Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
by breaking away from the past, Rao also signaled India's aspirations for great
power status. Domestic political instability and fluctuations in coalition politics
did not inhibit various governments from pursuing closer political as well as
security cooperation with Israel. Even those parties such as the Communists,
known for past animosity toward Israel, have quietly come around to recognizing
and realizing the usefulness of the new situation.
Historical Baggage
The significance of India's newly found relations with a small state in the ever-
turbulent Middle East could not be appreciated without a brief understanding of
India's traditional position
vis-à-vis
Israel. The roots of this policy can be traced
to the beginning of the twentieth century when the Indian nationalists forged a
common cause with the Arabs of Palestine against British imperialism.
1
If the
Judeo-Christian heritage influenced the West to adopt a sympathetic attitude
toward the Jewish political aspirations in Palestine, even before independence,
the Indian nationalists viewed the whole question through an Islamic prism.
Despite their sympathy for the centuries of Jewish suffering and subjugation,
they were unable to appreciate and endorse the Zionist aspirations for a Jewish
national home in Palestine. Mahatma Gandhi aptly summed up this
unsympathetic Indian position: 'Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same since
that England belongs to the English and France to the French.'
2
For his part, Jawaharlal Nehru perceived the Arab-Jewish conflict as part of
the larger anti-imperialism that was sweeping the colonies. Rejecting any
historical Jewish claims to Palestine, he observed: 'Palestine is essentially an
Arab country and no decision can be made without the consent of the Arabs'.
3
Thus, despite half-hearted attempts in 1930s, the Zionists failed to secure the
support of the Indian nationalists.
4
Though important, neither Gandhi's moral arguments nor Nehru's anti-
imperialist rhetoric explain India's lack of appreciation of Jewish aspirations.
The intensification of Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine coincided with the
rivalry between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League and this
spilled over into the Middle East when the Palestine question was presented as an
Islamic agenda. Indian leaders began to view the Jewish claims through an
Islamic prism. The Zionist indifference toward India further consolidated this
pro-Arab and pro-Islamic orientation of the Indian nationalists.
In 1947, India had the opportunity to articulate its independent position at the
international level and thereby influence the course of events in Palestine when
the issue came up before the United Nations. Representing Asia at the 11-
member United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), India
reflected the orientation of the Indian nationalists and championed the Arab
cause in Palestine.
