Tens of thousands of marchers packed the main street of Pakistan’s commercial capital on Sunday to voice solidarity with Palestinians.
Waiving Palestinian flags, and chanting slogans “Labaik ya Aqsa”, and “Down with Israel”, the marchers rallied at Shahrah-e Faisal.
Thousands of women, some of them carrying infants, also took part in the rally, organized by Jamat-e-Islami (JI), the country’s mainstream religious party.
“Al-Aqsa, your defense is our faith” was engraved on a large banner carried by a group of women, while another group of youth attired in T-shirts bearing pictures of Al-Aqsa Mosque, carried a huge Palestinian flag in the middle of the rally.
The rally, the biggest show of solidarity in Pakistan since the recent Israeli escalation, was attended by the leaders of different Sunni, Shia and Christian organizations.
The organizers claimed over 100,000 people attended the rally, which covered a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) two-way patch of the road. Security agencies, however, put the numbers between 40,000 and 50,000.
In his telephone message, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas, noted that the entire Muslim community is throwing its weight behind its traditional support for Palestinians following the Israeli aggression.
