Pakistani police block pro-Palestine rally outside US Consulate

KARACHI, Pakistan

Police in Pakistan deployed scores of personnel backed by paramilitary forces to block pro-Palestinian protesters from marching towards the US Consulate in Karachi on Sunday.

Hundreds of men, women and children took part in the rally organized by Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), a conglomerate of several Shia organizations.

The center-left Pakistan People's Party and mainstream religiopolitical party Jamaat -e- Islami also backed the rally.

The protesters chanted "Down with Israel," “Labbaik ya Gaza” (Gaza we are here) and "Labbaik ya Aqsa” (Aqsa we are here) as they carried banners and placards in a show of solidarity with Palestinians and to condemn Israeli aggression against civilians in Gaza.

Security personnel erected barricades and barbed wire to block the road leading to the US Consulate building located in a southern district of Karachi.

Addressing the rally, the MWM leader llama Hasan Zafar Naqvi said that mere resolutions by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and "verbal condemnation from Muslim countries" will not stop Israel from killing Palestinians.

He called on Muslim countries to sever diplomatic, economic and political ties with Israel.