Short Takes
Uploaded on July 23, 2014
Deafening Silence
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam
The world is so cruel and callous to the sorrows of the oppressed. Remember only seven decades ago, when Hitler was exterminating Jews all over Europe in their millions, the world was acting as a hapless, clueless spectator. Soon after that, when the Jews began attacking Palestinians as ruthlessly as Hitler, the world was again a silent spectator.
Quite early on, farsighted people were warning about such a development. While the West was preparing to create Israel by removing Palestinians from their towns and villages the then French prime minister had warned that the European Jews, who would be settling in Israel, would oppress Palestinians like Nazis oppressed them. The historian Arnold Toynbee said at the beginning of Israel’s history that Jews were the new Nazis.
What is happening in Palestine today is a reiteration of the above truth. As Palestinians are massacred ruthlessly the world is deafeningly silent, by and large. The case of NDA-ruled India is even more tragic. This country has traditionally supported the Palestinian right to statehood and freedom while maintaining normal relations with Israel. This position has been jettisoned by the NDA government. It has gone to the extent that it has not allowed a free, open discussion of the issue in Parliament. The humanitarian disaster resulting from it has thus been ignored. The field has been left wide open to Israel to do as it wishes.
This is the best government for America and Israel. Whether it will be the best government for India only time will tell. This is the best government for Israel and its mentor, the United States, because it does not object to anything that Israel does, even though nearly a million Indians live and work in Arab countries and their remittances amount to half of our foreign exchange earrings. This area is a large market for our exports and 70 percent of our oil is imported from there.
To give the new NDA government its due, it is not more averse to an equitable, peaceful world order than the earlier NDA government under Vajpayee. When the American invasion of Afghanistan began during Vajpayee regime, the government disallowed all protests in India even as one million people protested in London and equally impressive protests were staged in Washington.
At that point in time Noam Chomsky was visiting India. He said something to the effect that the Indian government was being more loyal to the US than American citizens. That actually was the case. Even this time huge anti-Israel demonstrations have been staged in Washington and London. That is what democracy is all about.
Finally, we must remember that being a yes-man for aggressors does not bring anyone respect. Only speaking our mind does.
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