PAKISTAN - Zionist Activity Criminalized
Promoting Zionist ideas or displaying Zionist symbols is now a criminal offense in Pakistan following newly passed legislation. The Senate Standing Committee on Interior approved a bill that imposes a maximum three-year prison sentence for “promoting Zionism to incite hatred” and a maximum two-year prison sentence for “displaying Zionist symbols with the intent to create public unrest.”
The bill was introduced by Afnan Ullah Khan of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) party. In his speech, Afnan said that “the books of Zionism” call for killing dissenters. “They are martyring children in Gaza under this ideology,” he said.
No committee member opposed the bill.
Joshua S. Krug, a visiting professor at Germany’s Center for Jewish Studies Heidelberg, told The Media Line that Afnan “seems to misunderstand the nature, history, and realities of Zionism and the modern Middle East.”
In a short conversation with The Media Line, Afnan noted that the bill “precisely opposes Zionism.” “It does not target Judaism as a whole,” he said.
“In a civilized world, there is no place for an ideology that indiscriminately targets women and children,” Afnan said. “Such acts of violence perpetuate fear, trauma, and suffering, causing lasting damage to affected individuals and communities.”
He did not explain his rationale for introducing the bill in a country that has no Zionist movement to speak of.
-themedialine.org, 11 November 2024
Arno's Commentary
The State of Pakistan has been involved in many wars with its neighboring India. At its founding in 1947, the first Indo-Pakistani War occurred, followed by wars in 1965 and 1971.
Later in 2001, when the USA invaded Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, it led to border skirmishes between the US and Pakistan from June 2008 to July 2012. Just as the USSR, the USA had to leave Afghanistan and Pakistan without achieving its intended objectives.
There is much more documentation about this area of conflict between the various opposing groups. But strikingly, there is little to nothing that shows Jewish involvement or, in this case, where Zionism has supposedly become a major threat to Pakistan.
Based on the CIA Factbook, the population of Pakistan stands at over 252 million, with life expectancy at 70.3 years, and per capita GDP only $5,600. In plain words: a poor, suffering nation.
Of interest is the first paragraph of the report, which states: “Pakistan is believed to have no Jewish population and no Zionist movement, raising questions about the rationale behind a new law that makes Zionism punishable by up to three years in prison.” That’s virtually mind-boggling. How do you prosecute Jews and Zionists who do not exist in Pakistan?!
In contrast to the politically motivated propaganda, we read: “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:3).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
