Jamaat-e-Islami promises power show in Karachi's 'Palestine March' today

• JI's Palestine march to take place on Shahrah-e-Faisal today.
• JI promises Karachi march will be the biggest one held in any city.
• JI asks govt to do more than express condemnation and issue statements.

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Siraj ul Haq will lead a rally to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, as the party promises a huge show in the city today.

The march will be held on one of the city's busiest and most important roads, the Shahrah-e-Faisal. JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem visited one of the camps in the city to monitor preparations for the rally.

"The residents of Karachi will prove by participating in it in a large number that it will be the largest march of any city in the world,” he said.

Speaking about the purpose for the march, he said the rally will express solidarity with Palestinians, adding that the dream of a "Greater Israel" will never come to fruition.

He also appealed to the masses to take to the streets today in a show of solidarity with their Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Rehman said the JI had already set up a Palestine Fund and has asked the masses to contribute to it so as to provide some relief to their brothers in need.

The freedom of the holy land was a matter of faith as well as life and death for each and every Muslim, he said, adding that the Ummah would not compromise on the liberation of the holy land.

Despite the ceasefire by Israel, unarmed Palestinians were oppressed, he said. “A representative gathering of the Islamic world needs to be convened and Pakistan needs to play a leading role in it,” he said. “Palestine is not a political issue, nor is it associated with a party or group,” he said. “It is a matter of concern for the entire Muslim world, and every member of the Ummah should express his concern over the issue.”

He criticised the Muslim bloc in the world, saying that more needed to be done on their part to ensure Palestinians were provided justice against naked Israeli aggression.

Naeem also called on the government to go beyond expressing words of condemnation against Israel, proposing a meeting of all Muslim army chiefs in the world to show solidarity with those in Gaza.

The JI Karachi chief called on Arts Council Karachi President Ahmed Shah and invited him and the council to participate in the march.

The JI’s minority wing also announced it would participate in the march along with their respective communities, saying that they shared the concerns of the Pakistani nation over Palestine.