A cross section of people including academics, politicians, and rickshaw pullers on Saturday at a protest rally in Dhaka demanded an immediate end to Israeli offensive and mass killings in Palestine.
They called on the international community to unite in raising its voice against American imperialism and the Zionist Israeli administration to stop killings of Palestinian people, including children and women.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee, Bangladesh, a combine of left-leaning political parties, organised the protest rally at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury, the convener of the committee, said, 鈥榃hat is happening in Palestine is not a war, but rather a planned genocide.鈥�
Criticising the silence of the Arab world about the Israeli offensive and mass killings in Palestine, Serajul Islam said that the Arab world was silent as it subscribed to the politics of capital and the capitalist and imperialist system of exploitation.
鈥業mperialist aggression will not stop if we cannot abolish the capitalist system,鈥� said Serajul Islam.
Former Jahangirnagar University professor and economist Anu Muhammad, an organiser of the committee, condemned Arab world鈥檚 silence and the United States鈥� support to continue Israel鈥檚 military offensive and mass killings in Palestine.
Refereeing to Adolf Hitler鈥檚 role in the Holocaust, Anu Muhammad said that new faces of Hitler could be the US president Donald Trump, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they all subscribed to the same ideology.
Among people killed in Gaza, there were 26 per cent women and 44 per cent children, said Anu Muhammad referring to a report published by United Nations in November 2024.
鈥楥hildren and women were killed in a planned manner to destroy the future of the land,鈥� he said.
Anu Muhammad also announced that the committee would organise marches towards the US embassy in Dhaka, the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Dhaka if the Israeli offensive and mass killings in Palestine would not end.
Expressing solidarity with Palestine people, leaders and activists of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh-SPB and Socialist Party of Bangladesh-Marxist, a group of rickshaw pullers with their rickshaws joined the demonstration.
After the rally, the protesters brought out a procession from the venue and marched towards Gulistan and ended it after reaching the National Press Club.聽聽聽聽聽
Different political parties, social organisations and Islamic Scholars in Bangladesh recently staged countrywide solidarity and protest demonstrations for several days demanding an end to the Israeli military鈥檚 bombardment and mass killings in Palestine.
