Palestinians’ hopeless plight

S Nihal Singh

PRIME MINISTER Narendra  Modi’s diplomatic foray in Palestine, the first such visit in some 30 years, must surely rank as unique. He has, in essence, given lollipop in the shape of a hospital in exchange for deepening Indian relations with the state of Israel.

At the same time, Mr Modi has expressed the ritualistic wish to see an independent Palestine soon without specifying its nature. The truth is that Palestinians have never been more desperate and hopeless, with President Donald Trump even more pro-Israeli than the traditional Washington establishment by deciding to move the US embassy to Jerusalem,  and in other ways.

External affairs mandarins might well argue that India cannot show greater concern over Palestinian plight than its immediate Sunni neighbours, particularly the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Yet, the animosity between the Sunni kingdoms and Israel has softened with the monarchies in touch with Tel Aviv to various degrees. Washington’s aim is to promote Iran as the main regional enemy.

India’s own relations with Israel have seen a dramatic change in recent years. Even during the second tenure of the UPA government, there was a pro-Israel swing because of the good fit with Israeli defence industries and innovations developed by Israel in husbanding water resources in desert  conditions. However, Dr Manmohan Singh always had reservations about some of Tel Aviv’s policies, perhaps because of Mahatma Gandhi’s role in the Khilafat movement. The BJP’s parent and the Sangh Parivar were never part of the freedom movement and were unaffected by the long Khilafat agitation.

Even otherwise, the Sangh Parivar admires Israel’s tooth-for-a-tooth policy and shares an anti-Muslim strain. Israelis, on their part, are delighted to have such a partner as Mr Modi in a key Asian country, as was evident during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent extended visit to India. Mr Modi had made his own way to Israel preceding the Netanyahu visit.

Obviously, future relations between Israel and the Arab world will be moulded by the Saudi kingdom setting the pace for détente. A major problem will be the accusation it will face of letting down fellow Sunnis to win laurels in Washington. There is also the weightier problem of storing trouble for the future.

Israel and the world cannot simply wish away the future of a vast majority of people living as second-class citizens in their own land, given a make-believe state, with more and more Israelis taking their land for settlements. But most politicians think in the short term.

We have seen an array of international agreements over the decades evaporate into thin air, with the US a partial go-between favouring Israel even while putting out the welcome mat in the White House.

It is clear that the US has geopolitical interests in the Middle East, with Israel as its only secure ally. But this self-interest is buttressed by the enormous influence yielded by the pro-Jewish lobby out of proportion to the nature of the problem. In a sense, this has trended to increase tensions.

Where do we go from here? There is no clear road ahead because the Israelis are bound in loops of their own making with what was until recently negotiable no longer so and their appetite seems to grow the more Palestinian land they grab.

In short, few, if any, in Israel are thinking of the morrow. Even as President Trump has taken Jerusalem off the negotiating table, Palestinians are left high and dry. Israelis first annexed the eastern part of the city, projected as the future capital of a genuine free Palestine. That prospect now seems less attainable.

Where did Palestinians go wrong? I attended the landmark Press conference Yasser Arafat gave during his exile. He seemed to be fighting with himself to find a way out. But there were only partisans in the international community. He did not receive genuine help. The White House was ready with its trimmings the moment Arafat half yielded to die without accomplishing his goal.

The present head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mr Mahmoud Abbas, is well past his elected legitimacy and the PA has more symbolic value than it has real power. Its existence depends upon the courtesy of the Israelis who control the waters around it, giving it and its people little freedom.

An interesting point to observe will be how far the Israeli authorities will go in humiliating Palestinians. They are unsafe to the extent the Israeli authorities choose to break up a gathering, arrest and beat up people or simply choose to shoot them.

The art of warfare has progressed a lot since the so-called bad old days of World War I. It has regressed in many ways and new forms of torture and psychological warfare have evolved that are abominable. So, one hopes that the sooner the tragedy of Palestine is ended, the sooner will the world heave a sigh of relief.

Palestinians themselves see no way out. The UN is a weak weed to rely upon when the interests of a superpower are involved. For the US, Iran is the country to fight against. On its part, Tehran will fight for its rights within all its might having devised something of a crescent to influence in the region. It also has support in Russia and, on certain issues, with Turkey.

It is not clear how far the US would want to go in chasing Iran. It has already taken cudgels with it on the nuclear issue, although all other signatories of the joint agreement say Tehran is strictly following the script.

What remains to be determined is how much worse President Trump’s bite is compared to his rhetoric.