New anti-apartheid movement grows in India against Israel

July 9 2010, New Delhi – Boycott initiatives grow across India - from the dockworkers to the academics - as the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) marks the fifth anniversary since Palestinian political and social forces launched a united call for BDS against Israel.

Responding to the appeals from the Palestinian labour movement following the brutal attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Cochin dockworkers have declared a blockade on Israeli cargo till. In a unanimous decision the dock workers unions – from CITU to INTUC and BMS - in Cochin dockyard have stopped unloading any goods coming from Israel. One of the leaders of the Cochin dockworkers, B Hamza, declared:

“With this we join in the worldwide protest of dock workers – from Sweden to South Africa – against the inhuman siege of Gaza. We will keep up this act of solidarity until Israel lifts the illegal Gaza siege.”

Last month, 50 academics and cultural figures had appealed to the well-known writer Amitav Ghosh to refuse the Dan David prize. Now, 75 leading Indian academics and artists have issued a call joining the on-going global academic and cultural boycott of Israel. In their appeal to other Indian academicians and artistes, these intellectuals underline the necessity of this action:

“In a reality in which the Israeli state daily tramples on the academic freedom and cultural life of the Palestinian people, a continued association with the instruments of such a state is unconscionable.

“We appeal to you, Indian academics and artists, to join us in this cause, which has become even more urgent today, when our nation’s foreign policy has abandoned the ideals of self-determination and anti-colonialism. [..] Our act of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle is a reaffirmation that the Indian people have not abandoned the Palestinian people or forgotten their own history. ”(See full statement.)

Signatories to the appeal include Professors Upendra Baxi, Mushirul Hassan, Prabhat Patnaik, Vina Majumdar, Zoya Hasan, Sumit Sarkar, film makers such as Saeed Mirza, Anand Patwardhan, scientists such Prof. Pushpa Bhargava, writers such as Arundhati Roy, K. Sachidanandan, Githa Hariharan, theatre persons such as Moloyshree Hashmi, MK Raina, etc. .

The anger of the people around the world is growing against the brutal and continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, its inhumane siege of the Strip and the policies of ethnic cleansing and ghettoization of the Palestinian people. Despite Israel’s blatant contempt for international law and its continued crimes against the Palestinian people, the US and European powers have so far continued to hold out a shield of impunity for Israel.

One year after the International Court of Justice had confirmed the Wall and Israeli colonization illegal and underlined the world’s responsibility to ensure Israeli compliance with international law, an overarching coalition of 171 Palestinian parties, unions and civil society organization launched the Palestinian Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. With the failure of the Governments of the world to hold Israel accountable, Palestinians have called for a new worldwide anti-apartheid movement of the people, adopting the same methods that contributed to the fall of the racist regime in South Africa.

In this span of five years, the call has inspired a powerful worldwide movement. Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa have withdrawn their ambassadors or completely cut diplomatic ties, European national pension funds and major European banks have withdrawn investments in the Israeli occupation. Companies have been forced to withdraw from their collusion with Israeli state and its war crimes in occupied Palestine. The Cultural and Academic Boycott has gained pace with many leading figures refusing to perform in Israel and various academic bodies breaking their links with Israeli institutions.

In India, there have been campaigns and demonstrations on Israel's actions. On the Gaza war in 2008-2009 and again on the recent attacks on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, demonstrations were held in which a large number of groups and organisations participated. There has been an on-going campaign to break India's military ties with Israel and India's buying of Israeli arms, despite formal charges being laid against Israeli companies and Indian officials for corruption in these deals. Last year, a million signatures were submitted to the Indian Government by people all around the country calling for this break in security and military ties. One hundred Members of Parliament cutting across party lines also appealed to the Indian Government to cut its security ties to Israel and return to India's position of non-alignment and an independent foreign policy.
Starting with the NDA Government, the policy of support to the Palestinian people had shifted to one of building a strategic tie-up with Israel. This has continued under the UPA Government as well.
In the last five years

India had purchased arms worth nearly $5 billion from Israel

Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Israeli spy satellite TechSAR in 2008, whose primary purpose is to spy on Iran, a country with which India has friendly relations. This is the first in a series of 5 such satellites.

Even after the Israel Aircraft Industries has been implicated in the Barak missile scam, the government of India is going ahead with a much bigger Rs. 10,000 crore deal with the same party.

High-level military visits and Joint Working Groups of both countries are continuing and operating at great pace.

An Indo-Israeli Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism has been set up and has held a number of meetings.

The UPA government has started negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with Israel.

This deepening of ties with Israel is not in India’s national interest and abandons India’s historic and principled support to the Palestinian people.

Any strategic alignment with Israel is to directly support the brutal apartheid regime imposed on the Palestinian people.

We appeal to the Indian people to join the Cochin dock workers and the above academic and the cultural figures to strengthen the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. We call on the Indian Government to immediately break its military and security ties with Israel and not allow any company that is directly involved in the occupation regime in the West Bank and Gaza to work in India. India must return to a path of an independent foreign policy and lead the initiative for a just peace in Palestine.

Prabir Purkayastha
(On behalf of the Committee for Solidarity with Palestine)