Md. Kamruzzaman
14 May 2021•Update: 14 May 2021
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Thousands of Muslims in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka attended a rally on Friday to condemn Israeli aggressions, and the killing and injuring of innocent people in Palestine.
The procession started at the National Baitul Mokarram Mosque after the Eid al-Fitr prayer and marched through the city's main roads and streets. The Muslim majority South Asian country celebrated the festival on Friday.
Demonstrators carrying festoons and placards with slogans such as "terrorist Israel" chanted anti-Israeli slogans and demanded urgent international action to stop "Zionist forces" from targeting and killing innocent Palestinians.
Speakers at the rally condemned the UN and the US for ignoring Israel's ongoing persecution of Palestinians in their homeland.
“It is a matter of great shame for the US and the UN for their failure to protect human rights in the Middle East, though they always try to teach the world about human rights and democracy,” Maolana Yunus Ahmed, a local Islamic scholar, said while addressing the rally.
He also urged the Muslim world to unite against Israel's decades-long occupation and oppression of Palestine.
Applauding the active role of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Israeli tyranny in the occupied Palestinian territory, he urged leaders of other Muslim states to follow him. “Our request to Erdogan is that you strive to unite the Muslim world against Israel for the greater interest of Ummah and humanity,” Ahmed added.
Other speakers at the rally also urged people to boycott Israeli products.
Praising Bangladesh’s clear stand against Israeli aggressions, they called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to work more actively to form a greater alliance among the Muslim countries to protect the rights of Palestinians and other Muslims oppressed in different parts of the world.
Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world that has not established diplomatic relations with Israel and has released many statements in support of Palestinian Muslims' legitimate struggles and Jerusalem as Palestine's capital.
Ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 119 Palestinians so far, including 28 children and 15 women, according to Palestinian health officials. At least 621 others have been injured in addition to heavy damages to residential buildings across the enclave.
To date, seven Israelis have been killed in the recent violence -- six of them in rocket attacks, in addition to a soldier killed when an anti-tank guided missile struck his jeep.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem over the past month as Israeli settlers swarmed in following a court order for the eviction of Palestinian families in the area.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 -- a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
