India’s movements oppose visit of Israel’s president to India
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India’s movements oppose visit of Israel’s president to India

A joint statement signed by more than 70 personalities, 30 groups and networks representing over 1000 organizations across India has denounced the visit of Israel’s president Reuven Revlin, and the upgrade of relations with this state, which has held the Palestinian people under occupation for decades, displacing communities, segregating people, and besieging them behind cement walls.

Uniting under the slogan “25 years of Indo-Israeli diplomatic relations: No reason to celebrate!“ the endorsers underline that

“India’s economic linkage with Israel channels our public money through military deals to Israeli arms companies that transform these funds into lethal military technology applied in the oppression, colonisation and ethnic cleansing, of the Palestinian people.”

“India’s cultural and academic relations strengthen the promotion in India of the supposed ‘Brand Israel‘, including its war machine and its illegal actions, its horrific wars and its apartheid policies. It puts several Indian companies on the wrong side the growing global movement for the boycott, divestment and sanctions of companies and institutions that are justly believed to bear complicity in Israeli war crimes.”

This statement is part of the global movement based on the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), which has been launched in 2005. Last year Revlin himself has defined the BDS movement a ‘first-rate strategic threat’ to Israeli policies of occupation and apartheid.

See the full statement with endorsers below.

 


25 years of Indo-Israeli diplomatic relations:

No reason to celebrate!

Say No to India’s 'intense engagement' with Israeli apartheid!

 

India’s diplomatic relations with Israel began in 1992 as part of a 'peace' process that dramatically failed the Palestinian people but brought Israel the benefit of international recognition which broadened the number of global actors who shared in complicity with its crimes against humanity. Over the last 25 years, ties between India and Israel have been growing on all fronts – trade, economy and technology, military, as well as academia and culture while the people of Palestine are today further away from peace and justice than ever before.

Indo-Israeli ties have proven to be an unhealthy relationship that has grown stronger since the current government headed by the BJP assumed office. We are deeply disturbed to learn that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi intends to start a celebration of a quarter-century of relations, by receiving an official visit from November 15 by Israel’s president Reuven Rivlin.

We also learn that Mr Modi plans to be the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. No official plans have been announced, but we are alarmed to see that in recent weeks, Prime Minister Modi has sought to advertise his resolve in meeting India’s security challenges by likening a supposed cross-border operation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, with Israel’s frequent lawless raids into Palestinian villages and neighbouring Arab states.

We are shocked that Israel, with its lawless conduct has emerged as role model for the Indian nation-state, born in the struggle against colonialism and committed to peaceful relations in the neighbourhood. We refuse to accept that Israel’s undemocratic and exclusionary regime of apartheid is the new model for India under Prime Minister Modi.

There is nothing to celebrate in this relationship, neither for the Palestinian people nor for Indian citizens who cherish human rights, democracy and peace.

Rivlin will be accompanied on his visit by a delegation of ‘unprecedented size’, as the official announcement puts it. Among the aims of the visit is to strengthen Indo-Israeli ties at all levels. Relations with Israel provide financial support and legitimise the policies of a state that continues to violate international law and human rights with impunity, has set up an apartheid regime against its own Arab citizen, transformed the majority of the Palestinian people into refugees by expelling them from their homes and destroying their villages, and brutalises the daily lives of the people in the West Bank and Gaza, where it has been in military occupation since 1967.

India’s economic linkage with Israel channels our public money through military deals to Israeli arms companies that transform these funds in to lethal military technology applied in the oppression, colonisation and ethnic cleansing, of the Palestinian people.

India’s cultural and academic relations strengthen the promotion in India of the supposed ‘Brand Israel‘, including its war machine and its illegal actions, its horrific wars and its apartheid policies. It puts several Indian companies on the wrong side the growing global movement for the boycott, divestment and sanctions of companies and institutions that are justly believed to bear complicity in Israeli war crimes.

Israel claims to transfer its know-how to India. In truth, it is using our markets and tax money to finance its crimes and to promote world views built on walls, wars and exclusion. India fares better without this.

As citizens of conscience, we call on all Indians to demand that our government halt this next step in its relations with Israel, from military and security ties to business as usual.

Organisational endorsements:

India:

  1.     All India Peace and Solidarity Organization (AIPSO)
  2.     All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA)
  3.     All India Students Association (AISA)
  4.     All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)
  5.     Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
  6.     Badayl, Goa, India
  7.     CPI-M Liberation
  8.     Delhi Science Forum
  9.     Delhi Solidarity Group
  10.     Free Software Movement
  11.     Indian Cultural and Academic Boycott Campaign of Israel (InCACBI)
  12.     Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
  13.     IndoPal Foundation
  14.     Intercultural Resources, Delhi
  15.     Jana Natya Manch, Delhi
  16.     Janhastakshep
  17.     Jharkhand Mines Area Coordination
  18.     LeftWord Books, Delhi
  19.     National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
  20.     National Fishworkers Forum
  21.     New Socialist Initiative
  22.     New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)
  23.     Palestine Solidarity Committee
  24.     PEACE
  25.     Public Finance Public Accountability Collective (PFPAC)
  26.     Research Collective – PSA
  27.     Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA)
  28.     South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR)
  29.     Studio Safdar Trust, Delhi
  30.     Theera Desha Mahila Vedhi
  31.  

International:

  1.     BACBI (Belgian Academic and Cultural Boycot of Israel).
  2.     BDS Nederland
  3.     Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (Israeli citizens for BDS)
  4.     US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)
  5.     Women in Black The Netherlands

 

Individuals endorsements:

 

  1.     Aarushi Prakash, South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR)
  2.     Achin Vanaik, retired professor, University of Delhi
  3.     Amit Sengupta, Delhi Science Forum
  4.     Anil Chaudhary, PEACE, Delhi
  5.     Anuradha Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  6.     Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh
  7.     Ashok Chowdhary, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)
  8.     Avijit Wasi, political activist of All India union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)
  9.     Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  10.     Bindu N Doddahatti, social justice lawyer, Bangalore
  11.     Devjani Saini, South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR)
  12.     Dunu Roy
  13.     Gautam Navlakha, journalist
  14.     Githa Hariharan, writer
  15.     Hiren Gandhi, Ahmedabad
  16.     Ish Mishra, associate professor at Delhi University, Delhi
  17.     Javed Shaik
  18.     Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  19.     KalyaniMenon-Sen, Feminist Learning Partnerships
  20.     Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  21.     Kavita Krishnan, CPI-ML Liberation
  22.     Khaled Mouammar, Former President, Canadian Arab Federation
  23.     Komita Dhanda, theatreperson and academic
  24.     Kumar Sundaram, IndiaResists.com
  25.     M. Gauhar Iqbal, Palestine solidarity movement, Delhi
  26.     Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
  27.     Mahnoor Yar Khan, Drama therapist
  28.     Mani Shankar Aiyar, former MP and minister of Panchayat Raj
  29.     Mazin Khan, Pharos Media, Delhi
  30.     Meena Tiwari, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA)
  31.     Meera Sanghamitra, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
  32.     Mohd. Shahid Akhtar, journalist
  33.     Moloyashree Hashmi, theatreperson and educator
  34.     Nina Rao, retired professor Delhi University, guest faculty at SPA Delhi
  35.     Nishrin Hussain
  36.     Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  37.     Nivedita Menon, prof., Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
  38.     Prabhat Patnaik, prof. Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  39.     Prabir Purkayastha, Free Software Movement
  40.     Rahul Roy, Professor Indian Statistical Institute
  41.     Rajni Palriwala, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  42.     Ram Rahman, artist
  43.     Ranjan Solomon, Badayl, Goa
  44.     Rita Manchanda, South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR)
  45.     Saeed Mirza, artist
  46.     Saroop Dhruv, Ahmedabad
  47.     Shahnaz Rizvi
  48.     Subhash Gatade, New Socialist Initiative
  49.     Sudhanva Deshpande, theatreperson and publisher
  50.     Sudhir Vombatkere, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
  51.     Suhas Kolhekar, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
  52.     Sukumar Muralidharan, journalist
  53.     Sumit Sarkar, retired professor, Delhi University, Delhi
  54.     Sunaina Maira, associate prof. of Asian American Studies at the University of California
  55.     T. Jayaraman, prof., Tata Institute of Social Sciences
  56.     Tanika Sarkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  57.     Tanika Sarkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  58.     Tapan Bose, South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR)
  59.     Urvashi Sarkar, independent journalist, Delhi/Mumbai
  60.     Usama Zakir, M.A English, Jamia Millia Islamia
  61.     Vasundhara Jairath, New Socialist Initiative
  62.     Venkatesh Balakrishna
  63.     Vikas Bajpai, Dr., assistant professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  64.     Virendra Vidrohi, INSAF, New Delhi
  65.     Vivan Sundaram, artist
  66.     YC Subrahmanya, retired senior central government officer

International:

  1.     Herman De Ley, prof. Dr., Ghent University, Belgium
  2.     James Dickins, Prof. of Arabic, University of Leeds, UK
  3.     Jonathan Rosenhead, prof., London School of Economics, UK
  4.     Magid Shihade, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine