Kasaragod: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide in Palestine and it is time to shoot and kill him without a trial, said Indian Member of Parliament (MP) from Kerala Rajmohan Unnithan.

He said Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement governing the Gaza Strip, took up arms to protect their land, people, and lives. "They are not terrorists. If anyone portrays Hamas as terrorists, it is time to strongly react to them," said Unnithan, a leader of the Congress party.

Unnithan was speaking at a Palestine Solidarity Rally and Prayer meeting organised by the Kasaragod United Muslim Jama-ath, a collective of mosques in and around Kasaragod town, on Friday.

He said America killed 10 lakh Arabs or Muslims in Iraq, it killed seven lakh Muslims in Afghanistan, it killed innocents in Korea and Vietnam. "But America's greed for war has not been satiated. That is what we are seeing in Palestine," Unnithan said on the ground near Malik Dinar Mosque, the second oldest mosque in India, at Kasaragod.

Those who kill lakhs of people are patriots, but those who kill someone to protect their own land are extremists, he said. "If they (Hamas) are extremists, each of us is with the extremists," Unnithan said.

India's position on Palestine was made clear before Independence by Mahatma Gandhi. "In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Harijan magazine that like America is for Americans, England for the English and France for the French, Palestine is for the Palestinians," Unnithan said.

From the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, India recognised Palestine as a nation. "At Indira Gandhi's funeral, I remember Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sobbing during the funeral procession in Delhi. He said his sister was gone. India had an emotional bond with Palestine," he said.

"Now, I am ashamed to have been born in India. Is our Prime Minister not ashamed to back the US? Today Rishi Sunak, a person of Indian origin is the prime minister of the UK. But I am ashamed of him. The Indian Prime Minister has shamed India by agreeing to become a vassal of the US and the UK," Unnithan said.

The Congress MP from Kasaragod constituency said the international community should unite to stop the carnage in Gaza. "If the Islamic world comes together, even a speck of Benjamin Netanyahu will not be found. But they are peace-loving people. They have patience and self-restraint. Hamas took up arms because their patience was tested time and again," he said.

After the war, the Israeli leadership should face trials like how the Nazi war criminals faced the Nuremberg trials after World War II, Unnithan said.

Islamic scholar and qazi of Mangaluru and Keezhur, Twaqa Ahmed Azhari Kasiyarakam, called on the crowd to not give a hoot to anyone who called Hamas a terror organisation. "Jews are one of the most blessed communities in the world. They are known for their intelligence and shrewdness. But they are showing their true colours in Gaza," he said.

Pray to God to give justice and courage to the people of Gaza and also pray that the soldiers of Hamas be given guidance and protection, he said. "We should be emotionally involved with them in the war," he said.

Ahmed Kabeer Baqavi, Islamic orator and chairman of Hamdan Foundation that offers courses on the Quran and the Prophet's teachings, said the killings of infants and women at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza explained why Hitler killed Jews. "In this evening, if you feel a slight respect for a slight moment for Adolf Hitler, the cruelest man the world has seen...," he trailed off.

He said Jews were killed in lakhs by not just Nazi Germany but also by France, Hungary, and also by the US. "People started killing Jews. Why? Because of their actions," said Ahmed Kabeer Baqavi.

He said the US and the UK created Israel to dump the "waste that washed up on their land".

He said Hamas was similar to Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh called for armed resistance against the British. Yasser Arafat was like Gandhi who called for non-violent resistance, he said.

The key speaker K Ali Kutty Musliyar, General Secretary of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulamaor, the body of Sunni-Shafi'i scholars in northern Kerala, who spoke first kept his speech sober. He said the gathering was beautiful because the old, children and women took part in the solidarity rally.

Protests across the state were attended by Muslims and non-Muslims, and it was important for the harmony of the land.

Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu, who presided over the meeting, said that the objective of the meeting was to pray for Gaza. Majeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf also kept his speech short saying he expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Ahead of the meeting, members of the mosques affiliated with the Kasaragod United Muslim Jama-ath took out a march from Pullikkunnu to Malik Dinar Nagar to express solidarity with the people of Gaza Strip.