The Gaza genocide is making Pakistan boycott cricket. Here's why

It’s not the sort of thing you’d see reported by the BBC, but a growing pro-Palestine movement has been mobilising within Pakistan in recent weeks. While the Israeli occupation intensifies its violence and perpetration of genocide against Palestinians within Gaza and beyond, a combination of local factors has influenced the mobilisation within Pakistan.

Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, Pakistanis have, for the most part, voiced support for Palestine on social media and raised calls for boycotts of Israeli-supporting brands within the country. The rise in popularity of the Pakistan-made Cola Next has been one notable outcome of these views.

More recently, however, pro-Palestine mobilisation has escalated firstly in the form of intensified pressure to boycott these brands and secondly through mass protests in major cities within Pakistan. Upon examining the reasons behind this escalation, two factors appear to be particularly significant.

The first of these is the fatwa issued by the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) on 28 March, which declared it an obligation for Muslims to carry out “jihad” against Israel. The fatwa has since been endorsed by prominent scholars within Pakistan.

The second is the latest season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), a cricket league for professional male cricket players within the country, being prominently sponsored by Pepsi and KFC, brands that have investments in and ostensibly support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

One thing about Pakistanis is that they love their cricket. It would be accurate to say that cricket is something of a national obsession. This is important context to understand the significance of the boycott against PSL. For a boycott movement against a cricket league to be effective to the extent that matches have been played in almost-empty stadiums truly speaks to the growing strength of pro-Palestine sentiment within the country.

Prominent cricket celebrities including international icon Wasim Akram have spoken out against the boycott, criticising its impact on Pakistani institutions and businesses. Pro-Palestine voices, however, appear resolute and have continued to disseminate information on social media about how stocking Pepsi products or spending money at KFC will contribute to the Israeli economy.

I spoke to the Blockout Campaign which has been working with various groups on the ground. They have been mobilising to create public pressure on the government in particular and to compel it to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Gaza. Mass protests, with many thousands in attendance, have taken place in Karachi and Islamabad, with further protests scheduled to take place in the near future.

These protests, combined with pressure on PSL to cut ties with sponsors that are seen as being complicit in Israel’s human rights violations, come against the backdrop of inaction by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), of which Pakistan is a key member.

While the OIC met on April 11 to discuss Israel’s escalation of violence in Gaza, the resolution proposed by the Pakistani delegation against Israel was so watered down, following pressure from the US, that it was even commended even by an American Zionist lobby group.

In Pakistan, it's a duty to mobilise for Gaza

It appears that the government’s response could not be more at odds with public sentiment within Pakistan. Placards at some of the protests have read: “By Allah we stand with you Palestine always and forever,” “End the Palestinian Holocaust” and “Armies to Al Aqsa”.

The Blockout Campaign outlined its demands through these protests.

First, it called for an immediate government response to the fatwa urging jihad against Israel. Second, it demanded the formation of a unified military alliance with fellow Islamic nations to stand against Israel. Third, it urged direct military intervention in Gaza to halt the ongoing genocide. And fourth, it called for a nationwide declaration deeming that all products that support Israel are haram, accompanied by a complete national ban.

On the one hand, it is somewhat remarkable to see how a Muslim population not shackled by anti-terror policing and paranoia is able to openly declare and support a call for jihad, or active resistance on all fronts, against Israel.

On the other, it’s worth highlighting that while some groups mobilising in Pakistan are doing so with an Islamic imperative, their position is also entirely in keeping with the rights of occupied peoples under international law.

When I asked the organisers if they had a message for pro-Palestine supporters in Pakistan and beyond, their response was clear and urgent:

“We call on pro-Palestinian activists around the world, especially Muslims, to rise and take action. Silence is no longer an option. It's time to pressure governments to end the genocide in Gaza. Our mission is to confront the global and local systems that make these atrocities possible. The message is simple: Rise. Mobilise. Liberate.”

Especially since Israel’s violation of the ceasefire, we continue to see daily massacres of defenceless Palestinians in Gaza, predominantly women and children. If Israel isn’t murdering with bombs, it’s doing so by blocking food and medical supplies and bombing solar panels at the handful of crumbling hospitals that are somehow still operational in the strip. Each atrocity is worse than the last. Each update reveals new depths of Israel’s depravity.

The demands of protesters in Pakistan echo recent calls by British human rights barrister Ousman Noor to write to OIC representatives ahead of their meeting on April 27-28 and “demand the establishment of a protective force” in support of Palestinians. Truly, people in Gaza have suffered enough as a result of global inaction.

It was decolonial author Arundhati Roy who said that “the only moral thing Palestinian civilians can do … is to die”. If not now, when will we advocate for the right of Palestinians to resist genocide and ethnic cleansing, so they can finally live in peace?

Afroze Fatima Zaidi is a writer, editor and journalist. She has a background in academia and writing for online platforms.

Follow her on X: @afrozefz

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff, or the author's employer.