Tag: Gaza

  • ‘Show empathy’: Mia Khalifa defends Malala Yousafzai over response to Palestine genocide

    ‘Show empathy’: Mia Khalifa defends Malala Yousafzai over response to Palestine genocide

    As Israel launches full scale war on Palestine, many celebrities, including prominent faces in Pakistan, have expressed outrage and sent solidarity to the Palestinian people. Among the Pakistani public figures, a few social media users were critical of Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

    Former adult star Mia Khalifa defended the activist after a Pakistani twitter user praised Mia on Twitter for vocally sending her support to Palestine, and commented on Malala’s silence on the issue.

    ‘You spoke more than our Noble Peace Prize winner Malala and earned huge respect for this act,” the user wrote.

    To which Mia had responded:

    “I appreciate your sentiment, but I don’t agree with this rhetoric. We need to be more empathetic to people’s traumas and ability to absorb and digest things unfolding in real time. Freezing is a trauma response, feeling overwhelmed is common, and we need to give people time to speak on their own time. Malala is a trailblazer for human rights, she’s an inspiration and a guiding light for many.”

    Many applauded Mia’s empathetic response.

  • ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’: Celebrities extend support as war rages on in Gaza

    ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’: Celebrities extend support as war rages on in Gaza

    As war rages on in Gaza, celebrities from Pakistan came forth in throngs to extend their solidarity to the Palestinian community, offering prayers to see them free from the oppressive Israeli occupation.

    Celebrities from Pakistan arrived in throngs to extend their solidarity to the Palestinian community, and are praying in their lifetimes to see a free country removed from the oppressive Israeli reign.

    Actress Saba Qamar wrote the rallying cry for Palestinian freedom: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

    Veteran actress Nadia Jamil applauded a clip where the Palestinian representative Husam Zomlot gave an interview to the BBC.

    Actress Armeena Khan lauded the bravery of the Palestinian people who were prepared to fight with all they had for their freedom.

    “The Palestinians, in my opinion are the bravest people on planet earth. Zero support and the entire world against them. My God, I am terrified for the little children about to lose their lives. Sigh..”

    Actress and VJ Anoushay Ashraf prayed that the international community would do more to help the Palestinian cause:

    “Goodness violence begets violence..I wish the world would do more to help Palestinian’s cause so we wouldn’t see such bloodshed.”

    Actress Ushna Shah expressed her disappointment with how many celebrities and politicians she had to unfollow after witnessing their reaction to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians

    “The amount of Hollywood celebrities and propaganda news publications I’ve had to unfollow…” she tweeted.

  • Hamas launches 5,000 rockets into Israel

    Hamas launches 5,000 rockets into Israel

    Hamas has launched dozens of rockets into Israel as part of ‘Operation Al Aqsa Storm’ against illegal settlements in occupied territory.

    In an unexpected turn of events, on Saturday, Palestinian fighters attacked Israeli bases.

    According to Israeli radio, Hamas fighters took 35 Israelis captive.

    AFP has reported that rocket fire was launched from multiple locations starting at 06:30 am in the morning from besieged Palestine and continued for nearly half an hour.

    From Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif gave a statement, stating, “Today the people are regaining their revolution,” he said in the recorded message, as he called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight and “expel the occupiers and demolish the walls.”

    “We must set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers,” Deif added.

    He also claimed to have fired over 5,000 rockets into Israel.

    On the contrary, Israel has declared a ‘state of readiness’. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “We are at war and we will win”

    “Our enemy will pay type of a price which it has never known,” Netanyahu said in video statement.

    Previously, a Palestinian was killed during friction with illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Huwara, where the settlers became violent during the victim’s funeral, resulting in nine hospitalised.

    Moreover, apart from the tensions along Israel’s border with Gaza, and clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at least 247 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces this year, whereas 32 Israelis and two foreign nationals have been killed in Palestinian attacks.

    World reacts

  • Israeli airstrikes target Gaza again since ceasefire

    Israeli airstrikes target Gaza again since ceasefire

    Israeli aircraft struck Gaza on Wednesday in the first such attacks since the end of 11 days of cross-border fighting last month.

    The overnight air strikes gave way to calm by morning, and there were no reports of casualties on either side, reports Aljazeera.

    On Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting “Death to Arabs”, paraded in East Jerusalem in a show of force that threatened to spark renewed violence, reported Dawn.

    The raids early on Wednesday come less than a month after Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza in May.

    https://twitter.com/wwallxc/status/1404928255568846849

    The Israeli raids come two days after a new coalition government, headed by right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennet, took power on Sunday, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year run as prime minister.

  • Former Israeli defense minister shows Islamabad’s Shifa Hospital as Hamas headquarters

    Former Israeli defense minister shows Islamabad’s Shifa Hospital as Hamas headquarters

    Israel’s former defence minister Naftali Bennett, in a video posted to YouTube on the Gaza situation, referred to Pakistan’s Shifa International Hospital as Hamas Headquarters where the Al-Qassam Brigade of Hamas has been operating.

    “Ever heard of Shifa Hospital? It is the largest medical complex in Gaza. It’s also where Hamas’ headquarters is located while they are conducting terror actions against Israel”, he explained while showing a picture of the Shifa Hospital building in the background.

    Read more – Gaza’s largest bookshop destroyed by Israeli airstrikes

    Shifa International Hospital is a care healthcare facility in Islamabad providing medical services to local as well as international patient communities for over 25 years.

    Social media users soon started calling out the ex-minister for the blunder.

  • Despite a ceasefire, Israel ruthlessly attacks worshippers at Al-Aqsa

    Despite a ceasefire, Israel ruthlessly attacks worshippers at Al-Aqsa

    Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which was announced early Friday morning, Israel ruthlessly attacked worshippers at Al-Aqsa during Friday prayers.

    Israel fired rubber bullets and shelled both Masjid Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third holiest site.

    It is being reported that children and women have been hurt by the tear gas while praying.

    PTI’s official Twitter handle lashed out on the barbaric violence by Israel calling out their act as a ‘massacre’.

    Israel’s bombardment of Gaza killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, in 11 days and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished territory. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.

  • Gaza’s largest bookshop destroyed by Israeli airstrikes

    Gaza’s largest bookshop destroyed by Israeli airstrikes

    Gaza’s largest bookstore was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday. Established in 2008, the shop housed thousands of books, including the largest collection of English literature in Gaza, and was also part of a publishing house that focused on Palestinian writers.

    Defending the attack, the Israeli military claimed that the strike was intended to destroy Hamas tunnels.

    The two-story bookshop was built 21 years ago and was one of the Gaza Strip’s largest sellers of books for children, students, academics and anyone else who loved to read. He also printed books and published stories written by local authors.

    “The books may be under rubble but that will not stop us,” writer Nada Abu Mideen told The National. “We will keep writing to show the world that we deserve life.”

    Read more – Eleven children receiving trauma care killed in their homes by Israeli airstrikes

    A GoFundMe has also been set up to help rebuild the store.

    This wasn’t the only bookstore that was destroyed in Gaza this week. Others, including the Iqraa library, were also either completely or partially destroyed.

    Bookstore owner Shaban Aslim can be seen holding back tears as he is interviewed in front of the rubble.

    “The bookstore was like my soul,” said Mansour, 53, who was born in the Gaza Strip and said that he had built this bookstore by starving himself.

  • SMQ labelled ‘anti-Semitic’ by CNN host

    CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst and anchorperson Bianna Golodryga has labelled Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi “anti-Semitic” after she interviewed him on the ongoing violence in Gaza.

    Qureshi, who had appeared on Bianna’s show Thursday night, stated that the “tide was turning” against Israel as it was losing the media war despite its connections. The foreign minister had lashed out at Israel for its state-sanctioned massacre in Gaza, where nearly 250 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed in less than two weeks.

    The minister during the show had said a ceasefire was inevitable since Israel “is losing out”.

    When Golodryga asked Qureshi to explain Israel’s “connections”, Qureshi had said: “Deep pockets.”

    Golodryga further asked him to explain his point of view on the situation, to which Qureshi said: “They are very influential people, I mean they control media.”

    In response to this, the CNN journalist labelled him anti-Semitic.

    “The point is, they have a lot of influence, and they get a lot of coverage. What’s balanced that is the citizen journalist who has been reporting, sharing video clips, and that has jolted people and woken up people…people who were sitting on the fence are today, speaking up,” added Qureshi.

    Golodryga further stressed on the “anti-Semitic talk and rhetoric”. She stated that someone like Qureshi, who is in a powerful position, should say that’s wrong.

    Antisemitism is generally considered to be a form of racism and is defined as “hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews”.

    When Qureshi was talking about the heavy Palestinian casualties as a result of Israeli airstrikes, she urged him to be objective and also focus on Israeli casualties caused by Hamas rockets.

    After two weeks of violent attacks, Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire early on Friday.

  • Shahid Afridi shares heartwarming poem for Palestinian children

    Shahid Afridi shares heartwarming poem for Palestinian children

    Former Pakistan Cricket team captain Shahid Afridi has shared a heartwarming poem for the Palestinian children in solidarity.

    Read more – Asim Azhar, Shahid Afridi, Farhan Saeed call out Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians

    Afridi took to his social media and expressed his support for the victims of the deadly Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. He assured them that they are not alone amid this oppression.

    The poem read: “This message is for you, children of the land of Palestine. We are far away here, but our hearts beat with you, in the same way that the hearts of our fathers and their fathers, beat with your ancestors. All the knots of sorrow, anxiety, fear and worry are temporary. All avenues of grief are temporary!”

    Afridi shared two pictures with his daughter, in which they can be seen holding Palestinian flags in their hands.

    Israeli fighter jets continue to pound the Gaza City on Thursday. The death toll has increased to 227 Palestinians, including 64 children, in 11 days of violence.

    The United Nations Security Council’s effort for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza remains stalled, with the United States continuing to veto action on the issue.

  • ‘We have to let Palestinians stay where they have lived for the past 70 years,’ says Israeli parliamentarian

    Mossi Raz, who is a senior member of Israel’s Parliament Knesset, has said that it is ‘unjust’ of Israel to evict Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. Raz is a member of the Meretz party, which advocates for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

     “We have to reverse this decision and let Palestinians stay in the place they have lived for the past seventy years,” said Raz while speaking to Geo News.

    Raz said that thought the the solution to Israel-Palestine conflict is hard, it is not impossible.

    “The only solution to war is peace,” said Raz. “First and foremost, we have to stop the fight. Both sides have to stop the fight right now.”

    The parliamentarian further said: “Unfortunately, people always support hardliners and their leadership in times of war. We have to uphold freedom, equality, and human rights for people here and in Palestine.”

    “The reason why the US president [Joe Biden] repeatedly opposed the security council’s resolution pressing for a ceasefire is that the proposed resolution, I would say, was not fair. It talked about Israel’s violence but did not mention Palestine’s violence.” 

    He also clarified that he was neither comparing nor saying there is a symmetry in violence occurring on both sides.

    “[I’m] only trying to say that sending missiles on civilians is a war crime be it in Israel or Palestine.”

     At least 220 Palestinians, including 63 children, have been killed in Gaza since the latest violence flared on May 10, about 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded.