Statement by Activists, Academics and Concerned Citizens
Image Courtesy:vosizneias.com
In the coming week, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will tour different cities of India along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit comes at the beginning of a year that sees Israel globally ever more isolated and ever more aggressively advancing its ethnic cleansing and annexation of Palestinian land. To invite the leader of Israel’s apartheid regime for a diplomatic visit is nothing short of an open endorsement of Israel’s crimes and ominous for the Palestinian and the Indian people.
2018 marks 70 years since the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to forcibly establish Israel. The process of making Palestinians refugees, destroying villages and towns, conquering lands that began then continues till today. Israel has established a regime of settler-colonialism, occupation and apartheid against Palestine which operates in utter violation of international law and human rights. Israel’s exceptionalism rests on the support it still receives from western imperialist powers and increasingly now from India.
After the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in violation of international law and Palestinian rights, the thuggishness of both Trump and Israel have been opposed by the entire world in the UN General Assembly resolution ES‑10/L.22 in which 128 countries voted against this decision. This was met with open threats by the US Ambassador to the UN. And now, Modi rolls out the red carpet for Israel, all out to build the alliance of Hindutva and Zionism and to strengthen a Trump-Israel-Modi axis of anti-democratic policies of exclusion, repression and supremacy.
This visit is being hailed as a milestone in Israel-India relations. What really have these relations done for India? India is the biggest importer of Israeli weapons, which go on to strengthen the capacities of repression of the Indian government against any form of dissent and undermine our democracy. Israel’s technology in agriculture is bringing forth unsustainable contract farming models. Despite having been shown to be disastrous in its impact, Israeli state and corporate investments in Indian agriculture are garnering favours by state governments. Israel is assisting the increase in surveillance technology, it is privatizing water resources, and yet it is being celebrated by pro-government agencies. These trade and military relations finance the repression of Palestinians and help Israel’s PR attempts to whitewash its crimes.
Israel is currently engaged in an all-out “war on BDS” but it is compelled to acknowledge that all its money and military cannot stop people from acting in solidarity. The movement continues to grow. Similarly, in India, dissenting voices of Dalits, minorities, farmers, students, journalists, etc. are regularly threatened, attacked and even killed by henchmen of the ruling regime and delegitimized as ‘anti-national’. Four senior judges of the Supreme Court of India have recently expressed their grave concern at the state of democracy in India, showing just how each aspect of civil rights and freedoms in India is under threat.
Palestinians were inspired by the Indian experience of boycotts when they launched their call for BDS. Today, we have to remember the history of Indian solidarity with Palestine and inspire ourselves with the steadfastness and courage of the Palestinian resistance.
We, the undersigned, refuse to be a part of the growing complicity of India in Israel’s crimes. We are deeply aware of the political climate of India today and how, with this alliance of Hindutva and Zionism, we are endangering our future as a nation. It is more important than ever before for the progressive and liberal political forces and individuals to come together to extend steadfast solidarity to the Palestinian resistance. Standing for Palestine is to stand for justice, freedom, equality and secularism- in Palestine, in India and everywhere. Supporting the BDS movement is to stand up to corporate bulldozing everywhere. Standing for Palestine is standing on the right side of history. Therefore, we wish to state in absolutely clear terms- Netanyahu is not welcome here!
Individual Endorsements:
- Geeta Kapur, Art Critic, Art Historian and Curator
- Vivan Sundaram, Contemporary Artist
- Anuradha Kapur, Theatre Director
- Ram Rahman, Photographer
- Pushpamala N, Artist
- Shivasundar, Editor, Gauri Lankesh Patrike
- Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Madan Gopal Singh, Musician
- Saba Dewan, Filmmaker
- Sharmila Samant, Academic, Shiv Nadar University
- Uma Chakravarti, Feminist Historian
- Sadanand Menon, Academic, Art Curator and Photographer
- Pramod Balakrishnan, Architect
- Belinder Dhanoa, Writer and Artist
- Prabhat Patnaik, Renowned Economist and Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Shaina Anand, Filmmaker
- Archana Hande, Artist
- Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, Academic
- Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher
- K P Jayasankar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
- Kalpana Sahni, Author
- Shivaji K Panikkar, Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi
- Shireen Jungalwala, Director, Chemould Prescott Road
- Madhusree Dutta, Filmmaker
- A. Mangai, Theatre Activist
- Gita Jayaraj, Research Scholar
- Nayantara Sehgal, Writer
- Mary E John, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi
- Imrana Qadeer, Retired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Vinod Bhardwaj, Writer
- Tishani Doshi, Poet and Dancer
- Achin Vanaik, Retd. Professor of International Relations, University of Delhi
- Pamela Philipose, Journalist
- Jahangir Asgar Jani, Artist
- Gauhar Raza, Poet and Artist
- Anjali Monteiro, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Rania MADI, Alternative Refugee Center, Geneva, Switzerland
- Ranjan Solomon, Director, BADAYL- International
- Periyasamy
- Deepa Natarajan
- Ramdas Rao, People’s Union for Civil Liberties
- Subba Ghosh, Artist
- Vijay Prashad, Chief Editor, LeftWord Books
- Uma V Chandru, Bangalore
- Banojyotsna, United Against Hate
- Marcy Newman, Author: The Politics of Teaching Palestine to Americans
- Subhash Gatade, Writer and Activist
- S.Kannaiyan, South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM)
- Kavita Krishnan, All India Progressive Women’s Association, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
- Prabir Purkayastha, Founding Editor, Newsclick.in
- Arundhati Ghosh, India Foundation for the Arts
- Rahul Roy, Filmmaker
- Harsh Mander, Social Worker and Writer
- Gautam Navlakha, Human Rights Activist
- Ilina Acharya, Student, Ambedkar University Delhi
- Orijit Sen, Artist
- Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Chaman Lal, Novelist and Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Roselle Solomon, Child Psychologist
- K Satchidanandan, Poet and co-editor, Guftugu
- Githa Hariharan, Writer and Founder Editor, Indian Writers Forum
- Sudhanva Deshpande, LeftWord Books
- Moloyashree Hashmi, Jana Natya Manch
- Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Filmmaker
- K. V. Subrahmanyam, Academician
- Ram Puniyani, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
- Sanam Roohi, Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore
- Anand Chakravarti, Retd Professor of Sociology, Delhi University
- Vijoo Krishnan, All India Kisan Sabha
- Bindu N. Doddahatti, Alternative Law Forum
- Vikramaditya Sahai, Consultant, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Rajni Palriwala, Professor, Delhi University
- Meenu Pandey, Delhi
- Tapan Kumar Bose, Human Rights Activist and Filmmaker
- G. Arunima, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Sukumar Muralidharan, Journalist
- Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre
- Nandini Sundar, Professor, Delhi University
- Kasturi Sen, Social Scientist
- Pushpendra, Patna
- Zoya Hasan, Retd. Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Xavier Dias, Editor, Mines, Minerals and Rights
- Sohail Hashmi, Writer and Filmmaker
- Urvashi Sarkar, Independent Journalist
- Usman Javed, Centre for Equity Studies
- Burhan Qureshi, Research Scholar, Delhi University
- Suvrat Raju, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore
- Subasri Krishnan, Independent Filmmaker
- Sukruta Alluri, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata
- Soibam Haripriya, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati
- Subhadeepta Ray, Assistant Professor, Tezpur University
- Apoorva Gautam, Palestine Solidarity Committee
- Amrapali Basumatary, Assistant Professor, Kirorimal College, Delhi University
- Bonojit Hussain, Independent Researcher and Activist
- Hiren Gandhi, Ahmedabad
- Saroop Dhruv, Ahmedabad
- Vasundhara Jairath, Guwahati
- Leki Thungon, Assistant Professor, Lady Sriram College, Delhi University
Organizational Endorsements:
- New Socialist Initiative
- Editorial Collective, Indian Writers Forum
- Delhi Queerfest