PRAGOTI

Unarguably, Israeli regime is a blood-thirsty, irrational and illegal regime. Humanity stands offended by the very existence of this Israeli establishment.

We strongly condemn the brutal genocide of innocent civilians aboard aid-carrying ships (dubbed as Freedom Flotilla) to Gaza by the Israeli military. This comes as another instance of the absolutely inhuman character of the Israeli regime and its overt supporters, US imperialism. The Israeli project of militarily cleansing the occupied nation of Palestine, through its numerous and indiscriminate massacres of Arab-Palestinians, has not only seriously compromised international laws but also, ironically, demonstrated its own version of fascism. The attack on this independent group, which had many internationally renowned activists, journalists and concerned citizenry of the world, that too in international waters, is heinous and shows no respect for any democracy and basic human values. That the survivors were abducted and illegally confined under military control defies all logic and actively ridicules the most fundamental tenets of international and human justice. Unarguably, it is a regime which is blood-thirsty, irrational and illegal. Humanity stands offended by the very existence of this Israeli establishment.

The Israeli military, backed by the American imperial interests, have been indulged in a completely illegal and ruthless colonisation of Palestine since May 14, 1948. The international community has consistently failed in restraining Israel which has allowed it to continue killing innocent Palestinians including small children and women; and bombing places like schools and hospitals. The year 1967 marked a gory black chapter in the history of humanity, when Gaza strip and West Bank were carpet bombed and resulted into death and displacement of more than 3 lakh Palestinians. Those who stayed are refugees in their own land. Various “peace” processes have aggravated the pain of Palestinians and Israel has comfortably run its terror machinery with US backing.

Gaza strip is a 360 square kilometer piece of land with around 1.5 million people and constitutes one of the last frontiers that Israel wants to capture to complete the colonisation of Palestine which has gone unhindered for last 60 years. Israel has been using all possible oppressive tactics in Gaza; when Hamas made military takeover infeasible, the all-out racist and fascist regime began the physical-economic blockade. Throughout the last 60 years of the Palestinian struggle and “peace” travesties, Israel has been bombing and starving the Arab-Palestinians at its own will and overarching impunity.

During the last attack on Gaza in January 2009, the United States had come in full support of the Israeli operation and had even tried to block a resolution against it in the UN Security Council. It should be remembered that around 1 crore Arab-Muslims, the original inhabitants of the Palestinian nation, are now leading a life of fear, despair and absolute poverty in West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and other Arab countries; forcefully thrown out from their own lands. As A. G. Noorani said in one of his articles, “Their plight is tragic beyond words”. The current crisis started with Israel breaking the ceasefire with the democratically elected Hamas government. However, even during the ceasefire Gaza was completely blockaded by Israel and any supply of vital necessities of life like paper, ink, books, medical supplies and food supplies was disrupted leaving the people to starve and die. The blockade continues unabated for three years now without any significant intervention by international community and especially by the UNSC.

Domestically, the Indian government, in pursual of its pro-U.S. foreign policy, has given a silent burial to the Nehruvian consensus of standing for peace, justice and non-alignment in the world. With the Indian ruling class in firm alliance with the hegemonic interests and aspirations of the U.S., there is a need to reinstate the slogans of the Indian freedom struggle and pressurise the government to adopt an independent foreign policy in support of Palestine and other oppressed people in the world. With the ‘shining India’ willing to become part of the Islamophobic ‘axis of democracy’ led by the US; Indian government has entered into strategic military alliance with Israel. It is clear that aligning more with the U.S. and Israel would bring in more disasters for India as well as the world. The way to mutual co-existence and peace in the international arena lies in opposing the war-mongers and oppressors both internally and externally.

It should be clear to all that for a long-lasting atmosphere of peace and mutual trust in the world and for effective control of the "menace" of terrorism, it is imperative to deliver justice to the Palestinian nation and its people. It is not only the moral responsibility of the world but also essential for the survival of the core principles of human life as well as humanity itself. No negotiations for settlement of the Palestinian problem are possible with the terrorist state of Israel. It is high time we return to the basics of the violent and unjust creation of the state of Israel, a white-Jewish state, which was forced through a war on a majority Muslim nation. The inevitable resistance in Palestine concerned a dignified Palestinian nationhood. It was never an “Islamic” terrorist movement. Those who still argue for the “peaceful” two-state formula or pre-1967 status-quo should know that until the foundational injustice in the whole existence of Israel is not addressed, long-term peace cannot be established in the region as well as the world. History has taught us that injustice and peace have never gone together.