Skip to main content

'A most unlikely Gandhi fan': Ex-Hamas chief who addressed online meeting in Kerala

By Sandeep Pandey* 
There was much hullabaloo about former Hamas chief Khaled Meshal addressing an online meeting in Kerala during the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine provoked by a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023. Hamas is described as a terrorist organization by Israel as well as United States even though it came to power in Gaza through elections. US-Israel refuse to have any dealing with it, instead preferring the relatively moderate Fatah which rules West Bank under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. 
US, particularly, must be asked what did it consider Taliban? Why did it engage in dialogue with it in Qatar and why did it hand over Afghanistan on a platter to them without even an election there, going against its stated objective of establishing democracy wherever it invades?
In 2010-11, I was part of a group of about 60-70 people of different nationalities which had travelled to Gaza via a road route facilitated among others by National Trade Union Initiative. Before reaching Gaza we met Khaled Meshal in Damascus, which used to be his home then. Seeing that there were a few Indians among the group he praised Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru had visited the Palestinians in refugee camp after the 1948 Nakba. 
When one amongst us asked how could Gandhi be his ideal as Hamas was considered to be a terrorist organization by Israel and US, his reply was that whenever a weak is confronted with a powerful then it is Gandhi who inspires the weak to flight for their rights. 
He said Hamas’ capacity to take on the military might of Israel was insignificant, yet Hamas continues to fight because, if, Hamas were to not even retaliate to the extent it does then Gaza will be run over by Israel. In the present war that danger is imminent. 
First Israelis warned Palestinians to vacate North Gaza and when people moved to South it is asking them to vacate South too. Where are the Palestinians supposed to go with Egypt not very welcoming of the Palestinians, given that Palestinians who fled in 1948 still continue to languish with their families in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon based refugee camps?
Mahatma Gandhi, committed to non-violence in principle, has said that if the choice is between cowardice and violence then it may be better to choose violence. If a person is pushed to the corner she has only two choices – either to surrender or resist. Gandhi was against meek submission. 
If we consider the history of Palestine-Israel conflict since 1917, when first declaration for Israel was first made, Israel has forcibly changed the demography as well as geography of the area as the world stood silent witness to it, including during the present crisis, and brought the overwhelming majority of Arabs to a minority in their own land and restricted them to merely 22% of what was originally Palestine, which is more like an open jail with restrictions on movement in and out, rather than an independent country as envisaged by the United Nations resolution of 1947.
Hamas has clarified that it is not against the Jews but it is against the Zionist project of occupying Palestine. Hamas believes that Israel has misled Palestine Liberation Organisation and all the negotiations brokered by US and other Western powers came to a naught, hence Israel will have to be forced to negotiate peace with Palestine which can happen only if it is perceived as strong. 
This is their rationale for using violence which may not seem justified to some but there can be no doubt that the violence used by Israel against Palestinians is disproportionately large, like in the present war.
Khaled Meshal once faced a lethal attack on his life. Israeli secret agency Mossad’s agents sprayed poison into his ears in Aamman which caused headache and vomiting and he was admitted to a hospital. 
It was only after the Jordanian King Hussein threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with public trial of two Israeli agents by military court and termination of diplomatic relations with Israel that US President Bill Clinton intervened and Israel had to provide antidote to Jordanian doctors which saved the life of Khaled Meshal. 
Mahatma Gandhi, committed to non-violence, said, if choice is between cowardice and violence, it may be better to choose violence
This demonstrates the importance of the man. It was under his leadership that Hamas won the election to Palestine Legislative Council in 2006, but got to rule only over Gaza.
It is unlikely that US and Israeli attempt to discredit Hamas or forcefully dislodging it from power will meet with any success given the popular support enjoyed by it among the Palestinians. The Palestinians are a self-respecting non-compromising people who have amply demonstrated grit and determination in their struggle against autocratic and marauding Israel all along. 
The spirit of resistance is visible as graffiti on the Gaza walls. Palestinians have tremendous resilience and patience. As soon as a building is destroyed they start rebuilding it. To an outsider they want to give an impression that life goes on normal there. 
But the present war has been devastating. Over 4,000 children alone have been killed by Israel in brazen attacks including on hospitals. Israel can get away with it because of unflinching shameless support of US and other western powers. Compare the crimes of apartheid government in South Africa and the world response to it. Had it been any other country sanactions and boycott would have been in place against Israel by now.
The world leaders instead of condoing Israeli war crimes must force it to come to the talking table. A sovereign Palestine state needs to come into existence recognized by the UN and other world powers should ensure that Israel and Palestine live peacefully. 
PLO in the past and Hamas at present is agreeable to the 1967 boundaries but that will require Israel to withdraw its settlements. Question is whether Israel will withdraw or continue to blame the ‘terrorist’ Hamas as an excuse for not arriving at a permanent solution. 
If Hamas can be blamed for having a vision of Palestine from river to the sea, Israel too can be accused of having a similar design. Peaceful co-existence is the only solution. The sooner it dawns upon Israel and US, fewer more lives will be lost.
---
*Magsaysay award winning social activist, academic; General Secretary of Socialist Party (India)

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram*   When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.
Post a Comment
»

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.
59 comments
»

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".
51 comments
»

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández  The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.
Post a Comment
»

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

​ By Ram Puniyani  ​The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue. 
Post a Comment
»

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos  The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...
1 comment
»

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar*  Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement. 
Post a Comment
»

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey*  ​In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.
Post a Comment
»

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan*  “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.
Post a Comment
»