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The conflict between Israel and Palestine is rooted in political, cultural, religious and territorial factors. The complex issue is based on one desire from both sides, to acquiring land. And, it is not only about land, it is also about the right to self-determination. Regardless of the historical claims on the contested land by both sides, this is a modern conflict.
From 1516 to 1917, the land known as Palestine was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The inhabitants included Christians, Muslims and Jews; sharing the same land for hundreds of years under the Ottoman Empire, without any conflict. The dynamics of the region changed due to two factors; British colonialism and the formation of a Jewish nation.
The Ottoman Empire
crumbled when the Allied powers (Great Britain, France, Russia,
Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States) defeated
the then Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman
Empire) during the Great War (aka World War I) that was fought from
July 1914 to November 1918.
In 1920, the ‘League of Nations’; headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland was formed by USA, Britain and France to provide an international forum for resolving international disputes without conflict and to ensure equitable peace in Europe. In 1922, the League formally approved the appointment of Britain to act as Palestine’s administrator. This appointment was meant to be temporary, lasting only until the League recognized Palestine as an independent nation. This goal was never achieved since the British were parallelly giving assurances to Zionist organizations about creating a Jewish state in Palestine. Zionism was an ideology specifically aimed towards this purpose, since according to the Zionists in Europe at that time, Jews constituted a nation since they did not consider themselves just a religious group but also an ethnic one that deserved their own state.
The rise of anti-Semitism (i.e.: hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people) in the late 19th century in Russia and Eastern European countries encouraged Jewish migration to Palestine from Europe. At the same time, Jews from Yemen, Morocco, Iraq and Turkey also started to migrate to Palestine. Interestingly, while Zionism originated in Europe, its roots are in the belief of a historical attachment between Judaism and the lands of Palestine. The problem was that the lands where the Jews wanted to create their new state was inhabited by an Arab majority who had lived there for over a thousand years. These locals were against the Zionist goal of forming a Jewish state and instead were seeking the opportunity to create their own state or be part of a larger Arab entity. The divide between these opposing ambitions was the ‘Balfour Declaration’ of 1917 made by Britain (right in the middle of WW1); that provided for the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. This declaration did not provide Palestinian Arabs with national or political rights, prompting their disapproval of the declaration, and eventual rebellion.
Britain was playing a double game. On one hand, it supported the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine, while at the same time, assuring the Palestinian Arabs of an independent Arab state, to be established when WW1 was over. Interestingly, Britain was planning the partition of Palestine even before it had defeated the Ottoman Empire which in 1917 still ruled this territory. Under British rule, there was unrestricted Jewish migration to Palestine allowing them to purchase land and settle there, leading to increasing hostilities between the migrant Jews and the local Arabs. Britain’s feeble efforts towards reconciliation between these two adversaries was impossible because these two communities had different ideas and visions for this contested territory.
Despite various efforts by Britain from 1920s to 1948 to bring peace and reconciliation in the region, the British departed from Palestine in 1948, leaving the Jews and the Arabs to fight it out for territory. On 14 May 1948, Israel was officially declared an independent state. Four wars were fought between these adversaries, the 1967 being important since Israel occupied most of the Palestinian territory. The West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip which remained in Palestinian hands became occupied territory since it came under Israeli rule-of-law, and even today is considered as Israeli occupation.
India was one of the early supporters for formation of the Palestine State. This support was an integral part of our nation’s foreign policy in the early years of independence from British rule. India was the only major non-Arab, non-Muslim country to support the Palestinian demand for an independent state. In 1974, India recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and the initial PLO office set-up in Delhi in 1975, which became a full-fledged embassy in 1980. In 1988, India recognized the state of Palestine. At the United Nations in 2003, India voted against the construction of the separation wall by Israel. On 21 December 2017, India voted in favor of the UNGA [United Nations General assembly] to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
India has also built a strong relationship with Israel following the establishment of India–Israel diplomatic relationship in 1992. Today, Israel is a crucial defense technology and agricultural production technology supplier to India. People-to-people contacts are growing, and India-Israel bilateral merchandise trade grew from US$200 million in 1992 to US$7.86 billion during the financial year (FY) 2021-2022, with the balance of trade being in India’s favor.
This has changed India’s stance from being pro-Palestine to a careful
balancing act, whereby there is a tilt towards an independent Indian foreign
policy wherein the bi-lateral relationship with Israel is based solely on its
own merits and separate from India’s relationship with Palestine. India does emphasize that there is no alternative
to the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, and said the peace
process can’t be put on hold amid concerns about rising tensions between the
two adversaries.
India shares its land borders with the Islamic countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh and an ever-hostile China; while being dependent on the Islamic Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar for energy supplies. Since 2014, India and its charismatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi have improved and strengthened relationships with Arab countries while ensuing a nuanced effort to maintaining its positive relationship with Israel. The message from India to the world has been clear; that India supports an end to every global conflict and endorses peaceful dialogue and discussions for conflict resolution.
