by MEMRI
Although these campaigns are being organized in the name of human rights of Palestinians, the organizers do not organize similar events for human rights of the Baluchis who are brutalized, discriminated and murdered by the Pakistani military , or the Tibetan people who were forced by China to flee their homeland.
Introduction
In recent years, an international BDS (Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel, supposedly as an expression
of support for the Palestinians, has been gaining ground, and has recently also
expanded to India. The Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine, an Indian
BDS forum, held a two-day convention in New Delhi on August 22-23, 2015. The group
also organized a convention on March 6, 2016 in New Delhi, whose prominent
speakers included were Peggy Mohan, an author and linguistics professor, and
several others who are cited in the paragraphs below.
Nasser Barakat, a Palestinian-Indian, speaks at a BDS convention
Similar BDS conventions were also held in August,
September, October and November of 2015 at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
near Delhi, at Chandigarh in Punjab state, at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University,
and at the Ghalib Institute in New Delhi.[1] The
BDS convention at AMU on November 23, 2015, included noted Marxist historian
Irfan Habib among its speakers. At the August 22-23, 2015 BDS convention at the
Ghalib Institute, prominent speakers included Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Sukumar Murlidharan, a senior Marxist
journalist who also spoke on the March 6, 2016 BDS event as well. Hindi poet
Katyayani recited her poem "Gaza 2015" on the March 6, 2016 BDS
convention.
Although these campaigns are being organized in the
name of human rights of Palestinians, the organizers do not organize similar events
for human rights of, for example, the Baluchis who are brutalized,
discriminated and murdered by the Pakistani military every day in Baluchistan,
or the Tibetan people who were forced by China to flee their homeland and now
live in exile in India. As discussed below, the BDS conventions are organized
to target Israel, but the speakers outline a range of issues, including plans
to target U.S. computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard and British private
security firm Group-4S, accuse Iran of being an ally of Israel, and target
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Israel.
Palestinian-Indian Nasser Barakat At BDS Convention In
New Delhi: "You [Iran] Are The Biggest Ally Of Israel"; "Iran Is
A Big Fake That America Created"; "They Fabricated 9/11";
"There's No Proof That Al-Qaeda Did That"
Among the speakers at the August 22-23, 2015 BDS
convention in New Delhi was Nasser Barakat, a Palestinian-Indian activist and
former spokesman of the General Union of Palestinian Students in India. He said
that Israel was created as a pretext, just like the "fabricated" 9/11
attacks.[2]
Barakat added that he was not fooled by the Iranian nuclear project, because he
said he knows that Iran is Israel's biggest ally, and that the Jews are not
enemies because they are the Muslims' "key to Heaven."[3] Barakat
stated: "Why have the (Western powers) really created Israel in Palestine?
There's a very simple reason – because they want an excuse. Like they
fabricated 9/11 – there is still no proof. There's no proof that Al-Qaeda did
that."[4]
Barakat, accusing Iran of being Israel's ally, added:
"You are the biggest ally of Israel. I have no little doubt. You guys
should know one thing: In Iran, we have 1.5 million Sunnis, but we don't have
any [Sunni] mosques... In the Zionist military, which is so-called Israel,
there are 200,000... There are 200,000 Jews, and they are all high authorized
leaders, major generals, and all. In Iran, there are only 30,000 Jews, and they
have 200 temples; and they practice their ceremonies very freely. Iran is a big
fake that America created."[5]
He continued: "As a Palestinian, I have many Jews
- not Israeli - Jews as friends. One of them tells me: 'We are enemies, so how
are you my friend?' I told him: 'You are mistaken. You have never been my
enemy.' Allah informed me, I am called murabiteen. Because you occupied
my land, I am a murabiteen. Murabitun are those who are forcibly
living there. Those murabiteen are killed by you, and we will go to the
higher grade in Heaven. Had Palestine been free, we would not have been murabiteen.
So you are the key to Heaven for me. You have never been my enemy."[6]
At another BDS convention on March 6, 2016 in New
Delhi, Palestinian student Dina, who is enrolled at the Jamia Millia Islamia University
of New Delhi, narrated her ordeal during the Israeli attacks in 2014 in Gaza in
obtaining an Indian visa and her difficulties traveling.[7]
Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy: "Let Us Be Very Clear: If
We Are Going To Go After Modi On His Trip To Israel Where Modi Will Try To Be The
Hindu Zionist..."; "We Will Have To Organize... Because Modi And
Netanyahu Are Natural Allies; Both Are Equally Crazy"
The venue for the March 14, 2016 BDS convention was
the Gandhi Peace Foundation, an NGO based in New Delhi. Speaking in Urdu,
Professor Ajmal, who teaches at the Arabic and African Studies Centre of New
Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU – a university dominated by
Marxists and Islamists), said: "The Palestinian dispute is an
international issue. It is also certain that the Palestinian issue cannot be
resolved by the Arab world."[8]
Reminding the audience that former Indian prime
ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and her son Rajiv
Gandhi stood by the Palestinian issue, Ajmal said: "The attitude of the
Modi government is very painful because the atrocities that were committed on
Palestinians before the [Modi] government came to power were not allowed by him
to be discussed in the parliament."[9] He
said: "The prime minister is to visit [Israel] this very year; you [have
to work] in a way, in some position that this visit does not take place."[10]
Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy of JNU, speaking at the
August 22, 2015 BDS convention, had also argued to oppose Modi's visit to
Israel, stating: "In India also, let us be very clear: if we are going to
go after Modi on his trip to Israel where Modi will try to be the Hindu
Zionist, there will be repression. We should be prepared for it. This country [India]
does not belong to any one political party..."[11]
Accusing Israel of a wide range of human rights violations, he also stated:
"We will have to organize more and more because Modi and [Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu are natural allies. Both are equally crazy..."[12]
Professor Kamal Mitra Chinoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University
Journalist Saurabh Kumar Shahi: "[We Must Convince
Indians By Targeting Hewlett-Packard That If Data Is] Exchanged With Israel, Then
It Is A Threat To Us"; "For Israel... It Is Their Reputation That Is A
Big Thing; We Will Have To Target The Reputation First"
Another BDS convention was organized on March 6, 2016
in New Delhi. Speaking at the forum, journalist Saurabh Kumar Shahi, who was
also introduced as a visiting faculty member at the Institute of International
Relations at Warsaw University, began by saying that over the past 10-12 years,
Israel had turned its focus on two countries – India and China – in order to derive
future diplomatic benefits.[13]
He went on to accuse Israel of sowing religious hatred
in India, stating: "For them, India is a fertile ground; the type of
communal [i.e. religious] environment that is found among general population
here... the kind of widespread anti-Muslim sentiment exists in India, they have
created it in a very good manner, they are using it in a very good
manner."[14]
He added: "For Israel, more than money, it is their reputation that is a
big thing. We will have to target the reputation first. Why to target the reputation
first – because this is the thing that harms them the most."[15]
Outlining a BDS strategy for India, Shahi singled out
two brands: U.S. computer firm Hewlett-Packard and British private security
firm Group-4S. "If you want to convince the Indian audience, then you
would have to first tell them why these things [Hewlett-Packard and Group-4S] are
bad for the Palestinians, so are also bad for you."[16]
He said that Indians need to be convinced that if security is given to private
sector groups like Group-4S, it will lead to situations similar to that of Blackwater
in Iraq.
"Similarly, if you target Hewlett-Packard, you
will have to target how information control [works] because these are the
companies that host data servers, these are the companies that do networking...
whatever you do, that data is stored with them," Shahi stated.[17]
Citing the examples of government-to-government
intelligence sharing on terror groups and Aadhaar card data (similar to the
U.S. Social Security Card) potentially being hosted by Hewlett-Packard and
shared with Israel, Shahi said the BDS movement must create a narrative to
convince Indians that if such data is "exchanged with Israel, then it is a
threat to us, is a threat to Indians."[18]
Shahi argued in favor of creating "nuisance" for Israelis everywhere,
stating: "Every other day in Israel, an individual lawyer rises in Spain
and files a court case against an Israeli general. It has a nuisance value. And
that nuisance value is good enough for us."[19]
Journalist Saurabh Kumar Shahi
Journalist Qamar Agha: "It Seems To Me That From
Pakistan To Morocco, Most Of The Governments Are Failing And Will Collapse One After
The Other; And In Most Countries, There Is A Situation Of Civil War..."
Speaking at the March 6, 2016 BDS convention in New
Delhi, Qamar Agha, an Indian Muslim journalist and former faculty member at the
Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), accused Israel of "having adopted a policy of
apartheid" against Palestinians which he said "we call 'the policy of
racism,'" and "ethnic cleansing is underway of the people living
there."[20]
Due to authoritarianism and lack of democracy in the Arab world, Agha stated,
"Very powerful Islamic movements [like the one led by ISIS] has emerged
which has been continuously getting support. This was not a natural movement
there, very few individuals were there in it. These Islamic movements have
emerged due to support from one or another country, and many countries are
using them."[21]
Agha continued: "In the Islamic countries, there
is only one type of government: all are autocrats. Some autocrats are ruling in
the name of Islam; some autocrats are/were secular. They [the West] used the
Islamic militants to remove the secular autocrats... Whatever support Palestine
used to get came from the secular Muslim countries, whether it be Algeria,
Iraq, Syria... On the other hand, Islamic governments and organizations never
had Palestine on their agenda... In India, whether it be the Jamaat-e-Islami,
[Darul Uloom] Deoband... never organized a Palestine Day."[22]
Arguing that Israel has "no intention" of
withdrawing from the occupied territories, Qamar Agha said Israel continues to
build settlements in the West Bank and eyes other territories in the wider
region such as the rest of the Golan Heights, and may re-occupy the Sinai
Peninsula, which has and gas reserves, if Islamic militancy grows in the region.
He went on to state: "It seems to me that from
Pakistan to Morocco, most of the governments are failing and will collapse one
after the other; and in most countries, there is a situation of civil war... In
these situations, it is better for Israel and they have been saying it before...
'Jordan is Palestine.' Their intention is to expel all Palestinians from there,
dump them in Jordan and declare Jordan as Palestine. It is their plan; it is
not new; it has been there for ages. And if [Donald] Trump becomes the
president, it will not be difficult for them to fulfil it."
Anti-West Activist Feroze Mithiborwala: "Israel Is
The International Brahmin, And The Brahminical Forces... In Our Country Have A Direct
Alliance With Them"; "In Turkey's ISIS Camps... CIA And Mossad Jointly
Train ISIS And Al-Qaeda"
The March 6, 2016 BDS convention also featured Feroze
Mithiborwala from the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Mumbai. According to a
2011 interview with The Milli Gazette, Feroze Mithiborwala has been
"involved in the Palestinian question since 1987 – even before the First
Intifada."[23]
In his address, Feroze Mithiborwala targeted Zionism, saying: "Zionism
essentially is a supremist [supremacist] ideology. What does it mean in the
Indian context? Zionism is essentially international Brahmanism. If you compare
Talmud and Manusmriti [scripture mostly abandoned by Hindus], you will find the
same things."[24] He
added: "Israel is the international Brahmin, and the Brahminical forces...
in our country have a direct alliance with them."[25]
Feroze Mithiborwala was also sharply critical of Political
Islam and its treatment of non-Muslims and Shia Muslims as infidels. Arguing
that "Israel has found support in this country [India] due to the question
of Islamic terror," he questioned how Muslims believe in the Ghazwa-e-Hind
(the Battle of India) prophecy, as per which a group of Islamic fighters will
rise from India and join the forces of Jesus, who will be reborn, in the present-day
greater Israel region to establish the Islamic rule. He went on to accuse
Israel of supporting jihadi groups, stating: "Israel has ties with
Al-Qaeda in Golan Heights; Israel has ties with Muslim Brotherhood in Golan
Heights...; Israel has ties in Turkey's ISIS camps where CIA and Mossad jointly
train ISIS and Al-Qaeda."[26]
Mumbai-based anti-West activist Feroze Mithiborwala
Mithiborwala added: "There is a 12-page United
Nations document that shows and there is video evidence also which tells how
Israel has aided Islamic militants in this entire Syrian crisis."[27]
He argued that Israel has been defeated by Hamas in Gaza several times, adding
for "Israel as a military power, the story ended in 2006" when it
lost the fight to Hezbollah in Lebanon. He noted that Israel wants to settle
Palestinians somewhere else.
Mithiborwala also stressed that each religion has an
element of extremism, which it must confront, and that extremism must also be
confronted across religions. He said he was shocked to find that even a secular
country like Syria has a constitution that says only a Muslim can be the head
of the state. He concluded by saying: "Israel has lost the project of
regime change in Syria... the entire Saudi game-plan on sectarian lines has
failed in this region, and Yemen will prove to be the Vietnam for Saudi Arabia...
The extremist hegemonic form of Islam is now facing a major challenge from within
the Arab and Muslim world... The American project to re-draw the map of the
region has failed."
* Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI's South Asia Studies Project. He is
the author of Jihadist
Threat to India: The
Case for Islamic Reformation among Indian Muslims.
Endnotes:
[1] indianswithpalestine.wordpress.com,
accessed April 9, 2016.
[2] See
MEMRI TV Clip #5403, Indian-Palestinian
BDS Activist Nasser Barakat: The Creation of Israel Was a Conspiracy, Like 9/11,
August 22-23, 2015.
[3] See
MEMRI TV Clip #5403, Indian-Palestinian
BDS Activist Nasser Barakat: The Creation of Israel Was a Conspiracy, Like 9/11,
August 22-23, 2015.
[4] See
MEMRI TV Clip #5403, Indian-Palestinian
BDS Activist Nasser Barakat: The Creation of Israel Was a Conspiracy, Like 9/11,
August 22-23, 2015.
[5] See
MEMRI TV Clip #5403, Indian-Palestinian
BDS Activist Nasser Barakat: The Creation of Israel Was a Conspiracy, Like 9/11,
August 22-23, 2015.
[6] See
MEMRI TV Clip #5403, Indian-Palestinian
BDS Activist Nasser Barakat: The Creation of Israel Was a Conspiracy, Like 9/11,
August 22-23, 2015.
[7] Youtube.com/watch?v=YahAJEIygCI,
accessed April 11, 2016.
[8] Youtube.com/watch?v=nLQiTxcWLDo&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[9] Youtube.com/watch?v=nLQiTxcWLDo&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[10] Youtube.com/watch?v=nLQiTxcWLDo&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[11] Youtube.com/watch?v=iHljr9z3pm4,
accessed April 15, 2016.
[12] Youtube.com/watch?v=iHljr9z3pm4,
accessed April 15, 2016.
[13] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[14] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[15] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[16] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[17] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[18] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[19] Youtube.com/watch?v=dZD8e1KdGzc&nohtml5,
accessed April 10, 2016.
[20] Youtube.com/watch?v=hVeOstC0Rjs,
accessed April 9, 2016.
[21] Youtube.com/watch?v=hVeOstC0Rjs,
accessed April 9, 2016.
[22] Youtube.com/watch?v=hVeOstC0Rjs,
accessed April 9, 2016.
[23] Milligazette.com,
March 6, 2011.
[24] Youtube.com/watch?v=kHGJOGYxxIw,
accessed April 14, 2016.
[25] Youtube.com/watch?v=kHGJOGYxxIw,
accessed April 14, 2016.
[26] Youtube.com/watch?v=kHGJOGYxxIw,
accessed April 14, 2016.
[27] Youtube.com/watch?v=kHGJOGYxxIw,
accessed April 14, 2016.
Tufail Ahmad is Director of MEMRI's South Asia Studies Project. He is
the author of Jihadist Threat to India: The
Case for Islamic Reformation among Indian Muslims.
Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9173.htm
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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