As calls for cessation of violence in Palestine poured in from across the world, many Pakistani leaders also called for a peaceful solution to the situation that began with Hamas’ attack on Israel on Saurday.

However, in the middle of this, many social media users showed a remark attributed to Maulana Fazal ur Rehman calling upon Palestinians to ‘respect human rights’. The statement originally surfaced as a 20-second video.

The remarks led to outrage as Palestine continued to be bombarded by Israel, leading to over 400 deaths. Multiple users said that Fazal’s statement framed Palestine as the transgressor.

While Fazal’s quote is accurate, it was not posted with its complete context. The actual quote is over 50 seconds long and the quote being presented forms only its beginning portion.

After saying that Palestinians should respect human rights, Fazal added that woman, children and civilians should not be targeted.

He then added that Israel had killed Palestinians with impunity, sometimes infront of their familes. However, he said. showing respect for human rights would be a way to ‘prove’ to the world that Palestinians had respect for such rights, even in the face of an Israeli regime that had carried out ethnic cleansing Islam and muslims paid heed to human rights.