UCAN report
The death of an Indian Catholic caregiver in Israel following a Hamas rocket attack has divided opinion in India on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Soumya Santhosh, 32, was buried on May 16 in her parish in Idukki Diocese in Kerala state after a funeral service attended by Jonathan Zadka, a senior diplomat from Israel’s consulate in Bengaluru.
She was killed on May 11 when the building in which she worked in Ashkelon was hit by a rocket fired by Hamas. Her mortal remains were flown to India on May 15.
As the conflict in the Gaza Strip is generally viewed as a Jewish-Muslim clash, Indian polity gets easily divided, particularly after India’s ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seen entertaining anti-Muslim policies.
Since its inception in 1980, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has had a policy inclined toward Israel, while the principal opposition Congress and the Indian communists have generally been in favor of Palestine.
Modi himself has given a boost to Israel-India ties and has a special bond with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
The BJP has always nurtured a policy of animosity toward Muslims, essentially due to historical reasons as most Hindus hold Muslims responsible for the partition of the country in 1947 when it came out of colonial rule. The partition led to the creation of Pakistan, now India’s bitter rival.
In fact, statements issued by both Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxists) on Santhosh’s death have been rather guarded and almost tilted in favor of Hamas.
“Palestinian people’s right to pray at the Al-Asqa Mosque without any restriction must always be respected and not violated. The orchestrated incidents in Jerusalem were outrageous and triggered tensions and violence,” Congress leader Anand Sharma said.
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Congress has been always oversensitive to Muslim feelings and thus has been tagged by the BJP and right-wing critics as a pro-Muslim party. It is also an ally of the Indian Union Muslim League, a Muslim-based party in southern India.
In a statement from its politburo, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that “Israel is moving toward the complete occupation of East Jerusalem by attacking Palestinians.”
K. Surendran, the BJP’s leader in Kerala, wanted to know whether Kerala's ruling party (CPI-M) and the opposition Congress are silent on the death of Soumya Santhosh because Hamas extremists are their allies.
The issue is not merely political, especially for Muslims. In communist-ruled Kerala, several Muslim organizations launched protests in favor of Hamas.
As the tension has escalated, Hamas now appears to have emerged as the only Palestinian faction willing to stand up against Israel to “defend” Islam’s third-holiest site.
Muslims believe that during the sacred night journey Prophet Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem.
In January 2018, Israeli PM Netanyahu became the second PM from his country to visit India
In July 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel — years after bilateral ties between India and Israel were first established in 1992 under then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Prior to that, Christians from India could not go to Israel, even with diplomatic passports.
In January 2018, Israeli PM Netanyahu became the second PM from his country to visit India. During the visit, several bilateral pacts of far-reaching implications and ties were inked. In the past, Naga Christian leaders from the northeastern tip of India lauded the Modi government’s role in acknowledging Jerusalem as a place of Christian pilgrimage.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had said earlier that Modi's decision to establish a "strategic partnership" with Israel practically amounted "to a virtual abandonment of the Palestinian cause.”
"With a heavy heart, received the mortal remains of Ms. Soumya Santhosh in Delhi and paid my last respects. CDA of Israel Embassy Rony Yedidia also joined. I empathise with the pain and sufferings of the family of Ms. Soumya. More strength to them," tweeted V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs.
The 32-year-old Santhosh, who hails from Idukki in Kerala was working as a caregiver in Israel for the last seven years. A native of Idukki, she lost her life on Tuesday (May 11) when the building she was residing in, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, was hit by a rocket fired by Hamas. In fact, reports say she was on a video call with her husband when her building was hit by the rocket.
The Congress reaction was guarded and almost taking the side of the Hamas, which otherwise was responsible for the death of Soumya.
“Palestinian people’s right to pray at Al Asqa mosque without any restriction must always be respected and not violated.The orchestrated incidents in Jerusalem were outrageous and triggered tensions and violence,” Congress leader and in-charge of party's foreign affairs Anand Sharma said in a statement.
Is Hamas giving a message that it can stand up to “defend” Islam’s third-holiest site ?
The decades-old Israel-Palestine conflict has flared up yet again with two sides launching air attacks at each other, says CNBC report.
As hostilities enter the fifth day, with no sign of abating, the death toll is on a constant rise. According to the latest government figures, 109 people -- including 29 children -- have been killed in airstrikes in the last four days, while seven (7) Israelis died.
Meanwhile, will it be wrong to suggest that Hamas now appears, at least in the eyes of many Palestinians, as the only Palestinian faction that is willing to stand up against Israel to “defend” Islam’s third-holiest site ?
And also “thwart” Israeli “conspiracies” against the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem ?
Al-Aqsa Mosque or "the Farthest Mosque"), located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in Islam.
The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount, known as the Al Aqsa Compound.
Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.
Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the 16th or 17th month after his migration from Mecca to Medina,
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| Israeli Defence Forces |
Reports of violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities of Israel have also surfaced.
"We just stopped another Hamas attempt to fire toward Israel. Our aircraft & Maglan unit struck and neutralized an Anti-Tank Missile squad, 2 Anti-Tank Missile launch sites & a surface-to-surface rocket launch site belonging to Hamas in Gaza," Israeli Defence Forces said in a tweet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel had no plans on relenting its attacks against Hamas in Gaza, after heavy bombardment targeting the Islamists in the Palestinian enclave. “They attacked our capital, they fired rockets at our cities. They’re paying and will continue to pay dearly for that," he said following security consultations at the military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
“It’s not over yet."
The death toll in West Bank rose to 10 in May 15.
The Biden administration notified Congress this week that it will send millions of dollars in U.S. assistance to the Palestinians aimed at promoting peace with Israel.
More than 2,000 rockets have been launched by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups into Israel this week alone, amid the most serious fighting between Israel and Gaza militants since 2014. It's not a routine you can ever get used to, said Lior Dabush from the coastal city of Ashkelon, about 12 km (7 miles) north of Gaza. "We rarely leave the house," Dabush, 37, said. (CNBC)
Importance of Gaza:
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| Snap: Los Angeles Times |
Gaza is sandwiched between Israel and Egypt and is just 25 miles (40 kilometers) long and six miles (10 kilometers) wide. It was part of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate before the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, when it came under Egypt's control.
Large numbers of Palestinians who fled or were driven from what is now Israel ended up in Gaza, and the refugees and their descendants now number 1.4 million, accounting for more than half of Gaza's population.
Israel captured Gaza, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state.
The first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, erupted in Gaza in 1987 the same year Hamas was founded and later spread to the other occupied territories. The Oslo peace process in the 1990s established the Palestinian Authority and gave it limited autonomy in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank.
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| A replica in Beijing Exhibition: Aug 2019 |
Events of the past few weeks have allowed Hamas to show that it remains a major player in the Palestinian arena and is popular among the Palestinians, says an article in Israeli English newspaper 'Jerusalem Post'.
"When Mohammed Deif, commander of Izzadin al-Qassam, the so-called “military” wing of Hamas, issued a rare threat against Israel over the Sheikh Jarrah dispute, many Palestinians in Jerusalem began chanting slogans praising him and Hamas.
Second, Hamas’s decision to fire rockets at Jerusalem on Monday has enabled it to present itself as a credible “resistance” group that is prepared to do anything to support the Palestinians in Jerusalem and stop Israel from carrying out its purported scheme to “Judaize” the city and “change the historical and legal status” of the Aqsa Mosque compound," says the piece penned by Khaled Abu Toameh.
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| Al-Qibli Chapel, Part of Al-Aqsa Mosque: Wikipedia |
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