Pakistan has unequivocally expressed its support for Palestinians in the ongoing episode of violence being carried out by Israel.
Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this month strongly condemned "Israeli forces' attack especially during Ramazan on Palestinians in Qibla-e-Awaal, Al-Aqsa Mosque, violating all norms of humanity & international law".
He called on the international community to take immediate action to protect Palestinians and their rights.
As the hostilities escalated on Wednesday, with at least 48 killed in Gaza and five in Israel in the most intensive aerial exchanges for years, the premier reiterated his support to the Palestinians and tweeted the hashtags: #WeStandWithGaza and #WeStandWithPalestine.
His tweet featured a picture of renowned historian Noam Chomsky next to a quote which read: “You take my water, burn my olive trees, destroy my house, take my job, steal my land, imprison my father, kill my mother, bombard my country, starve us all, humiliate us all, but I am to blame: I shot a rocket back.”
Many took to believe that this quote was by Chomsky himself and while the American linguist did use the quote in a December 2012 article, he has attributed it to an old man in Gaza.
On another site, chomsky.info, the citations for the article are also listed and this particular part has been traced to an article by UK publication The Independent published in November 2012.
British journalist and author Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes "on the web is a photograph of an old man in Gaza holding a placard with this message: 'You take my water, burn my olive trees [...] I shot a rocket back”.
The comment piece, titled 'The war between Israel and Hamas has its roots in Britain's shameful betrayal of the Palestinians', notes that people "may or may not agree with his rocket retaliation, but all his other accusations are verifiably true as witnesses — some Jewish — have been attesting for years. Even treacherous Balfour stipulated in that fateful letter of November 1917: 'Nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.' That bit has never been honoured."
From the archives: Gaza ablaze again (2012)
Following Prime Minister Imran's tweet, both the hashtags were the top trends in Pakistan with other government officials and public figures also voicing their support.
Earlier, federal ministers, including Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, also denounced the attacks by Israel.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has also been advocating the rights of Palestinians and vocal in his criticism of Israel.
"There is no one to put a stop to Israel's desire for occupation of more Palestinian lands. When will UN, OIC & civilised world wake up to the worst human rights abuses in Palestine?" he asked in one of his tweets.
The PML-N leader met Ambassador of Palestine to Pakistan Rabaie Ahmed "to express solidarity and support to our Palestinian brethren as they face unprecedented Israeli brutality".
