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Shashi Tharoor says PM Modi's Israel statement incomplete, explains why
Hamas carried out the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, resulting in over 2,000 casualties on both sides.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, while speaking on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, said he understands Prime Minister Narendra Modi's solidarity to the Jewish country but termed his statement as ‘incomplete’.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said, “While we understood the Prime Minister standing up for Israel showing solidarity at this time of great grief and this horror that has been visited upon them. At the same time, we felt that his statement was incomplete. Because I felt that, we needed to remember that there's a larger issue at stake here and a reason behind all of this, which is that there is a dehumanising occupation continuing in many places.”
Tharoor added, “The people of Gaza have been imprisoned in the strip for a long time. The people of West Bank have a wall which is interfereing with their normal freedom of movement and conditions of life.”
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On Saturday, Hamas carried out the biggest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, using boats, motorgliders and trucks to hit the country. As Hamas militants went on killing civillians and taking Israeli soldiers hostage, Israeli Defense Forces launched a counter attack on the Gaza Strip, which hosts 2.2 million Palstinians.
Tharoor said that the entire situation was provoked by the surprise attack by Hamas during a national holiday in Israel.
Condemning the violence, the Congress MP added, “It was done in the cruelest possible way. It was a terror operation. They killed innocent civilians, children, elderly people, and youth attending a music festival. It really was impossible to accept any justification for what Hamas did. I certainly join in the condemnation of the terrorist act.”
The Israeli rescue service Zaka said its paramedics removed about 260 bodies from an all-night nature music festival near the Gaza Strip attended by thousands that came under attack by Palestine-based Hamas militants on Saturday.
Recalling the incidents endured by Palestinians, Tharoor also said that it has been a difficult situation for the people of Palestine since settlement buildings and the construction of new houses for Jewish settlers in several occupied territories has continued “unabated” for the many years.
Tharoor also spoke about the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), saying that they “gave up the way of gun and choose the way of peace and dialogue, and the world was heading towards a two-state solution. That has essentially been completely stagnant”.
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“For the last two and a half decades there has been no progress on that and Israel has had, under Prime Minister Netanyahu, a very tough government,” Tharoor said providing a context of the current situation.
Tharoor said that his views stem from what Congress party's and India's views have traditionally been.
“We want both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and dignity behind secure borders and conditions where neither has to fear for their lives at any time. Today, Israelis are fearing for their lives and Palestinians are fearing for their lives. The death toll on both sides is mounting every day. And that in my mind is not something that India welcomes in any shape or form. We want to see this matter halt and peace be restored.”
Tharoor on CEC resolution on Israel-Palestine crisis
Congress Working Committee on Monday passed a resolution supporting the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity. The resolution also called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations.
The resolution said, “CWC expresses its dismay and anguish on the war that has broken out in the Middle East where over a thousand people have been killed in the last two days. The CWC reiterates its long-standing support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity and respect. The CWC calls for an immediate cease-fire and for negotiations to begin on all outstanding issues including the imperative issues that have given rise to the present conflict.”
Tharoor said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was making it a political point. “It is an evolving picture, and our, reactions will also evolve. There's already a much more detailed statement by itself. This CWC meeting was focused principally on domestic issues and focused overwhelmingly on the question of a socio-economic and caste census. And that issue dominated everything. If you'll remember, Rahul Gandhi's press conference after the CWC. He only mentioned that. He didn't even mention this issue. It somehow came to the resolution in a very brief form. It is by no means a sort of comprehensive view of the issue.”
