KARACHI, Aug 10: Speakers at a seminar held at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday condemned Israel’s aggression against Lebanon and criticised the UN and the OIC for failing to stop atrocities against innocent civilians.

They said that the fierce Israeli assault was aimed at crushing the resistance led by Hezbollah and the Hamas movements.

Several speakers feared that Syria and Iran might be attacked on the pretext of supporting the resistance movements, adding that the move was aimed at installing Israel as a regional military power and providing the US and Britain greater control over resources in the Middle East.

The seminar was orgnaised to express solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine and was titled ‘Israeli aggression: Muslim World and the role of media’.

Referring to the massive civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon, the speakers called upon the Muslim states to forge unity for their survival by formulating a joint strategy to check the US onslaught.

Illahi Bux Soomro said that the UN Security Council had failed to play its role and Israel’s war crimes were continuing unchecked. Members of the OIC, he said, should quit the UN and OIC become more active in resolving regional and international issues, adding that the futility of further remaining a member of the UN was quite evident.

Iranian Consul-General Syed Moosa Hussaini termed the regional situation fluid and said that the Lebanon crisis in particular was a manifestation that Israel’s aggression, adding that it was a well-planed scheme to create a ‘buffer zone’ along the Lebanese border.

Praising Hezbollah’s resistance, the Iranian diplomat said that it had challenged the myth of Israel’s invincibility. Mr Hussaini said that Israel and the US were trying to cover up their failure by accusing Iran of supporting Hezbollah in a bid to intimidate the Muslim.

He reiterated Iran’s stand on the Lebanon crisis and said that the aggression in Lebanon should be stopped immediately, unconditional cessation of war should be announced, Israeli army should vacate all occupied areas of Lebanon and exchange all prisoners and such a situation should be created so that refugees could go back to their lands and people of Lebanon should be given the right to determine their own fate and they should be allowed to stand on their own without any intervention.

Prof Ghafoor Ahmad said that the US and Israel had turned the 21st century into a century of massacres and plunder.

He paid tribute to Hezbollah fighters for successfully resisting the Israeli army and said that they had defied Israel for more than 29 days despite its claim about taking over Lebanon in one hour.

He said that the US and Israel would never succeed in their designs and last victory awaited the people of Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prof Ghafoor praised Pakistani media for sending teams of mediapersons for comprehensive coverage of the ongoing aggression in Lebanon and said that they were no longer dependent on foreign media.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah pointed out that Jews were entrenched in seats of power everywhere and were able to influence the decision-making process in the US and other European countries.

He said that while most rulers backed Israel in its aggression or were playing the part of silent spectators, the people were staging demonstrations against their governments’ policies and were openly supporting resistance movements.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said that Muslim Ummah could only be led by people like Hasan Nasrullah.

Veteran politician Mairaj Mohmmad Khan said that had Israel behaved, all Muslim countries would recognized it. Criticising Israeli barbarism in Lebanon and Palestine, he said that Israel had lost the moral basis for its existence. He predicted that Israeli state would cease to exist because of its repeated acts of aggression against Arabs. “Although voices against the Israeli aggression are weak in Europe, they would soon grow louder soon. New resistance will arise from the remains of the holocaust.”

Saddar Rahim said that if “we did not support the people of Lebanon and Palestine, we will find ourselves isolated”.

The seminar was presided over by veteran politician Illahi Bux Soomro and speakers included Justice (retd) Sajjad Ali Shah, MMA’s leader Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, eminent politician Mairaj Mohammad Khan, PML-N leader Sardar Rahim and Iran’s Consul-General Syed Mossa Hussaini.

KPC’s President Ghazi Salahuddin welcomed the guests while the proceedings were conducted by Secretary Najeeb Ahmad.