India should support Palestine

For the last 10 days, the world remained on edge as the conflict between Israel and Hamas raged on. Finally, on Friday, a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect. The ceasefire began early on Friday, bringing to an end 11 days of fighting in which more than 250 people were killed, most of them in Gaza. Both Israel and Hamas claimed victory in the conflict. This is a temporary truce and the situation still remains tense. The Israel-Palestine conflict continues to widely divide opinions across the world. Many countries, including the US and Egypt, were involved to end the conflict.

As the conflict raged on, India took a balanced stand, which is not shocking, considering the fact that the present ruling BJP regime sees right wing PM Benjamin Netanyahu as an alliance. In the last few years, increasingly India has taken a more pro-Israel stand. For a country which fought against colonialism to win independence, the move to extend support to colonial Israel is morally wrong. Israel is occupying the territory of Palestine and is denying them the basic rights. In the recent conflict too, the world witnessed an asymmetric war with Israel carrying out a blitzkrieg in Gaza in a hugely disproportionate response to the Palestinian militants firing rockets at Israeli cities. The spiralling violence opens the wounds left unattended and festering for decades. India is duty bound morally to stand in support of Palestine and its people who are suffering because of colonialism of Israeli state.