India’s president caused a political storm in Damascus with her comments on a Palestinian state. It’s a storm in a teacup.
Indian President Pratibha Patil caused a minor political earthquake in Damascus recently when she weighed in on Middle East politics. Patil's comments, including remarks that were perceived as criticism of Israeli policies and an endorsement of an undivided Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, jolted those who had thought they understood India to be a stalwart friend of Israel.
But those concerned should rest easy. After all, Patil's comments fall squarely in line with longstanding positions held by successive Indian governments, meaning the relationship between Jerusalem and New Delhi actually remains untarnished. The reality is that it’s the nuances of the India-Israel relationship that are being misunderstood by Israel's supporters in the West.
Headlines in several Israeli publications have screamed that Patil had called for Israel to return the Golan Heights—a strategically significant plateau seized by Israel in 1967—to Syria. However, a careful reading of media reporting on what was said during the state dinner Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threw in her honour reveals something altogether different.
In his opening address, Assad delivered remarks of the type usually associated with such events—copious amounts of Israel bashing. But he also said he hoped that India, soon to take up a rotational seat on the UN Security Council, will support Syrian goals including a return of the Golan Heights. The floor now hers, Patil responded with a typical thank you and acknowledgement speech, in the course of which she gave the standard Indian External Affairs Ministry position on the Arab-Israeli conflict. She said that India supported a negotiated solution that would result in a sovereign, independent, viable and united Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side and at peace with Israel.
As far as India's upcoming turn on the Security Council, Patil stressed that India hoped ‘to work closely with other Member States for a balanced approach to peace and security issues,’ as reported by The Hindu, India's second-largest English-language daily. Patil also reportedly said that India supported the Saudi peace plan under which Israel would withdraw to pre-1967 borders and that the state of Palestine would be established, but that this would have to be accompanied by recognition of Israel.
Photo Credit: Jaisingh Rathore
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pratt_sunny
@Yesh Prabhu: you don’t represent entire India so don’t write we Indians can’t understand.
J&K is India’s part historically and it signed Instrument of Accession of J&K with India on 26th Oct 1947. It has democratically elected state government and state’s people take part in local/state/national elections and have faith in Indian constitution (excluding some handful miscreants and puppets of pakistan).
So comparing J&K and Palestine is wrong.
I support both Israel and Palestine states living at peace.
Both India and Israel are targets of terrorist activities and are good partner in defense and counter terrorism.
But we can’t deny the cause of Palestine state and giving chance to it’s citizens to live in peace.
So instead of keeping the wound bleeding forever, Israel and Palestine should solve this issue peacefully with full compliance of international laws and agreements.
Sunny an Indian,
NJ,US
Slope_head
to all the jewish people!!!
there is no way that the hindu world will support the arabs against israel. hindus themselves have struggled against these savage moslems for over a millenium and know the inside out of the islamic psyche.
even the most misfit first prime minister of India (JLN), supported the right of Israeli nation to exist.
Vlora
Enlgihentnig the world, one helpful article at a time.
Indian
The sons and daughters of the soil own the soil.
Jews were chased out of thier land. Where were these Muslims
and christians (I mean no offense) before Jesus.
They said fine we leave and left. But were mass murdered where ever they went.
You may ask why. Because the world was not atleast as matured and as civilized
as it it now(I wonder if it is civilized enough now).
Where do you want them to go? I am sure you will ask them to go where they belog to.
yes that is why they came to the place from where they were chased from. Thier motherland.
Ask an orphan how it feels ,not to have seen his mum. That exactly is how it would have been
for jews with thier motherland occupied by palestines and arabs.
Now they got it staright and strong by the power of thier will and
the will of the lord they came back to their own motherland(Read MOTHERLAND).
We Indians can choose to be furious to have got our country just split into three
(India,pakistan and east pakistan). if we are FURIOUS for that then think about
how we will behave if we had lost whole of India because we are hindus.
And if had lost once and got it back once, then you will know how to defend it
and how not to take chance in defending it.
You can choose to start reading history from 1947 alone. But all because you choose so
the facts before 1947 will not cease to be facts. They remain. and if they remain
Jews are the sons of teh soil of isreal and they just dont deserve it they bloody own it.
I am a Hindu and a person who belives in the right of a person to have a motherland.
Ice
You sound very prejudiced and islamophobic. The palestenians living in the region are indigenous people there and had been living there since before christ. These are from the same lineage of Jews and christians or pagans that lived in the area for ages. Both jews and arabs/pals are sematic people and are the same race.. but well, nevermind.
vikas
Israelis are victim of terrorism same as india except that they give proper response to their enemies. And here in india our government always try to please the muslim. They have every right to defend them.
Hari Prasad
I just can’t understand why some Israelis can’t see the light of day.
For ages we were told that Arabs didnt want Israel to exist. Now we have the Arab peace plan that is ready to recognise Israel. Then WHY IS ISRAEL NOT implementing it??
The peace plan does not even insist on the right of return of refugees!
We Indians are unable to understand why Israelis can’t take this offer and have peace with the Arabs. Espicially as this would allow a joint Arab-Israeli front against Iran.
Operation Cast Lead against Gaza and Flotilla attacks dont’ really help improve public opinion of Israel either.
BernieMc
I will accept everything said except for the fourth paragraph. “We Indians are unable to understand why Israelis can’t take this offer and have peace with the Arabs. Espicially (sic) as this would allow a joint Arab-Israeli front against Iran.”
Saudi Arabia and some other Arab states have expressed a lack of friendliness towards Iran recently but, believe me, this is politics at its best – when forced to choose between Israel and Iran in the not-too-distant future, the Arab world will unite to put Israel in its deserved place.
offcourse you dont understand…
That’s because you fail to realize the situation here for real.
the Saudis never gave up the palestinians refugees’ right to return. they only said they will agree to “an acceptable solution for this matter”. but what is acceptable? if you ask the arabs, nothing less then hundreds of thousands of palestinians returning back. considering the fact that the number of Jews living in israel is around 5 million, it practically means 2 palestinians states! one new and second what used to be called “Israel”.
For evidence (as it was published in world’s media), Palestinians president refused just two years ago for an over generous offer by Israeli’s prime minister for allowing 50,000 palestinians to return. 50,000!!! and he refused!!! It’s like allowing 15 million Pakistanis back to India!!! and even that wasn’t good enough for them.
not to mention the question many ppl around the world deliberately ignore (cause it ruins their ideology):
How exactly should Israel make peace with a nation who has two governments which rulling different parts of the so called “Palestine” (Hamas and Palestinian Authority). and they can’t even agree among themselves…
Hari Prasad
First of all believe me when I say that I am sympathetic to Israelis more than Arabs here.
Second, there is the Arab peace plan first mooted in 2002 and again reiterated in 2007 by the Saudi King himself. I think the Arabs should have come with the plan much earlier, but now that its there shouldn’t Israel negotiate on this point?
After all, the main benefit is that the Arab plan is not insisting on the right of return of refugees. You are speculating that the Saudis will insist on refugees to return. But the plan just calls for just settlement of the refugee problem.
Israel can come back with a strong moral argument by saying that it is willing to withdraw to 1967 borders as long as Palestinians give back their right to return. Israel can sweeten the offer with some sort of economic package.
Indians on average would like to have good relations with both people. And just as we insist on Palestinians to adopt non-violent and Gandhian methods to fight for their rights. We as a country would insist on letting Israelis know what would be in their best interests as well as a friend rather than just support them unconditionally
indian
the battle of survival..
no one can teach it better than the jews..
what so ever the world think..Israel gives it a damn because they realize
that to survive, they themselves need to be strong..
ISRAEL is here to sta..irrespective of what the keyboard warriors may emphasise
Slope_head
can you have a joint “hindu-moslem” front against Pakistan?
why not start from Kashmir first?
Hari prsad!!! you are too naive.
Hari Prasad
I think you are naive about Kashmir issue. The local J&K police is 70% Kashmiri Muslim. And the J&K light infantry battalion is 60% Kashmiri Muslim.
This is not including the other Muslims in the army.
So yes there is joint Hindu-Sikh-Muslim front against Pakistan everyday.
Unless you are a religious fanatic (wether Muslim, Jewish or Hindu) the Kashmir conflict is not a religious issue and neither is the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Its another story that some people wrongly want to make it one.
Cayle
Gee wliilkres, that\’s such a great post!
Yesh Prabhu
You have quoted India’s President Pratibha Patil accurately regarding what she said in Syria; but you seem to assure the readers that what she said so clearly, without any ambiguity what so ever, is not exactly what she meant. As some one who has been following the Israel-Palestine wars, conflicts, and peace negotiations for over forty years, and also someone who understands what an Indian politician says, because I was born and raised in India, I wish to assure you that Pratibha Patil said exactly what she was permitted to say. She expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians because India has observed that the world is seeing the Israel-Palestine conflict in new light, after witnessing the horrors, brutality and barbarity of the Gaza War, and also because India knows that it can not remain silent any more while witnessing fundamental injustice heaped upon the Palestinians by Israel. It’s not just India, but even Israel’s traditional allies such as Germany, France, Brazil and Italy, have been more vociferous in speaking out, and saying, that the Palestinians have suffered long enough, and that Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine must end. But the question is: Will Israel listen?
Unlike Israel which is deaf to what the entire world says, India is not so callous as to brush aside the entire world’s opinion. Having lived under the British occupation for decades, India knows – and Pratibha Patil knows, too – what it feels like to live in subjugation and feel brutalized and stripped of all human dignity: exactly the things Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for over 43 years now, not withstanding all the UN resolutions, pleadings from world leaders, and Nobel Peace Prize laureates. When will the Israelis open their eyes, and read the writings on the wall, and realize that the world has changed?
Yesh Prabhu, Bushkill, Pa
what about the illegal occupation of Kashmir by India?
very easy to speak…
look at yourself before…
prashanth venkataswamy
India never occupied Kashmir it is mingled with us…see the history of Jammu and Kasmir..
The King of Kashmir or Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir , He is remembered as true nationalist and his address in the First Round Table Conference at London in 1930-31 wherein he spoke of SELF RULE FOR INDIANS and his declaration in 1942 conference that his would be the first state to join Independent India, became rallying point for the political parties and rulers of other states.Signing of Instrument of Accession of J&K with India on 26th oct 1947, is thus a land mark in the History, which projects Maharaja Hari Singh as a nationalist to the core.
A few of the initiatives introduced by the Maharaja Hari Singh are listed:-
In Oct.1932, the Maharaja permitted the Harijans to enter and worship in State temples, use public wells and tanks etc. Further, he declared untouchability a cognisable offence in 1940.
He declared female infanticide, child marriage, polygamy and immoral traffic of women as unlawful acts well before Sharda Act was passed.
He made every possible effort to eradicate illitracy in the state for which he made educationup to primary level compulsary and free.The number of schools were increased from 1706 to 20728 in 1945.
To attract muslim students he appointed ‘Mullahs’ and ‘Maulvis’ as school teachers.
He provided various kind of scholarships to students.
He establish Praja Sabha which meant for introducing free and fare elections and it clearly reflects his democratic values.
i see. so lets learn some history about the middle east…
The jewish people inhabited israel when the muslims were still bunch of paganic tribes from the arab peninsula. the Jews have had a prosperous kingdom in this land for thousands of years, they were the first ones to sacred this peace of land though is has niether natural resources nor outstanding view, they have established their cultural and spiritual lives over there for ages.
Until one day came some arab soldiers with their new muslim Jihad, occupied this land by force, killed and benished millions. they changed the population rate by delivering muslims civiliens from other areas to make muslim majority and put an inhuman tax over the non-muslims in order to force them to convert.
the people who were forced to convert and who were brought to this land by this ethnic purification are the so called “Palestinians”. they didnt grew up in this land. they are a product of the most cruel war crimes in human history.
nothing less then poetic justice is the Jews return to their land.
Halina Borel
Yesh Prabhu’s comments are very accurate and straight forward.
Israelies will be issolated soon .
Time to wakeup and understand the reality on the ground.
After all jews can play these games for so long.
Now they are at dead end.
muslim world has been saying this for 100 years already
Still, Israel keeps prospering and growing stronger, despite the unbielivable fact that for every israeli there are 60 arabs!!! and 300 muslims!!!
not to mention dosens of wars and terror actions against Israel which it survived.
Maybe it’s time to give Israel some more credit…
Yesh Prabhu
An update: Only two days after I wrote my comment above, first Brazil, and then Argentina declared that they now officially recognize the state of Palestine as based on the 1967 borders. Uruguay then announced that it, too, will recognize Palestine in 2011. (What are Uruguayans waiting for? Are they waiting for an auspicious moment and a correct planetary alignment in the sky?) The Israelis have expressed their “sadness” and said that they deeply regret these developments. They also think that these recognitions from Brazil and Argentina do not help the peace process; perhaps they think that the expansion of the illegal settlements in the West Bank and building 1300 more housing units in the Arab part of East Jerusalem do. There are reports that the White House was caught unaware, and was astonished at these rapid developments, and that both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton had expressed their mighty displeasure. And there is evidence that the White House is deeply concerned that since the peace negotiations collapsed, the situation is getting rapidly out of its tight control.
Both Brazil and Argentina have announced that they were deeply frustrated by Israel’s disregard for International Laws and UN resolutions, and Israel’s determination to expand their settlements. I hope France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain and the EU will soon follow Brazil’s lead in recognizing Palestine. Thank god that the world is seeing Israel in new light. The momentum for change is slowly shifting towards the long oppressed Palestinians. It is only a matter of time before a free and independent Palestine will rise, and hoist its flag in East Jerusalem. How I wish Mahatma Gandhi were here to witness that day, because he was deeply concerned with the plight of the Palestinians, and had said emphatically that the Palestinians deserved Justice.
Yesh Prabhu, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
parth
Israel occupies palestanian land!!!its the land of their forefathers,jews civilization ..If you are asking the jews to vacate Israel, so why not the muslims vacate the Indian lands of present day pakistan,afghanistan,bangladesh,which is thousand times the area israel has so called CAPTURED…don’t carry double standards..