PESHAWAR: Jamat-i-Islami activists on Friday staged a rally outside the US Consulate General here, condemning fresh wave of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.

The rally, led by JI Central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emir Abdul Wasay, and district emir Bahrullah Khan Advocate, started from Jamia Masjid Darwesh and ended at the US Consulate General.

Speakers on the occasion condemned the Israeli aggression against Palestinians and said that Tel Aviv had been involved in a genocidal campaign for last one and a half year, while the US was playing the role of a silent spectator.

They said that over 60,000 people, including 17,000 children and 12,000 women, were killed and over 100,000 others were injured in the Israeli bombardment.

They said Israel had reached an agreement with Hamas for exchange of prisoners, but once again it had started bombing Palestine in Ramazan, which left over 400 persons martyred.

They warned of holding protest demonstration outside the US embassy in Islamabad if Israel did not stop the crime against humanity.

In Lower Dir, JI workers held a demonstration on the call of party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman in Timergara against Israel for violating the ceasefire agreement and committing mass killings of Palestinians.

The protesters also accused the US of being equally complicit in what they described as the genocide of unarmed Palestinians.

Speaking to the protesters, JI Lower Dir chief Maulana Asadullah Khan, JI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North deputy chief Arshad Zaman, district general secretary Shoaib Ahmed, and information secretary Malik Sher Bahadur Khan expressed grave concern about the ongoing violence in Palestine.

The speakers called on the government and the Muslim Ummah to take decisive action against Israel, asserting that the ongoing bloodshed warranted a collective response. They lamented what they described as the “silence and inaction” of the Muslim world in the face of Israeli aggression.

Furthermore, the JI leaders alleged that Israel’s actions had full backing from the US, which, according to them, had openly ‘demonstrated hostility’ towards Islam. They stressed that given the severity of the situation, countermeasures against Israeli aggression were imperative.

The speakers also voiced concerns about rising terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly the targeted killing of religious scholars.

They alleged that the Pakhtun belt was being subjected to a foreign-sponsored conflict under the pretext of counterterrorism, leading to attacks on religious institutions, mosques, and scholars.

Criticising the government, they warned against imposing what they termed a “fabricated war on terror” on the people, cautioning that such policies could have dire consequences for the country. They urged the authorities to reconsider their approach and prioritise national stability.

In Chitral, a protest meeting was held at the Atalique Chowk after Friday prayers under the aegis of Jamaat-i-Islami, Lower Chitral, to express solidarity with the Palestinians against the Israeli aggression.

The speakers, including district emir Wajeehuddin, former district nazim Maghfirat Shah, general secretary Fazle Rabbi Jan and others, condemned the ceasefire violations by Israel.

They asked the government to unite the Muslim Ummah to act in unison against the US and its coterie, who are determined to persecute Muslims of Palestine and grab its land for their nefarious activities.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025