KARACHI (Ruptly) — Thousands of protesters gathered to attend a mass anti-Israel rally in Karachi on Thursday.

The rally was organised by the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) party and was aimed to denounce any attempts of diplomatic recognition of Israel by Islamabad. It was attended by leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and other opposition factions who are part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

“If we are loyal to Pakistan then we will never recognize Israel and if we are traitors to Pakistan, we will recognize Israel”, said Fazal-ur-Rehman, who acts as the president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Fazal-ur-Rehman continued to highlight the role of the U.S. and Joe Biden to end the “forced occupation” by Israel:

First Mr Joe Biden must reverse the decision to open the U.S. embassy in Bait al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). He must play a role to end the forced occupation by Israel and he must give the Palestinians the right to live on their own land.