Pakistan
Pakistan was proclaimed an Islamic republic in 1956 and the commitment
to Islam as the state religion was reaffirmed by the 1962 and 1973 constitutions.
Legislation in 1991 declared Islamic law (Shari'a) supreme. In the 1993
gen-eral election, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) became the largest
single party in the national assembly and its leader, Benazir Bhutto, was
appointed prime minister. The president of Pakistan, Farooq Lughari, and
the chief-of-staff of the armed forces also play key roles in political
decision-making.
Amidst increasing opposition and charges of corruption, Bhutto's coalition
government was dissolved in October 1996 by President Lughari, who announced
that new elections would be held early in 1997. Imran Khan, an international
cricket star who had gained widespread popularity through charity campaigns
in Pakistan, founded a new political party, Tahreek a-Insaf (Justice Movement).
The general election was held on 3 January 1997 and the Pakistan Muslim
League (a moderate democratic Islamic party) emerged with an absolute majority
in the national assembly. Mian Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the party, was
appointed prime minister.
The clandestine training of militant Islamists in the North-West Frontier
Province, which runs along the border with Afghanistan, is a source of concern
beyond Pakistan. For example, Sheikh Omar Abd al-Rahman, the Egyptian cleric
sentenced to life imprisonment in the USA for masterminding the bombing
of the World Trade Center building in New York (see United States of America
and Egypt), reportedly maintained a base in the city of Peshawar.
In 1996 Pakistani officials continued to condemn the Middle East peace process
and to declare that Pakistan would not establish relations with Israel until
Israel fully implemented UN resolutions.
Before 1947 the Jewish community in Pakistan felt reasonably secure under
British rule. Within a year of independence, however, the Pakistani government
revoked the community's rights, denying Jews political representation. Following
the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, violent incidents occurred
against Pakistan's small Jewish community, which numbered approximately
2,000 Bene Yisrael Jews. The synagogue in the former capital, Karachi, was
set alight and Jews were attacked. This resulted in the large-scale emigration
of the community, mostly to India. In the early 1950s an estimated 250 Jews
remained in Karachi.
Out of solidarity with the Muslim Arab states, Pakistan maintained a hostile
stance towards Zionism and the state of Israel. In his address as chair
of the Second Islamic Summit in 1974, Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto asserted:
"To Jews as Jews we bear no malice; to Jews as Zionists, intoxicated
with their militarism and reeking with technological arrogance, we refuse
to be hospitable."
The Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, the attempted arson of the al-Aqsa
mosque in Jerusalem in 1969, and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon gave
rise to further expressions of anti-Zionism in Pakistan.
Many influential political figures, including the military chief-of-staff,
promoted the theory that the 1991 Gulf War was a "clear manifestation
of the anti-Muslim forces at work at the behest of Israel and the Zionist
lobby in the United States". The leader of the main Islamist party,
Jammat e-Islami, termed it the "war between the Jews, the worst enemy
of Islam, and the Muslims".
Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country with small Christian minorities that constitute less than 3 per cent of the population. Discrimination against Christians, Hindus and members of Islamic sects such as the Ahmadiya, which differ from the Sunni majority, has led to acts of violence. Harassment of Ahmadis is prevalent, especially since 1984 when the government introduced legislation that banned Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims.
Jammat e-Islami is led by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who was a member of the senate, Pakistan's upper house, until his resignation in August. The party has strong links with anti-government Islamist forces in Egypt and blames western lobbies, including Zionists, for attacks on religious parties and movements in all parts of the Muslim world.
When Pakistan lost the world cup cricket series to India in Calcutta, prominent Pakistanis blamed a "Hindu-Zionist conspiracy".
The media in Pakistan have provided extensive coverage of the political
and personal career of the cricket star Imran Khan. Since Khan's marriage
in 1996 to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British industrialist and politician,
Sir James Goldsmith (see United Kingdom), Khan has been accused of acting
as an agent of the "Jewish lobby". Jemima Khan publicly denied
that her parents were Jewish.
An Egyptian newpaper distributed in Pakistan accused Khan of receiving large
sums of money for his election campaign from the "Jewish lobby".
Following complaints from Khan, the deputy editor of the newspaper retracted
the story and published an apology.
Since India established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, the Pakistani media have repeatedly referred to the "Zionist threat on our borders", and occasionally combine both anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric. This is particularly common in the Islamist press, but also occurs in mainstream publications. The visit to India in December of Israel's President Ezer Weizmann and India's agreement to purchase Israeli military equipment aroused hostile comments in the Pakistani press.
Many factors combine to enourage the tiny Jewish community in Karachi
to maintain a low profile. Despite the developments in the Middle East peace
process, Pakistan's hostility towards Israel and Zionism has not waned.
Expressions of antisemitism in the media also reflect a more general form
of xenophobia, as illustrated by the comments published about Jemima Khan.
The political instability of the country and the increasing influence of
Islamists have further undermined the security of the Jewish community.
© JPR 1997