KARACHI: The Palestine Foundation Pakistan on Monday launched a countrywide awareness campaign — ‘Al Quds: the central cause of Islamic Ummah’ — to highlight the Palestine issue, condemn Palestine’s illegitimate occupation by Israel and muster support for oppressed Palestinians who have been suffering Israeli atrocities for the past six decades.

PFP secretary general Sabir Abu Maryam announced this while speaking at a press conference along with representatives of political parties and civil society at the Karachi Press Club.

As part of the campaign, they said, pictorial exhibitions would be held in Karachi, Islamabad and other cities to highlight the atrocities by the Zionist regime against Palestinians. To express solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque and Palestinians, Al Quds Conference would be organised in Quetta and Karachi on July 5 and 6, respectively, they added.

Like many other parts of the world, in Pakistan, too, Al Quds Day would be observed on the 22nd of Ramazan, they said.

They condemned the silence of human rights organizations, United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom over the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.

They described the Palestine issue as the core issue of the Muslim world related to the entire region’s peace. They said the unrest in the Middle East and North African countries was part of the ‘greater Israel plot’. They also condemned the inhuman acts of the self-styled Islamic State, alleging that the outfit enjoyed the support of Israel to destabilize the Muslim countries in the region.

Ex-MNA Muzaffar Ahmed Hashmi of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Qazi Ahmed Noorani of the Jamiat-i-Ulema Pakistan, Maulana Baqir Zaidi of the Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, Mehfooz Yar Khan of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, Azhar Hamdani of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, writer and intellectual Dr Aalia Imam and others were present at the press conference.

They said Al Quds was the third holiest place for the Muslims who would not accept its illegal occupation by Israel.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play