Awami Workers Party staged demonstrations on Thursday across Pakistan to protest against Israeli aggression in the Gaza strip and atrocities against the Palestinian people. Demonstrations were held in more than 50 cities. The left wing activists protested against the continues bombing of Gaza and demanded an immediate stoppage of all aggression against Gaza, The protesters went to picket the American Consulate and police stopped them to go further. The demonstrators raised slogans and made speeches in front of the Consulate. More police was called when the protesters moved towards the consulate.
Protests at Shimla Pehari Lahore by Awami Workers Party was part of over 50 demonstrations organized across the country by the Awami Workers Party, formed last week following the recent merger of three left-wing political parties in Pakistan.
Abid Hasan Minto President, condemned Israel for its expansionist policy in the region and said that the recent upsurge in violence in the Gaza strip should not be viewed as an event in isolation. He said it was linked to the Israeli state’s imperialist designs under the patronage of the United States. He condemned Arab and Pakistani state establishments for, what he said was, their complicity in the massacre of the Palestinian people. “The Arab monarchs and the Pakistani military work hand in glove with the US,” he said.
AWP leader Dr. Aasim Sajjad said that Arab rulers and the Pakistani military’s cordial relations with the US government was in contrast to their domestic image. He said that because of their economic dependence on the US and on international financial institutions and vested business interests, the rulers of Muslim countries could not be relied upon to defend the rights of their people.
Farooq Tariq General Secretary of the AWP, said that the recent popular uprisings in the Middle East and the rebirth of the left in Pakistan were precursors to the people’s disapproval of the state-of-affairs in their countries. He said the international movement was seeking an end to Israeli violence in Palestine, and that it should be connected to the overhaul of domestic authoritarian political and economic systems in these countries. Farooq Tariq said the AWP would continue supporting popular movements for self determination and for political and economic restructuring that sought an end to capital’s hold over the people.
Professor Jamil Umer aid the mobilization of AWP members was meant to send out a message of solidarity with the people of Palestine and other oppressed communities. He said AWP’s opposition to acts of violence was guided by respect for people’s right to self determination, without discriminating among them on the basis of religion, caste or ethnicity. Jamil Umer member federal committee AWP said the demonstration was an initiative to join the international Left in opposing the Israeli state’s colonization of Palestine and aggression against its people.
Awami Workers Party