were helping the Zionist forces to victimise and kill innocent people. They said that this war was not only against Lebanese but it was against all oppressed of the world.
The speakers expressed apprehension that if the present war was not stopped soon, the next target of the oppressors could be Iran and Pakistan. They urged the United Nations to pass a resolution against Israel and ensure its implementation.
They said that since the United States and other countries were providing military assistance to Israel, it was the duty of every Muslim ruler to provide assistance to the oppressed.
They said that this was not the first aggression of Israel as it had time and again bombed various other Arab countries also. They regretted that though the European Union held its meetings, it could not pass a resolution against Israel owing to the opposition from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Regretting that even the OIC could not do much in its recent meeting, the speakers demanded that the OIC and Arab League should play their due role to save the innocent Lebanese people from the Israeli onslaught.
Dr Mairajul Huda, Bishop Ijaz Inayat, Father Naimat Firdous, Father Shafeeq Kanwal, Father Tomas Yaqoob Gulfam, Dr Jaipal Chhabaria, Nan Jee, Saleem Michael, Saleem Anjum, Naemuzzaman Khokhar, Satnam Singh, Elvin John, Joseph Tabassum, Sohan Khan, Yunus Barai, Rafiq Ahmad, Muslim Pervaiz and others also spoke.
