India's stand on Palestine issue

This month witnessed some of the worst human rights violations in Gaza. 

The geopolitics of Palestine and Israel is a complex issue to grasp as there are many fine linings in this subject.

The academic understanding of Israeli - Palestinian issue is much more sophisticated and advanced with crucial facts and figures which are brought to light by academics like Noam Chomsky , Ilan Pappe and Norman Finkelstein. Whereas media understanding of the issue is very naive and mostly based on propaganda and appeasement of majority. 

The Indian mainstream media propelled the view that India unequivocally supports the Israel's killing of innocent civilians and annexation and occupation of Palestinian land which is a result of cognitive bias. Right Wing Hindutva outfits have openly supported Israel’s violence in Palestinian territories, because of what they believe is a shared hatred for Muslims, under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party. But a thoughtful student of Indian history and India's stand on Palestinian issue reveals much more about India-Palestine relations. With the address at UNSC (United Nations Security Council) India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T.S Tirumurti expressed India’s “strong” support to the “just Palestinian cause” and its  “unwavering” support for the two-state solution.

India’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and its attitude towards the Palestinian question was given voice through our freedom struggle by Mahatma Gandhi. India’s empathy with the Palestinian cause and its friendship with the people of Palestine have become an integral part of its time‐tested foreign policy. In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly. In 1974, India was the first Non‐Arab State to recognize PLO as sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. India was one of the first countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988, when the PLO declared an independent state of Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem. In the 1967 and 1973 wars, India lashed out at Israel as the aggressor. In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003. Yaseer Arafat was received as head of state whenever he visited India.

The Gandhian Perspective of the issue:

Gandhi's perception of the Palestine issue was ingrained with India’s anti-colonial movement and his opposition to the Zionist doctrine of religious national was an ethical response to any kind of colonialism.

In 1946, Gandhi said that “I do believe that the Jews have been cruelly wronged by the world.” Gandhi writes “But in my opinion, they [the Jews] have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism... Why should they depend on American money or British arms for forcing themselves on an unwelcome land? Why should they resort to terrorism to make good their forcible landing in Palestine?”

He wrote in Harijan that, "Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French and it is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's unflinching support:

In 1977, the then External Affairs Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of The Janata Party called on all non-aligned nations and those who believed in peace and justice to “raise their voice in protest against the injustice being meted out to Palestinians”. Addressing a public meeting, Vajpayee reiterated that India believed in peace and would continue to protest against the Zionists’ move to usurp legitimate land of the Palestinians.

In 2015, addressing students and academics at the Jordan University Former President Pranab Mukherjee  stated that, “Our bilateral relations with Israel are independent of our relations with Palestine. India supports a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders".

In 2020, India provides US$ 2 million to UNRWA for Palestinian refugees:

The UNRWA states that, "The Government of India contributed US$ 2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in support of the Agency’s programmes and services, including education, health care, relief and social services for Palestine refugees. The contribution was presented to UNRWA by Representative of India to State of Palestine H.E. Mr. Sunil Kumar. With this generous contribution, India provided the total of US$ 5 million to the Agency in 2020."

Despite these crucial facts the mainstream media houses and social media buzzed India stands with Israel. But the fanatics were left embarrassed and disgraced when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a good rapport with Narendra Modi, thanked 25 countries that he said stood with Israel, there was no reference to India.

Malcolm X said, "If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing."