Detained Madleen activists advocating for free Palestine honoured in Karachi protest
Civil society members gathered at Karachi’s Teen Talwar monument on Wednesday to protest the detention of activists on board the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen and Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, urging people “not to rest until the entire world stands in support of Palestine.”
Earlier this week, Israeli forces detained the members of the aid ship, operating under the Freedom Flotilla Foundation, going to Gaza to break Israel’s siege. The activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, were carrying baby powder and aid for the besieged enclave. Israel has ramped up its offensive in Gaza, after it ended a ceasefire in March. So far, 55,014 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
Chanting “Free Palestine” echoing through the city’s intersection, civil society members gathered to decry the Palestinian suffering in the face of Israeli occupation. The crowd sang, rejecting Israel’s actions: “Aisay dastoor ko mai nahi maanta” (I do not accept this system).
Speaking to Dawn.com, activist Sheema Kirmani called out the “hypocrisy shown by the Muslim world around the Palestinian cause.”
“The young activists aboard the Madleen went all the way to deliver aid, and yet our leaders, with all their resources, have no interest in doing the same,” Kirmani said.
Lauding their strength, she hoped that someday, people from Pakistan could also go on such missions.
On Tuesday, Israel said it deported Thunberg and three others after seizing the Madleen, according to Al-Jazeera.
“Every day, we are full of sadness and anger at what Israel is doing in Gaza,” she lamented, adding that there was “very little we can do except raise our voice, get together and protest.”
“The conflict is not of religion but of land, and of power”, Kirmani added.
Environmentalist and activist Zulfiqar Bhutto Jr, while addressing the crowd, said, “The Palestinian issue is not just for Muslims but for everyone.
“If we call them (Palestinians) our brothers, then why is Pakistan not doing anything for them?”
He added: “Greta and the activists were forced to do this because no country, including ours, was doing anything for Gaza.
A representative from the Women Democratic Front noted: “The West has plenty to say about the perils of Afghan women, but they stay silent at the plight of women in Gaza.”
Also, echoing through the crowd were songs hopeful for a free Palestine, “Woh subha kab ayegi”, people sang, calling for an end to the atrocities by Israel in the conclave.
As Israel ramps up its siege on Gaza, the world has repeatedly called for an end to the offensive.
Another participant, reading out the names and the countries of the activists aboard the Madleen, questioned, “Why is there no one from the Muslim world on the list?”
Drawing parallels with the struggle of Sindhis against “state actors”, Sindh United Party’s Jagdish Ahuja said, “We, too, have been deprived of our land and that is why we have always felt the pain of Palestinians.”
Noting the role of women in the conflict, he said until the “women of Palestine rise [and] the women of Sindh rise, there can be no freedom from oppressive forces.”
Bhutto Jr, raising the slogan for an end to the atrocities, said, “Palestine has always been here and it will never cease to exist”.