India has maintained its relationship with Palestine and other West Asia players under a changed world order. This is often seen as a balancing act with the emergence of Israel and the deprivation and aspirations of the Palestinian people for their homeland. Although, PV Narsimha Rao established diplomatic ties with Israel, India has continued to lend its support to the cause of Palestine. It has called for the peaceful resolution of the issue and co-existence of the both nations.
Indian foreign policy is based on the idea of India. This calls for the prosperity of individuals and peace on the earth. Former Indian External Affairs Minister Dinesh Singh said about this , ‘The goal of Independent India’s foreign policy is tritely defined as friendship with all nations’. India made clear that it would stand for the basic ideas of equality and freedom of the people. Jawaharlal Nehru provided the vision for Non-Alignment. This provided the ground for the Bandung Conference (1955), which stressed the need for Asian Unity.
In West Asia, Zionism and Arab Nationalism emerged around same time. Both movements were financed and supported by the British and the west, but it did not complement each other. Zionists were calling for a homeland for Jews in Palestine, and rejected the British offer of land in East Africa. The collapse of Germany and her ally Turkey in the First World War liberated two forces simultaneously : 1) the growth of Arab nationalism 2) the progress of Zionism towards the foundation of a permanent home for the displaced European Jews in Palestine. From the expulsion of Jews by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to 20th century, Europe failed to deliver. With the decline of Colonialism, and racism in world, Zionism offered it new life in west Asia.
Zionism should not be mistaken with collective voice of Jews. It is filled with all sorts of people—atheists, liberals, Evangelical Christians, and right wing fascists groups. Early Zionists were proud of their movement’s colonial nature. Herzl described the future Jewish state as a ‘rampart of Europe against Asia’. Britain wanted a postwar arrangement to secure its vital lines of communication with Asia. France and other European nations were in favour of this. A Jewish national home named Israel, so British leaders reasoned, might become a useful ally on the eastern flank of the Suez Canal.
No less a person than Prof. Arnold Toynbee rejected the claim that it was the exclusive home of the Jews, the so-called promised land. He said, ‘After a lapse of 1,800 years it could not be said that Palestine was the land of the Jews. Otherwise, the United States of America would now belong to the Red Indians and the situation in England and in many other countries of the world should be different..In my opinion, the Jews have no right in Palestine except their right to personal property. They do not have right to establish a state. During the world wars, Indian leaders expressed their reservation about the plan of the colonial powers Britain, France, and the US to establish Israel in Palestine.
In February 1938, the Indian National Congress (INC) passed the Resolution at the Haripura Session, ‘The Congress Condemns the decision of Great Britain as a mandatory power to bring about the partition of Palestine and the appointment of the Commission to carry out this project. The Congress records its emphatic protest against the reign of terror in Palestine to force this policy upon the unwilling Arabs. The Congress expresses its full sympathy with the Arabs in their struggle for national freedom and their fight against British imperialism’ .
Gandhiji wrote in Harijan on November 26, 1938 , ‘I have all my sympathy with the jews. But sympathy does not blind me to the requirement of justice. The cry of National Home for Jews does not make much appeal to me. Palestine belongs to Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English and France to the French. It is wrong to impose Jews on Arabs’. Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in The Hindu on December 17, 1938, ‘Palestine is an Arab country and Arab interests must prevail there’.
In the case of Israel, its nationalism is strongly flavoured by the Hebrew culture and identity..Arab Nationalism is only partly religious . It is partly ethnic, as the Arabs can claim to be of the same nationality as was Prophet Mohammad. In a way, Arab National movement and Indian National movement complemented each other.
Albert Einstein, writing to the ‘American Friends of Fighters for Freedom of Israel’, said ‘ Then a real and final catastrophe should befall us in Palestine the first responsibility for it would be the British and the second responsibility for it the Terrorist organizations built up from our own ranks. I am not willing to anybody associated with those misled and criminal people’. India continued to warn against the nefarious design of the UK and the US to fund and foment divisive forces in west Asia in the form of Israel. It may be noted that original plan was to divide Palestine into two states.
In August 1947, Gandhiji wrote in Harijan , ‘They 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? On November 29, 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution No. 181 (11) recommending the partition of Palestine. Israel was allotted only about 55 per cent of the total atrea of the country. But on June 4 1967 it was in occupation of more than 77 per cent of the area. The UN Resolution had also called for the administration of Jerusalem by the UN.
Mahatma Gandhi said in 1948, ‘It should be clearly understood that the basic problem of Palestine is between the Arabs of Palestine and Jews who want to come from abroad to settle there. Unless the Jews are able to convince the local Arabs of their bona fides, no basis could ever exist for the Jewish entry into Palestine’. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, Jawaharlal Nehru expressed concern, ‘Palestinian refugee problem is above all a human problem and Afro-Asian community should make fullest endeavour to get this solved.’ Indian support for Palestine was based on its stand on ideals of freedom, peace and justice. Israel meanwhile was based on policy of aggression and expansion, which threatens peace.
In November 1957, the Indian weekly Blitz published secret material of the Israeli General Staff on plans to set up a ‘Greater Israel’ from the Eupherates to the Nile. The Strategic Plan of the Israeli Army is to enter Saudi Arabia, and reclaim Yathrib (Madina) and change the borders of the existing Arab States. Zionists want to reclaim most of Arab land, as they consider this part of their promised Land. Jewish tribes of Yathrib, Banu Nazir, Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Qurayza were expelled when they conspired to kill Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Israel is a predatory imperialist state, which follows aggression and terror as State policy, which endangers peace in West Asia and world. Not only imperialism, Israel also discriminates against its own Arabs, Christians, and non-white Jews.
The immigrants from the European countries and the US have a privileged position. In the US, the supporters for Israel are Evangelical Christians, white Anglo-Saxons, White Supremacists, who believe in racial discrimination and injustice. Jews immigrants from Europe, whose ancestors experience discrimination and injustice in Europe reject Apartheid state of Israel. The US policy of helping was explained by former US President Richard Nixon. He recalls the thinking behind the new initiatives- ‘We were committed to Israel victories against Arabs’. On the other hand, India have always called for the end of discrimination and peace in the region.
Indira Gandhi at the UN said in 1968 , ‘Nehru believed that freedom was the first condition of peace. There could be no peace so long as one nation rules over another or claims superiority by virtue of military might or of race..’ In an interview former External Affairs Minister Jaswant singh also believed in Asian Unity and coexistence.
Dinesh Singh said, ‘It is by having a strong Asian policy that we can hope to secure Asian cooperation which must be the point of our diplomatic strategy. ..freedom of the individual, equality of nations, peaceful co-existence were not mere slogans for her. Although, PV Narsimha Rao established diplomatic ties with Israel, India has continued to lend its support to the cause of Palestine. It has called for the peaceful resolution of the issue and co-existence of the both nations. Given its history and geography, India can act as peacemaker, mediator for the region marred by sectarian warfare, nationalist aspirations and regional contests for the leadership. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh talked of ‘Look West’ policy in 2005 and visited many gulf countries.
The right wing conservative political groups in India are seen as friends of Israel. In 1978, External Affairs Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected the notion that Sangh was against Arabs. Addressing a public meeting, Vajpayee reiterated India's support to Palestine, and that India believed in peace and would continue to protest against the Zionists’ move to usurp legitimate land of the Palestinians. At another meeting outside Red Fort, Vajpayee rejected the view that the Sangh was against Muslims. In August 2002, PM A B Vajpayee in interview with Amir Taheri again said, 'We have called for justice for the Palestinians, and were among the first to support the creation of an independent and free state of Palestine'. India has emphasized the importance of the Beirut Arab Peace Initiative and the Road Map. In March 2019, Sushma Swaraj reiterated India’s stand, ‘In West Asia, our solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian people have remained unwavering.
The holy places for the Muslims, Christians and Jews are based in the region. Millions of people visit the region for Hajj, Umrah, and other pilgrimages. Saudi Arabia is the biggest pilgrimage centre outside India, and its big business for Saudi Arabia. The role of pilgrimage in fostering ties across the world is significant. Former Chief Minister of Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, YSR Reddy granted support and sanctioned subsidy to the Christians from his state to travel to Jerusalem. Such visit by large number of people is good occasion to strengthen the ties. Indian PM in 2019 highlighted the importance of Hajj in fostering better ties. Indian association with Arab world has sustained through the ages, via the Silk Route, ocean and Air routes. At Suez arrived carvans from the Nile and goods were loaded on jilbas—grain, rice, textile, cotton, and arms. Sushma Swaraj said, ‘And, our ties have the warm glow of deepening human and cultural links’.
In recent times, Fight againstTerrorism, and calls for Free Palestine has led to Islamophobia. The Hate against Muslims have been equated with anti-Semitism. In March 2019, Sushma Swaraj called for an end to Hate, ‘The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion…every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood.
Injustice, Racial Discrimination, White Supremacy, Radicalism, extremism, hate and policy of exclusion poses threat to global peace. In this view, all the stakeholders and the world must not delay the establishment of Independent Palestine state with Jerusalem as capital and return of all occupied lands to Arabs and return of refugees. This will end the colonialism and imperialism in West Asia.
