Gandhi, the Jews and Palestine

- By Ambassador (Retd) Pascal Alan Nazareth*

Gandhi’s views about the Jews and Palestine were as clear & emphatic as they were prophetic.

When the Jews were being brutally oppressed by Hitler, he wrote in his paper ‘Harijan’ in November 1938: “My sympathies are all with the Jews. They have been the untouchables of Christianity. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler. If ever there could be a justifiable war in the name of humanity, it would be against Germany to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race. But I do not believe in any war. Besides my sympathy for the Jews does not blind me to the requirements to Justice. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. The nobler course would be to insist on a just treatment of the Jews wherever they were born and bred Those born and bred in France are French precisely as Christians born in France are French. Every country is their home, including Palestine, not by aggression but by loving service...”

Many reputed Jewish scholars have acknowledged the “requirements of Justice”, have not been met in Palestine.

Tom Segev, in his book ‘One Palestine Complete’, has exposed the falsehood about Palestine being “A land without people for a people without land” and quoted British General Walter Congreve “We might as well declare that England belongs to Italy because it was once occupied by the Romans”.

Avi Shlaim, in his book ‘The Iron Wall’ has stated “Conflict accompanied the Zionist enterprise long before Hitler came on the scene….There is no denying that the establishment of the State of Israel involved a massive injustice to the Palestinians.”

Henry Seigman, in the February 8, 2001 New York Review of Books, has urged Israel to recognize its “sacred obligation to a people that has been greatly wronged, a wrong compounded by keeping the West Bank and Gaza under occupation since 1967.”

Gerald Kauffman, former British Labour Minister wrote, in the Spectator of April 24, 2004: “What the Egyptian Pharaoh did to the Jews, the Jews have now done to the Palestinians who have no Moses to bring them salvation and no Red Sea will part for them”.

In sharp contrast to the above truthful and scholarly comment Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s most belligerent and controversial leader is fixated on the thesis & policy enunciated in his May 2011 address to the US Congress: “In Judea & Samaria, Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo. This is the land of our forefathers to which Abraham brought the idea of one God, where David confronted Goliath, and where Isaiah saw a vision of eternal peace. No distortion of history can deny the four thousand year old bond, between the Jewish people and this land”. This is the root cause of the tragic history of Palestine in the last 75 years.

President Jimmy Carter, architect of the 1978 Camp David Accord, in his “Peace Not Apartheid’ book has written “Since the 1979 Israeli – Egyptian peace treaty was signed, much blood has been shed and repeated efforts for a negotiated peace between Israel and its neighbors have failed. The bottom line is this: Peace will come to the Middle East only when the Israeli Government is willing to comply with international law, with the Roadmap for Peace, with official American Policy, and honors its own previous commitments, by accepting its legal borders. The United States is squandering international prestige and goodwill and intensifying global anti- American terrorism by unofficially abetting Israeli colonization of Palestinian territories”.

President Nelson Mandela, in response to Thomas Friedman’s March 27, 2001 New York Times article on Israel’s security concerns, wrote: “Today the world, black and white, recognizes that Apartheid has no future. In South Africa it has been ended by our own decisive mass action. In Palestine the political & cultural relationships between Israelis and Palestinians is an Apartheid system. Palestinians are struggling not just for a “state” but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were in South Africa. In recent years, Israel has shown that it is not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967 and that Palestinians would have to be under Israeli domination with its borders, land, air, water and sea controlled by it, so as to ensure that Palestinians never become a majority, for that would force Israel to either become a secular democratic, bi-national state, or an Apartheid state, not only de facto, but also de jure.”

75 years after its creation Israel, despite having the world’s 7th strongest military power and only nuclear state in West Asia, still harps on “existential threats” to it.. Its paranoid security concerns have triggered its preemptive strikes against Egypt & Syria in 1967, made it destroy Iraq’s Osirak Nuclear reactor in 1981, and clandestinely arm itself with nuclear weapons (which its nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu revealed in 1986), invade & occupy southern Lebanon for 18 years (1982 – 2000) and construct the 350 kilometre long, fifteen foot high “security barrier”, which confines Palestinians to 16 disconnected enclaves comprising only 27% of their land which International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled is “contrary to international law”. After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Israel has destroyed almost 90% of Gaza’s housing & civilian infrastructure i and killed over 42,000 of its inhabitants. Since October 1, 2024 it has been ceaselessly bombing not only Hizbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon but also Beirut & Damascus. They have even attacked the UNIFIL office in Lebanon and injured some of its members.

Gaza & the West Bank today are much like the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto but on a much bigger scale. The Jewish armed uprising (their arms were secured from the Polish resistance) in the Warsaw ghetto is hailed by Jews, and many others worldwide, as an act of great courage and heroism. Yet Hamas’ October 7, 2023 armed uprising against seven decades of Israeli brutalities & incarceration of Palestinians in the “world’s largest open air prison” & destruction of their homes & sources of livelihood (over 500,000 of their olive trees have been uprooted / burnt) & killing of over 42,000 of them is denigrated as “terrorism”.

It is pertinent to recall here that Israel’s creation was “midwifed” by the Irgun & Stern terror outfits. Encyclopaedia Brittanica’s information about them is as under:

Irgun Zvai Leumi, founded in 1931, committed acts of terrorism against the British after publication of its 1939 White Paper which severely limited Jewish immigration into Palestine. On July 22, 1946, Irgun blew up King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 91 British soldiers and civilians. After Israel’s creation its armed units joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Its political wing founded the Ḥerut (Freedom) Party which later merged with the Liberals and became the Gahal Party.

The Stern Gang, founded in 1940 by Avraham Stern after a split with the Irgun, repeatedly attacked British personnel in Palestine. The British killed Stern in February 1942; and soon thereafter arrested many Stern Gang members. Nonetheless, in November 1944, two of them assassinated Lord Moyne, British minister of state for the Middle East, at Cairo .After Israel’s creation Stern Gang units joined the IDF but. unlike Irgun, it neither created nor joined any political party.

Prime Minister Menachim Begin was an Irgun member Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir a Stern Gang member.

Israel’s belligerence and adoption of “assassination of enemies” as security policy since its creation, emanate from its Irgun & Stern Gang antecedents.

Ronen Bergman, in his book ‘Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations’, has revealed that since its creation Israel has assassinated more than 2,700 of its “enemies” all over the world. He has accused Israel of “seeking to stop history without engaging in diplomacy and statesmanship.”

No UN member state has been as belligerent, scornful of the UN Charter, international law and sovereignty of other states as Israel. Yet it has never been censured for any of its grossly criminal acts by the UN Security Council which is mandated to ensure world peace and security. This is because the US has cast 57 vetoes to prevent this.

Why has the US been so protective of Israel? John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their ‘‘The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy’ book have written : “For the past several decades the centre piece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and related effort to spread ‘democracy’ has inflamed Arab nations and jeopardized US security. This jinx has no equal in American political history. This remarkable level of diplomatic support the US provides. Israel derives almost entirely from the ‘Israel Lobby. No other lobby has managed to divert the US so far from its national interests and convince Americans that US interests and those of Israel are essentially identical.”

Jeffrey Sachs, renowned Columbia University Professor, in a January 2024 article titled “Saving Israel by Ending Its War in Gaza” has written: The Israeli government argues that it is in a vital fight for survival and therefore must take every measure, including destruction of Gaza. This is false. There is no ethical, legal or geopolitical case for killing tens of thousands of civilians, and uprooting 2 million people—to protect Israel against the threats Hamas actually poses. In all the years Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, it has never captured Israeli territory, nor remotely threatened its existence. Hamas has around 30,000 fighters, IDF’ has more than 600,000. Besides, Hamas has neither an air force nor armored units nor military-industrial base.

The American people need to understand that Israeli politics is now dominated by extremists who mix religious fervor with murderous violence against Palestinians. This ultra-violent side of Israel is still largely unknown to Americans. The Grayzone has compiled a shocking compilation of its soldiers & politicians celebrating Palestinian killings.

Supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza is antithetical to Israel’s long-term security and perhaps even its survival. The Arab and Islamic states have repeatedly declared their readiness to normalize relations with Israel within the context of the two-state solution.

Israel has hemorrhaged political support worldwide. In a recent UN General Assembly vote, 174 countries, with 94% of the world population, voted in favor of Palestinian political self-determination, while just 4 countries with 4% of the world population – Israel, the United States, Micronesia and Nauru – voted against. 15 countries abstained. Israel’s hardline militarism has united the world against it.

US open-ended support for Israel has seemed to be unstoppable in American politics. The Israel lobby—a powerful constellation of Israel politicians and wealthy Americans—has played a huge role in building this strong support. The Israel lobby gave $30 million in campaign contributions in the 2022 Congressional election cycle, and will give vastly more in 2024. But the lobby is up against the public’s growing opposition to Israel’s brutality in Gaza.

Many zealous religious Israelis strongly resist a Palestinian state, based on ancient biblical texts. Judaism’s vision is not to rule over Palestinians or ethnically cleanse them. It is to use reason and goodwill to find peace. As Hillel the Elder declared, ‘Whatever is hateful and distasteful to you, do not do to your fellow man.’. and Prophet Isaiah (2:4), urged that ‘nations beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and no nation lift up sword against nation, nor learn war anymore.’ So may it be.”

What are the outcomes for Israel and Palestine, of the last twelve months of ceaseless violence, hostage taking, bommbings death & destruction?

ISRAEL has not achieved its proclaimed prine objective of destroying Hamas. Despite its ceaseless bombings & assassinations of its leaders, it has still been unable to “destroy” Hamas. On October 7, 2024 when Israel was having its memorial service for the soldiers & civilians who died in the previous twelve months, Hamas fired missiles at it. Every assassination of a Hamas, Hezbollah or Houthi leader by Israel has only intensified their drone, rocket & missile attacks on it.

Israel’s aura of invincibility has been severely dented. It’s much touted “Iron Dome’ and ‘David’s Sling’ protective shields have been unable to protect all of its strategic sites from the frequent barrage of missiles, rockets and drones which Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi & Iran have fired at it in recent the last twelve months. One of them hit Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence yesterday!

Israel’s security scenario has greatly deteriorated. It is now battling on five fronts ; Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. 735 of its soldiers killed is the highest figure for any of its wars since 1967. The 8 soldiers killed on October 2nd in southern Lebanon is its largest single day loss during the same period. On October 10 a missile strike on its Golani Brigade training centre killed four soldiers and injured 49 others. Besides, it has lost 363 of its land armour assets - Merkava tanks, armoured vehicles and bulldozers.

Israel has also hemorrhaged political & diplomatic support worldwide and is now widely regarded as a “Rogue“or Pariah State”. In a recent UN General Assembly vote, 174 countries, with 94% of the world population, voted in favor of Palestinian political self-determination, while just 4 countries with 4% of the world population – Israel, the United States, Micronesia and Nauru – voted against. 15 countries abstained.

Even more damaging for Israel are the financial & economic costs of its multi front wars of the preceding twelve months. In May 2024, Bank of Israel revealed these had cost $ 65 Billion! Its Eilat port has recently declared bankruptcy. Its CEO, Gideon Gilbert indicated that Yemeni Houthi attacks had reduced ship arrivals at it by 85 per cent and plummeted its revenues Exports of Israel’s most high value item, polished diamonds, had plummeted by 33 percent in the first seven months of 2024. Tourist arrivals have also plummeted. All this has resulted in a sharp fall in Israel’s export earnings, credit rating and value of its Shekel. This has constrained it to temporarily close some of its ministries.

PALESTINE has suffered mammoth losses. Its official figures indicate that 42,500 Palestinians have died. The reputed Lancet journal gives this figure as 186,00. Destruction of housing, civilian infrastructure and means of livelihood are over 80%. However, these enormous losses have secured substantial global sympathy for them and their “cause” has progressed more in the last one year than in the preceding three decades.

Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held in over 100 cities, college campuses & sports stadia from Canberra Manila & Djakarta to Cairo, Cape Town, Madrid, Paris, London, New York Los Angeles, Mexico, Caracas & Sao Polo.

As most of these rallies in European and US cities have been led by ‘Jewish Voices for Peace’ (JVP) and ‘Rabbis for Palestine’ which have denounced “Zionist Israel” the vital fact that Israel is a Zionist and not a Jewish State as it claims, has been amply clarified. JVP’s most recent protest was on October 14, at New York Stock Exchange where 500 of its members, wearing T shirts with “Not in our Name’ and ‘Stop Arming Israel’ printed on them, staged a ‘sit in “in front of it. In a post on X they wrote "As Gaza is bombed, Wall Street booms, Stock prices of weapons manufacturers have skyrocketed. U.S. economy is profiting from genocide."

On 29 December 2023 South Africa notified the International Court of Justice that Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza Strip was a contravention of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Spain, Belgium, Bolivia Ireland, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, Maldives & Mexico subsequently joined it on this case.

On May 24, 2024 ICJ ruled that: “The State of Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and in view of grave conditions faced by civilians in Rafah immediately halt its military offensive, keep open the Rafah crossing for unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance; and submit a report on measures taken on this Order, within one month from its date. of this Order”.

On July 19, 2024 ICJ ruled that “Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem are unlawful”.

The UN Security Council (UNSC Resolution 2334) has unequivocally declared Israel’s settlements in occupied Palestine to be in flagrant violation of international law.

All these are major legal gains for Palestine.

Palestine now has top rung supporters in the United States, which is Israel’s strongest supporter. Professor Jeffrey Sachs has already been mentioned. Senator Bernie Sanders in a recent speech declared “The US should stop funding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war in Gaza, This week 19 people have been killed & scores injured in a strike in its humanitarian zone An American has been shot in the West Bank and school bombed, killing 14 people, including 6 UN aid workers” In an earlier speech he had described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” Palestine has also received much support from Russia, which has invited it to attend the 2024 BRICs summit at Kazan, October 22-24.

Israel today is in the same strategic, diplomatic, financial and economic situation that Apartheid South Africa was before its collapsed in early 1990 and Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. The big question is what will happen in Israel. If it wishes to adopt the South African example, (which is unlikely), it should release Marwan Barghouti, leader of the two Palestinian ‘Intifadas, the first (1987–1993) and the second (2000 -2005) who is much more respected by Palestinians than Palestine Authority Chairman Mahmud Abbas. Some of them have described him as ‘Palestine’s Nelson Mandela’!

What will actually happen in Israel & West Asia will be known before November 4 as there are reliable indications that Israel will make its retaliatory strike on Iran before the US election. The outcome of that strike will be devastating not only for these two countries but also for those who support either of them. This devastation is likely to bring about radical changes in some of these countries as also in West Asia.

The great tragedy for the Israelis is that after centuries of slavery in Egypt and wanderings, discrimination and massacres in many other lands, when they finally secured a “Homeland” their leaders brought them into it clothed not with the ennobling tenets of Judaism but shackled with the racist neocolonial ideology of Zionism because of which they have been embroiled in a ceaseless cycle of wars.

There is no animosity between Judaism & Islam. They are both “Religions of the Book”. The two golden ages of the Jews in the Post King Soloman period (970 – 780 BC) were in Moorish Spain (710 – 1498 AD) and in the Ottoman Empire (1453 – 1918). During these periods the rulers were Moslems but the philosophers, physicians, financiers, pharmacists, translators & composers were mostly Jews.

The Jews have suffered most in Christian lands where they were denigrated as “Christ Killers’. Martin Luther, in his ‘Jews and Their Lies book vilified them as “public enemies” and urged Christians to “destroy their homes and synagogues”. Hitler did this, and much more!

When I visited Israel in April 1992, I was deeply impacted by Jerusalem’s sacredness to the three great religions of Judaism, Christianity & Islam. Their holiest places are within walking distance of each other in this revered city. If Israel would adopt the noble precepts of Judaism’s Prophets, particularly Hillel the Elder & Isiah and discard its vitriolic Zionism, Jerusalem could become the world’s prime venue for religious pilgrimage, inter-religious harmony & universal brotherhood. I great hope, and pray that auspicious day will dawn before long.

* The author is a retired Ambassador of India who has served in Tokyo, Rangoon, Lima, London, Accra, Chicago, New York, Cairo and Mexico and also was Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi. He is one of the founders and the Managing Trustee of Sarvodaya International Trust, an international Mahatma Gandhi movement promoting integrity in public life, communal harmony, non-violence, humanitarian service and peace. On October 9, 2007 he was presented the U Thant Peace Award at the United Nations, for his Life Time of Dedication and World Service by promoting the Gandhian Values of Truth, Non-Violence, Communal Harmony and Humanitarian Service. Email: panazareth@yahoo.com