Source - nytimes
Two groups of people claim the same piece of land, of course, it is not that simple, it has many layers we need to understand first.
This region has always been religiously diverse, in the fourteenth to the twentieth century, it was a part of the Ottoman Empire, which included south-east Europe, western Asia and northern Africa.
In the 1900s, since it was an eastern-Mediterranean area, so, the Arabs with the Palestinian identity, started to identify themselves differently, and so they wanted a separate state of their own.
During the same time, the Jews of Europe joined a movement named Zionism. According to this movement, Judaism deserved a nation of its own. So, they started looking into the middle east for that separate nation.
Then, after World War 1, the Britishers gained control over this area and called it the British Mandate of Palestine. Now, the British encouraged the migration of Jews in this region, so the population of Jews in this region started increasing. But, because of that, a conflict began to arise between Arabs and those Jews. Also, another conflict arose between the Jews and the British.
To solve this issue, the United Nations, in 1947, proposed a division of this region, which implied that 53% area can be taken up by the Jews and can be called Israel, and the rest 47% area to be given to the Arabs and called Palestine. Jerusalem could be called an international spot because it was a holy place for all Christians, Muslims and Jews.
But, the Arabs were not satisfied with the division because, of course, the top part of the region went with the Jews.
So, the Arabs fought a war with Israel from 1948-49. But, Israel won the war resulting in their occupation of more areas than prescribed to them by the UN division.
In 1967, there was another war between the Arabs and Israel and again, Israel occupied some more areas of Palestine. The Gaza strip and Westbank were a part of the area.
In the 1990s, the leaders of both nations signed a peace accord named the Oslo Accord, in which 40% of the area of Westbank went back to Palestine. And, Israel disengaged from the Gaza strip and an extremist Palestine group named Hamas, took charge.[i]
The recent conflict between the two nations was between Hamas and the Israel authority. The dispute arose from the area of Sheikh Jarrah which is in Jerusalem. The Israel authority considers East Jerusalem as their area, but it is not internationally recognized.
What was India’s stand?
Historically, India has supported Palestine in the course. But, currently, India views the conflict as an internal matter between Israel and Palestine. New Delhi follows what they call DE hyphenation policy, meaning it maintains an independent relationship with both nations. Both relationships stand on their merit. This stance reflects India’s latest statement at the United Nations Security Council. New Delhi has called upon both sides to de-escalate and resume direct dialogue. It has expressed strong support for a just Palestine, opposed Hama’s rocket firing against Israel and underlined an unwavering commitment to the two states' solution.
Interestingly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not included India in the list of 25 countries that he has thanked for standing by Israel in its hour of crisis.
In 1977, the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that ‘ Israel must vacate Arab land’. In the past, India has been a major champion of the Palestinian cause. The only known Arab country recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization or the PLO as the legitimate representative of Palestinians. In 1975, the PLO was even allowed to open an office in New Delhi, and 5 years later in 1980, this office was given full diplomatic status.
What About Israel?
In 1948, India voted against the creation of Israel. Until 1992, India did not establish diplomatic ties with Israel. But, behind the scenes, the two sides collaborated. Israel helped India in the 1971 war against Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh. It took another two decades for India to recognize Israel. Since then, the relationship has blossomed at all levels.
Israel helped India with defence technology during the Kargil war in 1991. Then in 2002, Israel helped India during Operation Parakram, against Pakistan. And by 2013, India became Israel’s 3rd largest trading partner in Asia.
The proximity between India and Israel did not come at the cost of India’s relationship with Palestine. In 2003, India voted for a U.N. Resolution against the construction of the West Bank won by Israel. In 2011, it voted in favour of accepting Palestine as a full member of UNESCO. And in 2014, India supported a UNHRC resolution to prove Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
With time, this balancing act became tougher. But with pragmatism and non-alignment continued to drive India’s approach as it dealt with Israel and Palestine independently. India continued this with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 and his subsequent visit in 2018.
Written by - Aastha Monga
Edited by - Kritika Sharma
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