The attacks in Gaza are highly controversial with a fierce tug and pull between the sides. LA’s Mayor Villaraigosa and NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg have both taken a pro-Israel stance, as well as the 390 members of Congress who this past week voted “aye” to the passing of House Resolution 34. The resolution “recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirms the United States’ strong support for Israel…” On the streets it seems most people are angry about the situation on the Gaza side, not necessarily pro-Hamas, but more aligned with a ‘pro-humanitarian stop the killing of innocent people’ stance.
I knew how I personally felt, but what I wanted to know is, “Is this a South Asian American issue? As desis, why should we care?” Short of learning that Gandhi was an anti-Zionist, there’s not too much out there on the matter. But at Saturday’s protest, there were many desis out walking the street in solidarity. So I hit the streets and asked them why they were there. This is what they had to say.
“A lot of people were here for the protest,” said Omar of the band Elephant with Guns. “I couldn’t find my friend so I just joined the people I was with and started playing[he starts beating a hand held drum and chanting] one, two, three, four, we don’t want your racist war. Five, six, seven, eight, stop the killing stop the hate.”“I thought it was great turnout and I was very inspired by it,” states Amy, a young professional. “It’s important for South Asians to be here because we need to show our solidarity. We went through it in India during our fight for independence.”
“I think that this is not particular to Arabs, to people of Middle East orgins, or to South Asian origin but I think that any community that has lived under any kind of occupation or the injustices of any type of colonization should be committed to this cause,” said Naaz, a PhD student at UCLA. “I’m from an Indian background. The types of atrocities that were committed under the British in India and the way that they systematically tried to divide people and divide Hindus from Muslims was unjust. We are still living with a lot of the scars of that British occupation…I think it’s about Western hegemony that is still continuing in the form of capitalism, and in new imperialistic projects, like Iraq, Afghanistan and maybe even Pakistan… As a community of color the west has been manipulating us for a long time.”
“South Asians tend not to be as connected to other communities in general,” said the Mad Guru, wearing an image he had designed pinned to the front of his shirt. “We can’t keep seeing problems as other people’s problems somewhere far away. I mean, you have to understand that if you don’t stick up for other peoples’ rights, then no one is going to stick up for your rights either.”
The protest was great, but there are other ways people in the South Asian community are showing support too. Some in the Sikh community jumped on board earlier this week. 
We are Sikhs who stand against the brutality of Israeli occupation and the ongoing siege, blockade, and massacre of Gaza. Now more than ever, we call on our Sikh sisters and brothers to think about what our faith and our Sikh identity really means. Why did Guru Nanak Sahib seek to abolish the caste system in South Asia? Why did Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib sacrifice his life for the sake of others’ (non-Sikhs) right to freely practice their religion and live free of persecution?…Because for Sikhs, fighting against all forms of tyranny and oppression is a spiritual obligation. [racewire]
It’s great to see so many people acting in solidarity, but it’s understandable that more people haven’t spoken out because the issue is so confusing and potentially so divisive. South Asian mag Samar posted a well researched myth-busting piece last week to clarify the politics around the issue.
We may disagree with the politics of Hamas, just as we may disagree with the politics of the British Labor Party, but it does not follow that we should condone the slaughter of all leaders and members of Hamas, their families, government employees, and random members of the Palestinian population which elected them to power, any more than we would condone the slaughter of all leaders and members of the Labour Party, their families, government employees, and random members of the British population which elected them to power. The fact that the US and EU cannot see this equivalence demonstrates that they are dominated by the same racism which allowed slavery to flourish and the indigenous peoples of North America and Australia to be exterminated. [samar]
Sure we can protest to express our solidarity but that is by no means the only nor most strategic tactic. I called my representative today to express my disappointment on his ‘aye’ vote on HR 34, and I will call him again tomorrow to ask him to co-sponsor Kucinich’s resolution on the humanitarian issues in Gaza. My office will be hosting a brown bag to learn more about the issue. I’ve been sending action alerts to my friends. I’m not saying you have to pick ‘my’ side on this issue, nor am I saying you have to be a gung-ho freedom fighting activist. But what I will say is this is an important issue. As South Asian Americans, this issue is relevant to us. Do your research and get educated on this complex situation. And if you feel moved by what you learn, do something about it.
Btw how many arabs protested on the streets against the terror attacks in India like the lastet one in Mumbai?
It’s horrible the killing of civilians by Hamas, proudly promoting their killing of civilians, and hiding themselves purposely among the civilians that elected them into power, so Isreal is forced to strike in areas that have civilians. My heart goes out the Isrealis and particularly the Palestinians particularly the children that are being killed.
BUT – I think this article states it well – “Isreal is the Opium…” When do Arabs protest the murdering of other arabs by arabs? Between Iran? Iraq? Egypt massacreing Palestinians a few years ago, when they thought Palestinians were too uppity. None of that can be protested – the govts shut that down. But hate the Jew, and it’s encouraged in all it’s glory. Until many of these country’s residents stop looking at a scapegoat (Isreal) and try to solve their own problems things aren’t going to get any better.
One of my muslim Indian friends sent me this: Isreal is the Opium
41 · Ram said
Thank you!! That is what I have been wanting to say but couldn’t articulate it succintly. 🙂 I’m Muslim, South Asian, and American, but like others have said, that shouldn’t define the causes I support. One of my major beefs with the Muslim community is the fixation on Israel – as if THAT the source of all your troubles. It’s this whole racist, Arab-centric view of Muslims today that over-shadows every other cause in the world. Muslims don’t stand up for Muslim causes – they stand up for Palestine (which btw has both Muslims and Christians). Palestine is arguably a very important cause, but no more important than stopping teenage boys from becoming suicide bombers or preventing domestic violence or any other problem within our Muslim community.
(I’m not a pessimist, by the way, I think some Muslims are making great strides to move beyond the Arab fixation and looking to really address the problems in the greater “Muslim community” – there is hope!)
Do you mean to apply this to even children who are getting killed?
Completely agree, which was my earlier point re the hierarchy of conflicts. I understand that this issue is relatively more important to the more politically (and financially) powerful elements of U.S. society. However, the coverage of the ME conflict underlies the general lack of well-roundedness of the U.S. press when it comes to international news, in general. Recent example : 11/26, which, I believe, would not have gotten the coverage it received in the U.S. media had it not involved (white) Americans.
and i am glad that you guys do that, since it means that we really do get more varied, and passionate, views from our bloggers.
Another point to consider, from an counter insurgency POV.
If both primary groups, Palestinians and Israel have failed strategies, what does a solidarity march across the world for the people of Palestine look to both of these agents? While people are voicing their need for peace, in effect, there may be some unintended consequences (any Game theorists here, is this valid?)
Israel POV: World is rallying to the cause of Palestinians, who don’t recongize Israel’s right to survive (Hamas is in governance). We are in a corner and have no option other than to fight our way out. It’s always been this way. The world is coopted to the Arab cause and they’ve rarely been on our side.
Palestinians: People are rallying to our cause, so we must be doing SOMETHING right, therefore continue along the current path. We can get all the land back by defeating Israel.
This is obviously very simplistic. Neither behavior is productive for long term peace as one group is paranoid (for good reasons) and another is pissed off (for good reasons as well). There are several players in between who profit from either a strong Israeli position or strong Palestnian one. Some of the folks that support “the cause” are pit against each other as well (Iran/Saudi) and want bragging rights.
The objective of any political process needs to aimed at toning down Israel’s paranoia and expectations of the Arab/Islamic world that a compromise with Israel isn’t being weak, it’s the right thing to do for everyone.
Again I share all grievances of US and Israel wrt terrorism. But if the next generation of Americans (as signified by the moral high ground of Obama’s admin) are going to solve world’s problems don’t forget historical contexts (assuming we go as far back as the dismantlemant of British empire)
This all ties up because the people who didn’t like Egypt’s siding with US led to assasination of Anwar Sadat president of egypt by Zahwiri who founded Al-Q and the politics of which is being felt even today.
Thank you for bringing us back to the true root of the issue. I’m tired of seeing this conflict used as an Anti-Muslim or Anti-Semitic agenda.
31 · Brown Skeptic said
This is an excellent point: I’m not a supporter of Israel because in general, as a brown woman whose family was directly impacted by British rule in India, I’m not a supporter of colonialism. Jews were subjected to unimaginable horrors in the Second World War (and indeed, previous to that in various pograms) but that doesn’t mean that Palestinian Arabs have to pay for the crimes that were committed — for the most part — by European Christians. It would have been better to give them their own Jewish state in Europe but of course the powers that be didn’t want that. No, instead, they looked around for a piece of land that they didn’t own and decided to make it over to the “Jewish nation” because of some half-baked theories put forward by a bunch of 19th century writers who looked to the Bible and the Talmud for inspiration. Then, Israel decided to offer a “right of return” to all Jews, whether or not they are born there while kicking out native-born Palestinian Arabs. If you think this is reasonable, then you have no problems with Idi Amin’s decision to kick out the Indians there, right?
That said, Israel is there now and the two-state solution is the only one that is viable. I’m appalled by this particular war since it jeopardizes that solution further and because I see it as a cynical political move that seeks to tie Obama’s hands before he can carve out the kind of independent stance that may be the only hope left for kick-starting this peace process.
Also, to Ram and darky and to everyone else who offers up the old “but the Arabs world is undemocratic and would treat us worse if it had a chance to…” argument, I fight for the world that I want to live in, not against a world that I abhor. This is neo-con rhetoric at binary best: oh, you’re against the war in Iraq, then you must be for Saddam’s atrocities. And at least here in Toronto, where I went to two massive rallies over the past two weekends, a large number of brown folks seem to be able to differentiate between decrying Israel’s totally disproportionate attack on Gaza and supporting Hamas’s rocket attacks, though it must be mentioned here that Hamas is more or less a creation of the Israel that did not want to deal with the secular — and much less violent — PLO in earlier years. To support the people of Gaza in this moment of suffering is just that.
I wonder why this conflict, out of all the conflicts in the world, inspires so much passion? I’ve always wondered about that – it’s not as if there aren’t other intractable conflicts. In fact, some are much more violent and loss of life greater.
Any ideas, SMers?
South Asians, as a group, don’t have to provide solidarity with any other group. If an individual wishes to do so, that’s different, and of course, there prerogative.
*always makes me think of bobby brown
oops, didn’t read all the comments. See some have tried to address that issue.
To be provocative, and because as an American I’m interested in Indian opinion on this issue: what has India gained from it’s traditional pro-palestinian stance?
B/c it’s white people fighting against non-whites. The Left doesn’t like Israel b/c they represent “the Man.” That’s the only reason they’re able to hold their nose and get in bed with anti-gay, anti-female fanatics like Hamas. Brown on black violence (e.g., Sudan), brown on brown violence (e.g., Sri Lanka), black on black violence (e.g., Congo) just isn’t as interesting if your main goal in life is hating on “the Man.”
KXB raises the most pertinent point. In addition, there are two current conflicts in South Asia (Hindu/Muslim and Tamil/Sinhala) that have similar roots/discourse. And finally there are the geopolitics of it all, which tie the two together, as you can see from the “Hamas hates India and Israel” comment above as well as the post-colonial nationalist perspectives.
thats how “politicians” and “special interest” group obfuscate issues that in no way aids novice folks like me who are trying to understand the problem, history and contexts first before taking sides and forming opinions based on my self-interests (laissez faire)
Archana-Thank you for articulating the proper response specifically the Idi Amin example.
Why a two state solution? Do religious states still have a place in the 21st century? Isn’t secular Israel simply a better option? Edward Said had begun to campaign for a one state solution towards the end of his life. I think he was right.
I think it’s not enough anymore to say “do something.” I think we need to start figuring out what that thing is – political activity for its own sake is not of interest to me, particularly by people who support the interests of the powerful. You HAVE taken the right position of this – which is pro-civilian and pro-human with an analysis of Israel’s greater amount of power than the Palestinians. Denying this reality is akin to denying the Holocaust.
onparkstreet,
“To be provocative, and because as an American I’m interested in Indian opinion on this issue: what has India gained from it’s traditional pro-palestinian stance?”
that is a very important and valid question. Because most readers here are American born they perhaps do not know all the details here. India was a leader of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) which was a grouping of 3rd world countries which tried to stay away from the true superpowers. In fact India from the late 60’s became pro-Soviet country. To add to the irony countries like Cuba were fully paid up members of NAM. Anyway, NAM was always a strongly anti-colonist organization mostly due to the history of the countries nd hence pro-plaestinian as Israel was regarded as an outpost of US imperialism.
Anyway to cut the long story short Yasir Arafat was always welcomed as a head of state and embraced warmly by Indira Gandhi. Palestinian students were given spots in elite Indian universities (where invariably they had the reputation of drunks and louts who took forever to graduate) etc etc.
What India got was some support at OIC (Organization of Islamic Country) meetings, but obviously not enough as Pakistan and Saudi have consistently blocked India from becoming a member of OIC inspite of the large uslim population in India.
Sorry, Israel was regarded as an outpost of Western (not US) imperialism specially after the role they played in the Suez crisis.
my thoughts are with you, taz, as you moderate this thread.
60 · rob said
This is factually untrue. Palestinians, like Israelis, cover the whole spectrum of coloration and phenotype, from Nordic-looking blondes to very dark skinned folks. If anything, there are more dark-skinned folks in Israel (Yemeni Jews, Ethiopian Jews, etc.) And there are more blonds in Israel as well. But Israel is not simply a “white” country. Of all the things this conflict is about – religion, nationalism, geopolitics, race is not one of them. It is not that simple.
It would have been better to give them their own Jewish state in Europe but of course the powers that be didn’t want that. No, instead, they looked around for a piece of land that they didn’t own and decided to make it over to the “Jewish nation” because of some half-baked theories put forward by a bunch of 19th century writers who looked to the Bible and the Talmud for inspiration. Then, Israel decided to offer a “right of return” to all Jews, whether or not they are born there while kicking out native-born Palestinian Arabs. If you think this is reasonable, then you have no problems with Idi Amin’s decision to kick out the Indians there, right?
I understand the historical ties to the promised land and choosing that region over some corner in Europe and again wikipedia tells me that its was the Romans who drove the Jews out of Jerusalem besides the frequent crusades by Europeans ( there were some displacements by conquest of middle-eastern empires ) So it brings us to the question as to who are responsible for Israel’s historical displacements – Europeans/ Christians or Arabs/Muslims ? But this maybe tangetial to solving the problem which is definitely two state peaceful co-existence. But these repeated wars and redrawing of borders, Israeli settlements etc. etc. make the solution kind of difficult
65 · Dr Amonymous said
Power is not bad. We want bigots to be powerless. That’s why I’m glad hamas, and by extension the Palestinians, are such. However, the coflict cannot be contextualized merely as israili vs. palestinians. the rest of the muslim world is not powerless, especially iran, which is very worrisome.
unfortuamtely, bush is right in the long run. until the rest of the middle east shames isreal by becoming a liberal democray, until jews are allowed in mecca, we will be in a state of war.
Here is the thing I dont understand. Where were these protest’s when Muslims in the Sudan were commiting genocide? Now the violence is on them and now everyone is about peace? I dont get it. Is it a black thing?
I am against the killing of innocent people by Isreal, but I hate these protests that are nothing more then a exercise in bs. Muslim on Muslim violence is okay, but is it the non-muslim killin muslim thing that has the worlds population in such a bad mood?
It is like when black people protest when a white guy kills a black person, even though the number one human killer of black people is other black people and nothing is done when that happens.
Personally I am just going to shake my head in protest because that is about as active as I can get in wars that involve one groups belief in a fable over another groups belief in another fable.
I haven’t seen to many “Nordic-looking blondes” in Hamas, but whatever. If calling the Israelis “white” bothers you, fine–culturally European. Now, give me more nuance about how some Israelis are from Baghdad or whatever. You know what I mean–it’s their whiteness/Euroness that allows their opponents to call them “colonizers” in a way that doesn’t apply to the Turks in Constantinople or the Mughals in Delhi. This is the real reason why the issue gets so much coverage.
In comedian George Carlin’s immortal words: That whole region has practioners of three religions whose followers have been fighting since forever that “My God’s dick is bigger than your God’s dick”. There’s never going to be peace there.
M. Nam
I dont see how this is a Desi issue anywhere in the world. Yes as Americans or Australians or Canadians one might choose to join different suppport marches. Sadly I ll have to ask “where were the support marches in the Western world when terrorists attacked Mumbai”. Israel exists because of the support of USA. There is a very simple solution – cut Israel loose from the apron strings of USA. Then it would be a fair fight and both parties can wipe each other out to extinction. For the record – I am a great fan of Israel. Also, I am old enough to remember the first intifada – circa 1989 – after a while it gets boring and one realizes that both sides dont really want peace.
Post by Taz where she ignores SM’s non-partisan stance and tries to convince us that we should all support her Bengali/Muslim/lefty cause because we happen to be brown? Check.
The worst part about this post is that there is a very valid comparison to be drawn between Partition and Zionism, but Taz butchers it in the hope of advancing her cause. I’m a Palestinian sympathizer and this even turns me off. There are plenty of valid reasons to reject Zionism and Western hegemony without relying on some sort of nebulous “Brown peope unite” BS.
72 · ShallowThinker said
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blockquote>Here is the thing I dont understand. Where were these protest’s when Muslims in the Sudan were commiting genocide? Now the violence is on them and now everyone is about peace? I dont get it. Is it a black thing?
Speak for yourself, ShallowThinker. I’ve gone to protests over the Janjaweed killing and rape in Darfur and about Tamil civilians killed by the Sri Lankan Army; to vigils about the Columbian trade unionists murdered by their right-wing government and for AIDS victims. I could go on and on about all of the different political positions I have but I won’t. I’ll only say that I make those opinions known in whatever form seems appropriate: public protests are generally a tactic used to try and change a current public policy or government opinion so here in North America, they were an organizing tool for the anti-war movement and will be one for Gaza. Where there is widespread condemnation already, as of the Muslim militias in Darfur, you are more likely to have letter writing or contact your MP/Congressperson campaigns to get them to do something more about it.
Those who’ve questioned the passion displayed on this particular issue given that it isn’t a “South Asian” issue: don’t judge others by your own inaction or disinterest in things that don’t affect you personally.
Is the coverage that this conflict is getting overblown? Absolutely. Does that mean that everyone who has an opinion or takes an action about Israel-Palestine doesn’t care about anything else? Nonsense.
As for the two state solution…. someone asked why not just a secular Israel. Mostly because Israel will never agree to a secular democratic state wherein Jews and Palestinians have equal rights. They are too afraid that Palestinians will control the government of such a state.
You could level the same charges against those who put forward the idea of Pakistan – the idea that the Muslims of South Asia formed a unique culture separate from the Hindus, and thus needed their own country. Of course, that idea was disproven once Bengali Muslims no longer wanted to be dominated by their Punjabi co-religionists. Yet, if you suggest that Pakistan was a historical mistake, you are considered out of bounds.
What were the size of those different protests, Archana? It seems to me that the largest ones in the West tend to be the Palestinian-Israel ones (except for the Iraq war, in the recent years). Also, attending a protest isn’t the only way to show interest in an issue, and may not even be the most productive one.
You may attend a lot of protests, but most people don’t, and if you look at the coverage at, say, the BBC, you still see more coverage of this issue than others. I’m just curious as to other opinions on why this is.
*I think it has become a cause celebre, and a proxy, in the west; the issue that defines you politically, more than any other. It’s a signal for some, I think. I am not saying that’s the case for everyone, just the casual observers.
Did they? Really? So a few Sikhs joined the protest and all of a sudden ‘the Sikh community’ in its entirety joined in? Wow. That’s quite a trick, that’s almost as good as turning water into wine. Amazing stuff.
In the UK it is the Pakistani / Bangaldeshi Muslim cause par excellence. The entire identity of British Pakistanis seems predicated on Palestine and the supremacy and suffering and victimhood of the ‘Ummah’.
Personally speaking, I feel sorry for the innocent Palestinians, but I feel sick spending five minutes in the company of anti-Semites who talk about Jewish conspiracies, speak of Jews as if they are cockroaches, and talk of destroying Israel, not peaceful co-existence, which is invariably what I hear when I talk to those protesting against Israel, in particular from among the British Desi Muslims whose whole existence and identity seems based on this issue sometimes. I don’t want to be associated with such people. They are like the worst kind of RSS psychopath ranting about Muslims and Christians, except these bigots are valorised by much of the Left, and their attitudes are unchallenged within their communities.
Did they? Really? So a few Sikhs joined the protest and all of a sudden ‘the Sikh community’ in its entirety joined in? Wow. That’s quite a trick, that’s almost as good as turning water into wine. Amazing stuff.
The sikh who made the comments was Sonny Singh Suchdev, the same guy who when he was a kid and was attacked by black youths for wearing my turbans blamed white people and these comments were posted on racewire a blog that play the race card for everything.
72 · ShallowThinker said
This is a very interesting point, and the basis of my position on this conflict. The only reason why you see so much protest is that Israel is considered a democracy, and its decision-making is expected to be tempered by (international) public opinion. Sudan’s Bashir, on the other hand, is a dictator, so no point in protesting against him, he would just ignore it.
The whole protest business is driven by the idea that Israel is special, even though the Israeli response to protests is similar to Bashir’s — ignore them, and continue with whatever it wants. This suits the Arabs, as protests show that there is nothing special about Israel, its response is as good as any non-democratic one.
Since Israel does whatever it wants, my view is that there is no point in protesting, it is better to treat Israel as another middle-eastern country that fights with other middle-eastern countries. The behavior and attitude of the average Israeli towards Indians is similar to that of Arabs, as this report shows. Not very surprising, geography is not just destiny, it is also personality.
Yes, Israel sells India weapons, and trains our commandos for a fee. But they have also trained Tamil Tigers and the Afghan Mujahideen, and they are chummy with Pakistan, so it is better not to read too much into this. Their relations with India are not driven by love, it is mostly self-interest. It is not all that different from Saudi Arabia selling us oil, while supporting Pakistan on the side. If Pakistan was a non-Muslim nation, Israel would have sold them weapons as well. Weapon manufacturers are interested in markets as much as anyone else.
Bottom-line: There is no difference between Darfur and Gaza. As a human being, you should be upset with both. But don’t expect your protest to matter much. Better to ignore the whole mess and mind your own business. The actors involved don’t think very highly of us, and given a chance, would support folks who create problems for us. So what happens to them both shouldn’t matter to us much.
I haven’t seen to many “Nordic-looking blondes” in Hamas, but whatever. If calling the Israelis “white” bothers you, fine–culturally European. Now, give me more nuance about how some Israelis are from Baghdad or whatever. You know what I mean–it’s their whiteness/Euroness that allows their opponents to call them “colonizers” in a way that doesn’t apply to the Turks in Constantinople or the Mughals in Delhi. This is the real reason why the issue gets so much coverage.
You sneer at nuance, rob, but it’s not misleading at all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel#Ethnic_groups
39% from “baghdad” (in your ecology of descriptive terms) and 37% from “colonizer” lands (again, your usage).
Also, “Hamas” is not a good stand-in for the “the Palestinians.” This fetish of seeing putatively democratic elections as an expression of the pure, true voice of an entire population is widespread and finds it’s most vocal proponents among supporters of the current bombardment in Gaza. Libertarian disengagement simply isn’t possible there because if you don’t pick sides there are dire consequences for all of you and yours.
79 · onparkstreet said
I think you’re right about this. But is there something inherently wrong with this? Wasn’t Apartheid a cause celebre at a not-so distant point in time? I do think one’s position on Palestine now (as on Apartheid years ago) probably — not always — but probably defines you politically.
And KXB: No, I don’t think the creation of Palestine compares to the creation of Pakistan, mostly because the majority population in the areas that became Pakistan were already Muslim. Not so the case in Palestine. That being said, I do think of the partition of British India as another colonialist act that resulted in millions of deaths. Would the subcontinent have been better of a secular democracy that wasn’t partitioned? Probably. Does that then mean that I think India should overrun Pakistan and Bangladesh? No. Just as I think that even though the creation of Israel was a colonialist act that displaced the reparations due to the Jewish population of Europe onto Palestinian Arabs, at this point in time the solution has to include an Israeli state in that region.
This is a very interesting point, and the basis of my position on this conflict. The only reason why you see so much protest is that Israel is considered a democracy, and its decision-making is expected to be tempered by (international) public opinion. Sudan’s Bashir, on the other hand, is a dictator, so no point in protesting against him, he would just ignore it.
Apartheid South Africa was the subject of global protests. Given the nature of their gov’t, shouldn’t they have been immune to int’l public opinion as well?
79 · onparkstreet said
I think it’s kind of a cycle. Media focus on Israel/Pali fuels passion in viewers, passionate protestors make great media stories, more people hear about what’s going on and choose a side, they stage more protests, the media increases coverage for ratings, etc etc.
I have stayed mum with many friends as they change their facebook statuses to reflect their position, since I didn’t have time for an ugly debate. But once I did sit down with a friend and asked why he cared so much about Palestinians and not about other Muslim causes (especially violence perpetrated by Muslims), he said it was because he didn’t know about them. I gave him some conflicts to look into and he was grateful to learn about them. Maybe we just need to speak about other atrocities more loudly.
I’ve never organized a protest, but I seriously considered doing one for Mumbai. Next time maybe I’ll go through with it, but hopefully there won’t be a next time!
You make fair points. I just don’t want to get caught up in the emotionalism – it makes for poor decision making, at least for me.
OT: Archana, where did you get that book you have pictured on your blog? Hilarious.
if i may be permitted to make a blanket statement that will surely draw some flames, the spectacle of near consensus Israeli support for the bombardment of Gaza is the result of Benny Morris syndrome–wherein the Israeli public willfully compartmentalize slaughter and just defense. Benny was among the first to get access to the archives covering the period called “nakba” by the Palestinians and he wrote several books based on this archival research which established, beyond argument, that there were atrocities committed by the Israelis against Palestinians during the formation. In the early 2000s he never once recanted on the facts but said several times that it was all necessary and if given the chance he would change nothing. It is not that the Israeli street is constrained by a different set of facts (though different images via the news, definitely) but that they find it all too easy to slip into Morrism-isms when under duress
this is why i don’t discuss anything to do with this mess with my orthodox cousin who lived in Jersualem for many years and, when war is not the topic, waxes nostalgic about her multi-ethnic and multireligious circle of friends and social life.
Nayagan, Would you disagree with the claim that the Israelis are “constructed” as white and European? Why else the use of the term “colonizer” when that’s not applied to non-whites (e.g., to the Turks who kicked Byzantium out of Anatolia)?
83 · bleah said
Since the mid 80s and the continued nuclear development of Pakistan nuclear program, India and Israels interests have converged in many ways, so I don’t think the selling of weapons is purely out of self interest. I think the civilian deaths are horrible but what is Israel to do if Hamas or whoever has no problem using civilians as shields? Also, the support many Arabs have shown Pakistan in its quest for Kashmir irks me at best when what Israel did to its minorities has been mirrored by Pakistan. Complaining when people you identify with are victims and making excuses or providing reasoning when they are the aggressors isn’t going garner much empathy.
This conflict gets more eyeballs / coverage / protests / tears than anything else in the world. Recently there were fights in Somalia / Congo / Srilanka that involved more or less the same number of casualties. I’m actually sad at all those violent acts.
Having said that, I think the western and Arab/Muslim media covers this particular conflict in much detail because of religious reasons and India because of its massive Muslim population gives a partial coverage not the continuous ones we see in other places. I have no bones to pick and no sides to choose.
Muslim nations and people who fight for ONLY Muslim causes all over the world resemble the European crusaders and their supporters of the 11th to 14th centuries. Then Christians were unhappy that their holy place is in the control of Muslims. Now it is vice versa.
I think Nehru probably got a few awards. That’s about it.
In a nutshell, the reason that so much attention is paid to this conflict is because it was the detonating event and one of the factors currently propagating Islamic extremism. Had there never been a partition and abrogation of the Palestinian’s right to the land and to self-determination, had the Zionists not aimed in the 1970s at creating a “Greater Israel” stretching from the Mediterranean to Transjordan, you can bet your bottom dollar that there never would have been such a thing as Hamas or Hizbullah or Al Qaeda for that matter.
A secondary reason for all the attention paid to this conflict is a significant strain of Christian Zionism in U.S. Evangelicalism. Many Americans believe that this conflict is pivotal in the apocalyptic drama of the end times and that Israel is key in Jesus’ Second Coming. Another way in which religion has entered into and continually complicates attempts at coming to a rational, equitable solution.
94 · Skeptic said
I’m not a fan of Israel’s actions, but the essentially tribal Arab street treated the Palestinians like crap pre-Israel. Their new found love for Palestinians – and you still don’t see it much in governmental behavior – has much more to do with Israel than with solidarity for Palestinians. So, maybe you wouldn’t have seen Hamas or Hezbollah, but the plight of the Palestinians would’ve been similar – a destitute people without a land or autonomy.
95 · why said
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blockquote>94 · Skeptic said
You may very well be right. However, the question put was “Why is so much attention paid to this conflict?” In the end, the Palestinians would have been badly off even without the creation of Israel, but the upside for the rest of us (i.e. the Western world) is that we wouldn’t have to worry about anti-Zionist Islamist fanatics flying jetliners into our office buildings.
Any south asian who has labored in an Arab country will testify to how Arabs, including Palestinians, because they believe that their fellow Arabs owe them, are an extremely racist people [by “racist people” i mean that a majority of them are racist and not all of them]. Even towards fellow Muslims. My Uncle, a practicing Muslim and an AIIMS [All India Institute of Medical Sciences] trained Doctor, quit after a decade from a Jeddah, Saudi Arabia hospital when, at times even incompetent Arabs were routinely promoted out of turn and according to my uncle, not a week would go by when he wasn’t reminded of his racial inferiority. My uncle who is of Kashmiri extraction, is a small, dark skinned gent and is often mistaken for a Bangladeshi. Apparently, in the middle east, even Pakistanis consider themselves racially superior to Bangladeshis, and feel the need to remind everybody around them that, they are not “Kala [black] bengali or malyalee”. [Muslim solidarity, my kundi] The sad part is that, despite the upheaval in my uncle’s life, bought about by racist Saudi overseers, he still can’t bring himself to utter a bad word against the Saudis because he really believes that they are superior to the sub-continent Muslim and special to God. Why? “Because Prophet Muhammad was a Saudi; two of Islam’s holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina are in Saudi Arabia and last but not the least, God “blessed” the Saudis with gazillion gallons of Oil.”
94 · Skeptic said
Not sure about this. Wahhabism and the Deobandi movements predate Israel, and the Saudi petrodollars that fund the spread of Wahhabism aren’t directly related to Israel, nor was the US funding for Taliban as an opposition to the USSR in Afghanistan.
As others mentioned, these rallies quickly turn from pro-Palestinian to anti-Semitic. Chants of “Khaybar, khaybar, ya yahood…” would probably be cheered. My main beef with these rallies is that large numbers of Americans who have nothing to do with the region join in to seem cool (wearing a kaffiyeh only adds to how multicultural they are) Ironically, the “Zionist-Imperialist regimes” in Washington and Tel Aviv permit such rallies and allow both sides to publish their views, while demonstrations against the Gaza campaign are brutally crushed in the West Bank, Jordan and other Arab countries.
95: you’re right. Arab govts have treated Palestinian refugees like shit; they weren’t even allowed to work in Lebanon til 2005, and don’t have citizenship elsewhere. However when the regimes themselves are threatened, they quickly play the “Zionists are oppressing Arabs” card and it always seems to work.
“The Palestinians want to wipe out the Israeli’s, but can’t. The Israeli’s could wipe out the Palestinians, but won’t.”