Note: None of these thoughts negate the horrible impact of violence and terrorism on any community, family or individual.
The World is Burning
As an individual, one can’t be concerned about everything in the world. It’s impossible to understand all burning political or social issues and have an intelligent viewpoint on it. But we can make an honest attempt whenever possible.
The Palestine conflict which caught global headlines since October 2024 was one of those issues where I couldn’t really understand why things had to be so bad.
On one hand nobody can justify the murder of children, bombing of schools, destruction of hospitals. But the attacking side cited that their aim was to end terrorism, which made no sense.
The alternative model for fighting terrorism is visible in the Indian Army’s approach of not hurting any civilians in their targeted attacks.
Even then, I was unsure what impact common citizens could have in ending the conflict or ensuring peace in Palestine. Does the Instagram activity on part of a Delhi resident have any impact?
In fact, even the Indian government and the entire United Nations have been incapable of doing anything. I felt that the people suffering over there and other humanitarian organisations had no hope.
Though I don’t want to get into the solution for this entire conflict, a two-state solution seems to be ideal. But all these scattered opinions gained a new dimension when I attended an event suggest by my friend who’s a passionate supporter of the Palestinian cause.
The Ambassador and the Refugee Camp
One can see lot of content related to the Palestine issue on the internet. But it is quite a different experience when you hear the story from the horse’s mouth. I didn’t expect the Palestinian Ambassador to be at the event in support of Palestine.
I was kinda impressed to know that he had managed to make something of himself in spite of growing up in a refuge camp where he survived on rations from United Nations.
He indicated that the world should recognise the colonial nature of the occupation of Palestine and understand that their rights had been violated by the infamous Balfour Declaration. To give away their land without their consent was a basic violation of their rights.
The Ambassador used a term that I had never heard before. “Khazarian Jew”. He said that the people who claim Israel were not the original Jews of the land but converted Jews who were not originally from present-day Israel. I’m surprised that mainstream media has never mentioned this, though I am unsure what political and legal ramifications this would have on the issue.
In addition to this, he said that the terrorist attack on October 7 was not well-investigated and there was a possibility of this being a false flag attack to justify military action on the people of Palestine.
Colonialism and Communalism
There were several pro-Palestine people in the list of performers. They read their poems, snippets and explained why they support the Palestinian people.
One of the key arguments was that India, a nation which had fought colonialism and emerged as an independent nation could never abandon another nation fighting the same struggle. This makes sense as India had always supported Palestinian people in the past.
The pattern of dividing people on communal lines to benefit from the conflict had already been seen in pre-independence India. The same modus operandi was deployed in the middle-east to control oil resources. This has been quite obvious, especially after the infamous Joe Biden clip that went viral last year.
But social divisions do exist. Managing them within the precincts of a democratic constitution should serve as a bulwark against colonial power-play.
It is therefore important to understand the obvious, though I’m unclear how individuals can fight colonial powers at a global level.
Swara Bhaskar’s Travel Experience
The actress Swara Bhaskar shared pictures from her visit to Palestine couple of decades ago and recalled that it was a vibrant place in spite of restrictions on all sides. She said that the people who lived there thrived in spite of being in an “open-air prison”.
The media reports might paint different kinds of pictures but hearing the human stories of individuals puts things in perspective.
I don’t understand how these things continue even in the 21st century. But surely, we must ignore the loud TV anchors, manipulated social media and go back to the ground level. Talking to real people and knowing their story could be a much better way to understand the world.
What Next?
As a citizen, I am still skeptical about my voice having any significant impact on a global issue. But at least now, I understand some critical perspectives and implications of the Palestinian issue.
I can understand that social media campaigns can put pressure on governments. But I believe it has little impact on games played by big powers and don’t see that as a viable long term solution.
The proceeds of the event were being donated to a child requiring expensive treatment. Maybe, helping the victims of bombings with donations could be a starting point.
Major change and progress often starts with understanding and awareness. Our understanding of Palestinian conflict is kinda muddled given the nature of media and propaganda. Hopefully, a better awareness about the Palestinian struggle could eventually impact politics, policy and generate global pressure to do the right thing.