Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman announced the suspension of the party’s routine activities on Sunday to focus on a number of nationwide protests to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Hafiz Naeem, who spoke at a press conference in Lahore, said, “Jamaat-e-Islami suspends all normal activities from today.”

He outlined a protest calendar, starting with nationwide demonstrations on Friday, April 11. “On April 13, we will hold a Palestine march in Karachi, and on April 20, we marry against the US Embassy in Islamabad,” he added.

Hafiz Naeem said a delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians would reach out to Muslim majority countries, including Türkiye, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to push to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

“There is a cemetery -like silence over the question of Palestine all over the world,” he said. “The mask has fallen off the faces of the US, UK and Europe – the West is as barbaric today as it was in the dark times.”

Hafiz Naeem also criticized the passivity in Muslim countries. “Muslim nations have wrapped themselves in a blanket of apathy. If they had shown some honor, the atrocities in Gaza would not have happened,” he said.

He ended by confirming JI’s obligation to advocate for Palestinian rights. “We want to raise this question with the government. Even when we last talked to the prime minister, we approached the massacre in Gaza,” he said.