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Home > Islamic Monitor > Islamic Monitor 2 >India and Israel

An Outlook On India-Israel Relations        The recent visit to India of Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres, signifies a new chapter in the politics of Asia. One wonders why the governments of India and Israel have waited until now to open full diplomatic relations. The answer is twofold and related to the vacuum created by the collapse of the Soviet Union. First, India seeks to implement its military and economic imperatives by tilting towards the West, in which case the U.S. and Israel are the best candidates. Second, with the absence of the bipolar system, Israel has been overtly soliciting countries in Asia as a market for its arms and agricultural technology, as well as a means of gaining diplomatic recognition. Such countries include the new republics in Central Asia and India. While the timing is to Israel's advantage, the benefits of Asian Israeli relations are mutual. The next question is why India is leaning towards the U.S. and Israel for military, economic, and technological assistance and at what cost? First, India needs to maintain its military strength as a regional power against Pakistan and China, two ancient enemies. During the Cold War, India’s major partner and the main supplier of arms and economic assistance was the former Soviet Union, while Pakistan received arms from both China and the U.S. Now, with the end of the Cold War and with the advent of new regional developments worldwide, India is struggling to maintain the balance of power against its neighbors in South Asia. Western countries, particularly the US have also become very sensitive to the balance of power in the region. The emergence of China as a new Asian military and economic power could easily threaten the interests of India and disturb the balance of power in the region, a situation always of concern to the U.S. Second, India wants to strengthen its central government for domestic security such as clashes between Hindus and Muslims or the ethnic uprising in Kashmir, the issue of Kashmir is one of India’s major domestic and regional problems. The people of Kashmir Province, who are mostly Muslim, have been vying for independence for quite sometime, ago l that the Indian government vehemently opposes. As a result India has a large military presence in Kashmir to suppress the insurgents. The Indian government asserts that Pakistan is committing as act of “terrorism” by supporting the dissidents, an allegation denied by Pakistan. The Times of India reports that during his visit to India, Shimon Peres deplored the threat of terrorism and extremism face by India and said his government will support any U.S. decision to declare Pakistan a terrorist state because of its support to subversive elements... Well versed in the teleology and techniques of suppressing, Israel has begun marketing its skills abroad: with India as a major client. The New York Times reports, “Israel has offered India a range of high technology weapons, including electronic warfare equipments.” Assuming the allegation of Pakistani assistance to the Kashmiris is correct, the level of terrorism pales in comparison to what Israel has inflicted on the Palestinians. Similarities abound between the two governments’ tactics toward ethnic and   religious conflict: when Hindus destroyed a 16th century mosque, the government of India responded with nothing more than lip service. Another is their contradictory position regarding nuclear weapons. While both have highly sophisticated nuclear facilities, Israel refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, denying that it has nuclear weapons. Similarly, India claims to promote a nuclear free zone in South Asia. Third, India has pursued cynical foreign policy modifying its position on certain issues to achieve its goals. For example, during the Persian Gulf War, India allowed U.S. fighter jets access to its bases enroute to Iraq knowing that U.S. policy was to remain in the Persian Gulf area to secure the flow of oil, a product that India is heavily dependent on. In the Cold War era India would have never made such a compromise. However, it was considered a favor by the U.S. in exchange for U.S. support of loans India requested from the World Bank. In addition to allowing the U.S. access to its bases, India fulfilled its part of the bargain by backing the United Nations resolution calling for the nullification of the phrase “Zionism is racism again, an act that India would have never succumbed to before. Furthermore, the modification of Jndia’s Asian policy may even cause the Indian government to compromise more. For years India has supported the demilitarization policy for the Indian Ocean and a nuclear free zone in South Asia, a policy that respected by many nations including Non-Aligned countries. With the current presence of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf area and the Indian Ocean, India's Asian policy is obviously compromised. Thus India has no choice but to acquiesce to the U.S. policy and accept Israel's alliance to maintain its military strength in South Asia. With the current threat posed by Pakistan’ salleged support of terrorism in the region and development of nuclear weapons, India seems bound to further compromise its foreign policy through acceptance of the Israeli alliance. U.S. relations with Pakistan and other issues in the Persian Gulf area, diminish U.S. support of India allowing Israel to gain a foothold in the region, an opening eagerly awaited by the Israeli government. As reported in the New York Times Shimon Peres, summed up his trip to India “we have been waiting for this moment for 40 years.” The new alliance between India and Israel which covers culture, tourism, economics, defense, science, and technology gives a new perspective to Asian politics. While Israel gains international recognition beyond the Arab-Israeli issue in the Middle East expands its market for arms and technology, India maintains its power in Asia and secures its economic interests. While one depends on Muslim land to implement its expansionist policy, the other relies on Muslim oil to pursue its economic programs. At the same time both share an oppressive and unjust policy toward the Muslim population. The alliance between India and Israel is a cynical one based on mutual economic gain with ominous implications for India’ Muslim population.   Human Rights Monitor IRAQ: Even Iraqi Children’s Human Rights are being Violated Everyday Iraqi children, whose parents have been arrested, are exposed to persecution by Iraqi officials in order to force the children to provide information. The following excerpts, from a list of human rights violations affecting Iraqi children, appeared in the June 2 issue of Sawtal-Iraq, a leading Arabic-written Iraqi opposition newspaper published in London:  1) Elementary school children in Iraq are coerced into joining the paramilitary Talaai’ forces loyal to Saddam Hussein’s government;  2) They are forced to do odd jobs rather than go to school, due to the country’s poor economy or their father’s inability to work due to his position against the regime.  3) They are forced to witness public executions. 4) They are forced to demonstrate in support of the ruling regime. 8)Fugitive dissidents, children or siblings are taken hostage and detained (sometimes for years) pending the return of their parent or older brother.  9) Death of children at detention camps is widespread. Often, poisonous food or water is given to them. 5) Children who distribute or write anti-government flyers or graffiti are hanged.  6) In northern Kurdish-dominated areas, and in southern Iraq, children are deprived of their right to go to school.  7) Children and/or their parents are tor­tured (e.g., burnt by cigarette butts), or forced to witness their family being tor­tured, in order to extract confessions. 10) Due to rape by Iraq’ s security agents, there are many illegitimate children. These children are detained, with their mothers, in sub-human conditions causing psychological diseases.  11) Children are used as human shields during the regime’ s confrontations with armed opposition' groups. They are tied to tanks entering rebel cities or towns.  12) Children are often expelled to the Iraq-Iran border, accused of being Iranian.  13)   The shelling of cities and villages by long-range artillery batteries killed thousands of children, during April 1991 (in the aftermath of Iraq’ s Western ­aborted In t ifada) , particularly in northern Iraq.. 14) Children are encouraged by the regime to disobey their parents and offer their total allegiance to the ruling Party. 15) Many children died as a result of exposure to chemical welfare, while others suffered burns and mutilation from Napalm or cluster bombs. Allied forces used such bombs during their attack on Iraq in January 1991. Hence, Iraqi children are victims of both Saddam Hussein’ s atrocities and the military and political involvement of the West particularly the U.S., in Middle East politics. 17) Children are suffering more than anyone else strangling economic sanctions. They cannot get the medical treatment they need because Iraq does not have the funds to buy food and medicine. Its assets were frozen by the U.S. and U.K., under pressure from the United Nations who humiliated the people, of Iraq by demanding the payment of a portion of Iraq’ s oil sales to the same countries that entreated Western forces to reduce Iraq to rubble, namely Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  Why are human rights organizations ignoring the plight of Iraqi children? OCCUPIED PALESTINE: Handicapped Clerics Portrayed as a Threat to Zionists   Shaikh AhmedYasin suffers from paralysis (he can only move head, with extreme difficulty), yet the Israelis call him a terrorist. On May 18, 1989, the shaikh was arrested and charged as a leader of Hamas, along with his son to extract a confession to the accused crimes. The cleric has been exposed to numerous torture methods of beatings, sleep deprivation, etc. So far, he has spent four years inside Israel's’ jails... 16) Due to starvation and disease, during the so-called Gulf War, gangs kidnapped children and sold them to Europeans.  KASHMIR:    Forty-Two Years Under India’s Occupation   Many years have passed since Jammu and Kashmir were occupied by India on October 26, 1947, in violation of U.N. resolutions granting Pakistan full independence from India. Kashmiris, mostly Muslims, did not agree to Indian control, and the U.N. issued a resolution on January 5,1949, calling for a poll to determine Kashmir’s future. So far, India has adamantly refused to implement that resolution. Violations of human rights in Kashmir have not received any adequate media coverage. For example, on January 9, 1983, Southern Asia Human Rights’ Defence Commission (SAHRDC) reported a Subur massacre in which at least two hundred homes were burnt by Indian police. Another report, submitted by Patricia Josephine of Asia Watch, asserted that violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir reached a new height when international human rights officials were prohibited by the Indian government from visiting the area. Torture, random killing, kidnapping, rape, and police raids are common practice in Jammu and Kashmir, forcing their residents to resort to armed resistance. If for no other reason, human rights violations in this part of the world deserve the attention of the world community since such a regional conflict always contributes to the tension between the governments of India and Pakistan, a tension that almost led to a nuclear war last year Strengthening brotherhood and unity amongst Muslims. Establishing an academic relationship with educational and research institutes to provide required data on the teachings of the Holy Prophet and AhlulBayt (a.s.). Linking researchers to the authentic sources of information about Islam and Muslim communi­ties. Lobbying for Muslims’ religious, social and political rights. Coordination with the media for projection of the true image of Islam and to get proper and correct coverage of Muslims’ affairs. Forming a network to protest propaganda against Islam. Driving against discrimination of color, caste and creed. Publishing a periodical bulletin to communicate problems faced by community organizations arid share action plans to seek remedies. Coordination of religious, social, educational and cultural activities of Moameneen communi­ties. Counseling service in matters of Islamic jurisprudence in daily and family life. Establishing a specialized library for Islamic research to provide the original sources for scholars.    By Akbar Showkatian