In what could cause discord between the BJP-led NDA government and one of its key allies, a senior Janata Dal (United) functionary on Sunday joined leaders of Opposition parties Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in urging the Centre to stop the supply of arms and ammunition to Israel that invaded Gaza in the aftermath of the deadly attacks by Palestinian militant outfit Hamas last October. In a joint statement, these leaders, some parliamentarians among them, condemned the “ongoing Zionist aggression and the heinous genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel” and said India “cannot be complicit” in this. The statement came after a lunch meeting in New Delhi with the League of Parliamentarians for Al Quds’s secretary general Mohammed Makram Balawi. The meeting, where Balawi spoke in detail about Israel’s alleged violation of international law, was jointly organised by JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi and SP’s Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan. Apart from Tyagi and Khan, SP Lok Sabha MP Mohibullah Nadvi, former MP and Rashtrawadi Samaj Party’s ex-president Mohammed Adeeb, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, AAP MLA Pankaj Pushkar, Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal, and former Lok Sabha MP Kunwar Danish Ali of the Congress signed the statement. “We, the undersigned…unequivocally condemn the ongoing Zionist aggression and the heinous genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel. This brutal assault is not only an affront to humanity but also a gross violation of international law and the principles of justice and peace,” read the statement. Urging the Centre to cease the supply of arms and ammunition to Israel, the parties said, “As a nation that has always championed the cause of justice and human rights, India cannot be complicit in this genocide.” Invoking Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the signatories said India takes pride in having been the first non-Arab country to recognise Palestine in 1988 and has consistently supported the Palestinian people’s right to “self-determination, sovereignty, and liberation”. They added, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and call upon the Government of India and the international community to act swiftly to implement the UNSC resolutions and to end this aggression and ensure peace and justice for the victims of ongoing genocide in Palestine.” India has taken a balanced stance on the conflict since it began last October. While it has condemned Hamas, it has also urged Israel to respect international humanitarian law. Last October, India abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on the Israel-Hamas war. As the Opposition targeted the government, the BJP said India’s position on the Israel-Palestine issue was “steadfast and consistent” and argued that those who choose to “side with terror” should do so at their own peril. On the JD(U)’s position on the Israel-Palestine issue, Tyagi told The Indian Express, “Since the time of the Janata Party, we have been in support of Palestine. The Indian government, including that of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also has lent support to the Palestinian cause. We want the killing of elderly, women and children to stop in Gaza and also want UN resolutions regarding Israel and Palestine to be respected.” That two Congress leaders signed the statement comes in the backdrop of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s consistent attack on the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israel government despite the Congress’s historical “measured stance” on the issue. In July, Priyanka framed the conflict in terms of “barbarism vs civilisation”. “It is no longer enough to speak up for the civilians, mothers, fathers, doctors, nurses, aid workers, journalists, teachers, writers, poets, senior citizens and the thousands of innocent children who are being wiped out day after day by the horrific genocide taking place in Gaza,” she wrote on X. “It is the moral responsibility of every right thinking individual including all those Israeli citizens who do not believe in hatred and violence, and every government in the world to condemn the Israeli government’s genocidal actions and force them to stop. Their actions are unacceptable in a world that professes civility and morality. Instead we are subjected to the image of the Israeli Prime Minister being given a standing ovation in the US Congress,” she said. Last October too, Priyanka accused Israel of violating every international law. “There is no international law that has not been trampled upon. There is no such limit which has not been crossed. There is no such rule which has not been flouted…When will humanity wake up? After losing how many lives. After sacrificing how many children. Does the consciousness of being human remain? Did it ever exist? Even after the killing of 7,000 people in Gaza, the cycle of bloodshed and violence has not stopped. Out of these 7,000 people, 3,000 were innocent children,” she said at the time.
