The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was acknowledged as the only authorized representative of the Palestinian people by India in 1974, making it the first non-Arab state to do so. India was among the first nations to recognize the state of Palestine in 1988. India has remained a historic partner and stood for the Palestinian cause before and after Independence.
There has been a rise in military and intelligence collaboration between India and Israel since the two countries established diplomatic relations. Since then, Indian support for Palestine has been lukewarm although India still recognizes the legitimacy of aspirations of Palestine. India’s position with regard to Palestine was also guided by the general consensus in the Arab world, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations.
When the partition of Palestine plan was put to vote at the UN, India voted against, along with the Arab countries. India also opposed Israel’s admission to the UN. Indo-Palestine relations are said to be very strong during the periods of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. But what has changed the historical approach of India towards Palestine and why India is doing a flip-flop on the Palestinian issue?
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held a vote on a resolution on October 26. The resolution called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” in the hostilities, and it was supported by 120 member countries and opposed by 14. India was one of 45 nations that abstained. The very decision of India was seen as a “break from the past.”However, on 9 November India voted in favour of a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine. Was this change of heart because India is trying to keep its relations with the Arab world and Gulf countries intact or was it done keeping in mind domestic political compulsion?
On India’s approach to the Palestinian cause, Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Al Haija, while talking to Radiance, said, “We are looking always to India and we depend on India to support the Palestinian struggle, the Palestinian cause and for the Palestinian justice. So, if we criticize India, we are criticizing our big brother because we have historical relation with this country, people and the government. We always discuss in the closed room many things together. We are looking for and sometimes let me say the brother might ask his BigBrother for many things.”
“And because of that we ask India to standwith the Palestinian struggle, with the Palestinian cause and work hard with the international community to find a peaceful solution. Hope the international community, after this war, will work for peace in the region, otherwise we will see one more war or more than one war and it could be much worse than this war. Now we are calling India to call for ceasefire and work for ceasefire as soon as possible. I think it’s enough of this Israeli genocide of the Palestinian peopleas it’s more than 40 days now. So, it’s enough,” added the Palestinian ambassador.
Noted social and human rights activists John Dayal, who as a journalist has interviewed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in India and abroad, said, “Even when talking of the official statements emanating from the MEA, we must note the feelings of the people on the issue of the ongoing bombings by Israel on children, women and men, prayer halls, Christian institutions and now even the memorial to the memory of Yasser Arafat, a Hero in India as much as he is in much of the world.”
Dayal added, “The bulldozer – which reminds secular Indians so much of the targeted hate which governments of several states in India use it against Muslims – demolishing the memorial comes as such a shock to anyone to see it. It angered me no end. I have interviewed and spoken with the late freedom fighter against neocolonialism, not only when he was in Lebanon, but also in his several visits to India. He remains a hero in my eyes, tougher with Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, andJawahar Lal Nehru.This bulldozer is very symbolic. It is meant to show the might of the regime in Israel, and its determination to wipe out the Palestinian race if it can. It is symbolic of the ongoing genocide as much as the images of dead and dying infants removed from their clinical oxygen tents, and those injured and wailing for help.”
“Indian Prime Minister may be under pressure in this from the militarist foreign policy coterie in the Sangh, the party, and the external and foreign policy departments, not to condemn Israel. Its supporting the latest resolution does not condone its abstention in the vote on the major resolution.The Government of India, and especially Prime Minister Modi know the support the brave Palestinian people have in India. This is not confined just to the Muslim community in the country. We have not forgotten that Palestine is home to Christians too for two millennia, and that a large number of Jews oppose such massacres,” he said.
On the way forward for India, Dayal said, “India must be seen in the leadership of voices calling for immediate ceasefire, and urgent relief to the victims of the Israeli targeted bombings and ground action. That is what an evolved and civilized nation with an ancient tradition must do.”
On the historical support of India to Palestine, Sanjay Kumar, a political analyst and foreign correspondent, said, “India has a history of supporting Palestinian cause well before the country got independence? The Congress party which was at the forefront of the freedom movement was opposed to the creation of the Israel state in the 1940s. Gandhi argued that Palestine is for Palestinians in the same way Britain is for Englishmen. This anti-colonial thinking shaped India’s post-independence approach to Palestine. Despite giving recognition to Israel as a state in 1948, New Delhi remained steadfast in its commitment to support the Palestinian cause.”
Kumar added, “However, a discernible change in India’s position has taken place in the aftermath of the Israelis attack on Gaza in reaction to Hamas’ intrusion in the Israel area and the killing of 100s of the people there.Within hours of the attack the Indian PM called it a terror attack and extended the support to Tel Aviv. A few days later the Ministry of External Affairs articulated India’s nuanced position calling for a two-state solution.At the UN, India abstained from the voting calling for a cessation of Israeli attack on Gaza. A week later, it supported a resolution asking Israel not to displace Palestinians from Gaza.”
“The government at home has been very firm not to allow any kind of protests in support of the Palestiniansin the BJP-ruled states. They detained protesters and civil society activists who came in support of peace in Palestine. The mainstream Indian media, largely under the government control, betrays a clear support for the Israeli line and frames the Palestinian issue in terms of religious lines.This new line of thinking is against India’s own history and not in tune with the long-standing foreign policy that always supported the countries and people in the global south that was persecuted and suppressed,”he said.
“There was never any doubt in the minds of those who understand this government that the Modi administration’s thinking is in tune with the Israeli state which believes in addressing political issues through security measures. It does not believe in political engagement. New Delhi since 2014 has forgotten how to engage in dissent politically, how to expand political dialogue with the people who are opposed to the politics of Delhi. The government believes that through security measures it can address historical and political problems. By supporting Israeli’s action in Gaza, New Delhi seeks legitimacy for its own problem affecting minorities or farmers,” said Kumar.
“By tuning its foreign policy with the west and Israel, India has abdicated its international responsibility; it has given up its leadership role as a voice of the marginalized country. When India was not an economic power in 1950s and 60s, New Delhi through NAM used to represent the voice of the peoples who were at the margins of geopolitics; today New Delhi has become a voiceless presence among the comity of nations, willingly giving up its legacy.This new thinking will isolate India not only in its own region but also from its own people who still vouch for the Palestinian voice and would force it to depend on security measures to address political problems,” he added.
On its impact on India, Kumar said, “India is no longer a voice of peace in the international community.The government argues that it is opposed to terrorism and that’s why it is supporting the Jewish state but the fact remains that Hamas has not been declared a terrorist organization by India so far. Secondly, New Delhi is establishing close ties with the Taliban in Kabul. The strategy seems to be creating a domestic political and ideological narrative that serves the BJP’s majoritarian agenda of polarizing Indian society further.”