Why India supports Palestinians, but denounces HAMAS
India chose to stand in solidarity with Israel and unequivocally condemned the attack on Israel as terrorism while at the same time advocating for a two-state solution for the Palestinian issue
By Mark Kinra
It has been more than two months since the Israel-Hamas war began, after a brief ceasefire; Israel has again started pounding Gaza with the sole objective of annihilating Hamas. It is difficult to say whether Hamas can be decimated because Hamas is not a just organization but a thought process with the sole aim of destruction of Israel what Israel can or cannot do only time will tell. But surely Israel-Hamas war has taken centre stage of world politics, thousands have died but this is not going to be the last time Israel or Hamas will be at loggerheads even if we see normalcy return, there will be a likely scenario in future when things will be critical for the people of that region and the world at large.
Like any other case, the world seems to be divided with Western powers backing Israel and countries from the Global South tilted towards Gaza and/or the Palestinian cause. However, India though being from the Global South had a different stand considering its experiences and real politics. India chose to stand in solidarity with Israel and unequivocally condemned the attack on Israel and bracketed it under terrorism while at the same time advocating a two-state solution which has been its long-standing position. India abstained from the Jordanian resolution as it had no condemnation for actions by Hamas. While it is not that India has left the Palestinian cause high and dry, even supported the resolution which calls for stopping Israeli settlements and ceasefire in Gaza.
Several nations, institutions, individuals etc. were astonished on decision India’s decision to stand with Israel considering its long advocacy for Palestine but India’s stand stems from the current scenario of Hamas attacks against Israel and its fight against terrorism for more than 3 decades against Pakistan backed terrorists. India has long advocated to curb the menace of terrorism through several platforms like the UN, SCO and recently held ‘No Money for Terror’ conference etc.
A section of people even consider Hamas as freedom fighters but this argument isn’t ground as Hamas is not only an Islamist fundamentalist organization but also takes inspiration Muslim Brotherhood or al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn. Both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are Pan-Islamist organizations with their ideology advocating the destruction of Israel which doesn’t fit the criteria of an anti-colonial movement as none wanted destruction of the people. While the 1988 Hamas Charter called for an open call for Jihad against Israel, the 2017 Hamas Charter didn’t use the word Jihad but continues to call for armed resistance, doesn’t recognize the partition of Palestine and calls for the liberation of Palestine from ‘River to the Sea’ thereby suggesting destruction of Israel.
While understanding the Palestinian cause and negotiation between Israel and Palestinian leadership, I speak with Dr. Jonathan Ghariani, a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel who states that the “solution to this conflict is regional and regional actors such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Egypt etc. should play the role by creating necessary institutions for the Palestinians. I believe in the two-state solution but it should include the Palestinian Authority which should not incite toward Israelis and a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel with the support of key regional Arab States seems the best scenario for the Palestinian cause. In the past as well, Israel has proposed several plans for Palestinian statehood but each time Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization have rejected it without putting forward a feasible counter plan”.
As India mourned the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Israel designated Lashkar-e-Toiba as a terrorist organization and its Ambassador to India Naor Gilon wished for India to designate Hamas similarly. Like India has dehyphanted its foreign policy between Israel and Palestine, it’s time India dehyphantes Palestinian cause with that of Hamas because as long as Hamas is there it will overshadow and hurt the Palestinian cause along with India’s long-standing commitment with the Palestinians.
