A ** published by Shafi Israel on March 2, 2024 by Indians joining the Israeli occupation forces
From the past to the present, India's policy on the question of Palestine has shifted from one extreme to the other — New Delhi's support for the Palestinians suffering under occupation has changed to support for the Israeli occupation itself. This support has not only a political and economic dimension, but also a military dimension. How did this happen? And why?
In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly, and in 1974 became the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Similarly, it was the first country to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988. Although India recognized Israel in 1950, it did not formally establish diplomatic relations with it until 1992.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) holds the hand of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was also the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, but unlike all of the above, India was quick to provide rapid and significant political support to Israel at the outset of the "Al-Aqsa floods" campaign launched by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7 last year.
Just hours later, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became one of the first world leaders to condemn the attack, and his chief executive, S Jaishankar, took the same position, claiming that "if India does not resist extremism, it may face the same fate." ”
In line with its unconditional support for Israel's position, India abstained from voting on the United Nations resolution on a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza on 27 October last year.
This support is also reflected in the stance of ultra-Hindu nationalists who have launched a campaign and spread misleading information about what is happening in the Gaza Strip on social media to support the Israeli narrative. According to the report of Foreign Affairs**, the aim is to promote anti-Islamic rhetoric against India's Muslim minority.
Indian authorities have also allowed pro-Israel demonstrations to be held across the country, while at the same time suppressing pro-Palestinian activities.
Indians hold rally in solidarity with Israel in Ahmedabad on Oct. 16, 2023 (AP) -- Despite the intensifying war, the number of Indian workers traveling to Israel at risk of their lives is increasing, especially in the construction sector. This is because the war has caused thousands of Asian workers to leave, mobilized many Israeli workers to become reservists, and revoked the work permits of more than 130,000 Palestinian workers.
The Israeli Employment Office is currently looking for at least 10,000 construction workers with monthly salaries of up to 140,000 rupees ($1,688), noting that the head of the Lucknow Industrial Training Center, Raj Kumar Yadav, also noted that the program has strong support from Indian authorities.
A long survey report published by Israel's Haaretz newspaper a few days ago said that due to the close alliance between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, millions of Indians dream of obtaining work visas in Israel to replace tens of thousands of Palestinian workers who have been expelled from the labor market by Israel.
The report goes on to note that despite the extremely cold weather, hundreds of Indians between the ages of 24 and 46 are still standing in long lines and waving resumes, all hoping to obtain Israeli work visas.
According to the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Indian Embassy in Israel, the importance of the process is that Israeli experts conduct examinations and select personnel in India.
Indian workers queue up to submit work visa applications for Israel (France**) Israel's transport minister, Miri Regef, said in a social post in India last week that Israel wants to reduce its dependence on Palestinian labor.
Just a month earlier, Netanyahu had urged Indian Prime Minister Morun to implement a 2023 deal that would boost employment for 40,000 Indians in Israel's construction and care industries.
In December, the Indian states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh announced the opening of 10,000 jobs in certain professional fields, and the campaign was widely publicized on pro-**, much of which talked about India reaching out to its ally Israel.
But the most important thing in this campaign is to state that Indian Muslims should not bother to apply for the positions advertised in these ads – which means they will be excluded.
Against this backdrop, the first batch of Indian workers (about 1,000 people) recently arrived in Israel as the first attempt to bring in at least 65,000 workers, according to the Israeli economy specialty.
As Israel's war in the Gaza Strip continues, it is noteworthy that Khaled Abu Fadel, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, accuses Hindu fighters of helping the Israeli occupying forces fight.
Abu Fadel said the Hindu fighters had contributed to the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupying forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, noting that "Hindu nationalists are openly celebrating what the Israeli occupying forces have done to the Palestinians." ”
Zafarul Islam Khan, editor-in-chief of India**, confirmed that about 215 Indians fought alongside the Israeli army, according to India**.
Islam Khan explained that the Indians, published by Israel, showed that the Indians were from northeastern India and claimed to be from a defunct Jewish tribe, the Bnei Menashe (Sons of Manasseh), where thousands of people had converted to Judaism and emigrated to Israel in recent years.
India** editor-in-chief Zafarul Islam Khan: About 215 Indians are helping the Israeli army fight (Al Jazeera) Islam Khan noted that the Israeli side has exaggerated the involvement of Indians in its Gaza army "in order to show the world's support for Israel's position", but he also noted that in addition to the strong social support of Hindus for the occupying power, a large number of Indians have expressed a willingness to travel to Israel to "fight Hamas".
India is vying to talk about India's readiness to fight alongside Israel. India Today reported that "Indians are not only armed and ready for war against Hamas; They also charge ahead to fight ***
The newspaper quoted Hansing, chairman of the Supreme Council of the "Sons of Manasseh", as saying, "We are a small group of people trapped in the unrest in Manipur, and the only hope for our community is to migrate to Israel." ”
The number of members of the "Sons of Manasseh" community in India is estimated at about 10,500 and they consider themselves to be descendants of "Manasseh", one of the 10 tribes expelled from Palestine by the Assyrians more than 2,700 years ago.
Assaf, a member of the tribe, said the "sons of Manasseh" in Mizoram and Manipur hold special candlelight prayer services at synagogues every night to pray for the divine protection of the Israelites.
In addition to the 200 reservists who were conscripted into the army after the Hamas attack, about 200 "sons of Manasseh" are serving in Israel's military, Hansin said, stressing that the exact number of "sons of Manasseh" currently serving in the Israeli army has not been made public to the public.
The Jerusalem Post confirmed that the men were called up to perform active or reserve military duties, in addition to a portion of volunteers. The news comes from the Jerusalem-based organization Shafi Israel – which works to "strengthen relations between Israel and Jewish diaspora communities around the world."
Indian Jews join Israel's military mission to Gaza (social**) Of these soldiers, 75 are new immigrants from India – who volunteered for military service after Operation Al-Aqsa flood, while another 140 soldiers were drafted from settlements across Israel.
According to Shafi Israel, 99 percent of working-age men who immigrated to Israel from India participated in Israel's war against Gaza, and 90 percent of these women were also serving.
Michael Freund, founder of Shafi Israel, confirmed, "Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the organization has received hundreds of applications from members of the community of the Sons of Manasseh to immigrate to Israel immediately. He added, "Not only that, but they are also demanding to join the Israeli army immediately in order to fight alongside their brothers and sisters." ”
The Jerusalem Post reported that Nathanel Tutang (26), from the "Son of Manasseh," was wounded by shrapnel from a missile fired by Allah Lebanese into northern Israel, while he was serving in the Givati Brigade.
But India** reported that four Indian mercenaries died while fighting in Gaza while helping the Israeli army.
Why does India support Israel? In order to understand the reasons for the significant change in India's policy toward Palestine, most analyses point to two fundamental factors:
The rise of Hindu nationalism
Ashok Swain, head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden, said Hindu nationalism has been growing since Modi came to power, although researchers believe that most Indians still support the Palestinian struggle for independence.
Moreover, India** has also been heavily influenced by Hindu nationalism** and has therefore tended to adopt a more hostile rhetoric towards Palestine.
Hostility to Islam
Ashok Swain noted that Modi believes that as long as the war in Gaza continues, attention will turn to condemning Hamas, "which is an opportunity to further incite Islamophobia in Indian society."
Pamela Phillips, a prominent journalist and researcher based in Delhi, concluded that India** believes that Hamas can benefit from portraying it as a "representative of Islamic terrorism" and that its support for Israel is part of its anti-Islamic political tendencies.
In the aftermath of Hamas's deadly attack on October 7 last year, the residents of the "Sons of Manasseh" saw great commonalities between Zionism and Hindu nationalism at a special prayer meeting for Israel. "What these two ideologies have in common is that they both aim for expansionism and both are exclusive. ”
According to these two movements, India and Israel, which were originally Hindu and Jewish respectively, have been "polluted" by outsiders, especially Muslims, and now aim to restore their former glory as Hindu and Jewish states, respectively.
Against this background, the French newspaper Le Monde notes that some Hindu extremists have already expressed their readiness to pick up ** with the Israelis. Israel's ambassador to India, Naor Girlon, once proudly announced that he was able to assemble an army of Indian volunteers.
Religion, nationalism and the "common enemy," combined with economics and populism, are all reasons why India has suddenly turned to the Palestinian question, which it has long been involved in advocating.