A group of parliamentarians met the Director-General of League of Parliamentarians for Palestine Mohammad Makram Balawi on Friday in an informal session. The Palestinian group complained about the Indian government’s “indifference” towards the Palestinian cause and Indian government’s “pro-Israel bias”.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Balawi said, that the two-state solution was long dead, because Israel had occupied a majority of the land in Palestine and 50% of the Palestinians live outside of the Palestine. “People talk about the two-state solution, but in practice it is long dead. There is no land left for the Palestinian state. Palestinians control only 6% of land in West Bank and a total of 1% of land of the historical Palestine,” he said.
Abdullah Biltaji, head of public relations of the organisation, was also present. The duo are on a personal trip to India.
The meeting organised by Janata Dal (United) national general secretary K.C. Tyagi was attended by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj K. Jha, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan and Congress MP Rajeev Shukla. Former parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar was also part of the discussion.
“The entire world is standing behind Ukraine but for over a century they have turned a blind eye to the events in Palestine. The international community failed us,” Mr. Balawi added.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Jha said that there has been a conscious effort to erase the memory of Palestine in India. “For us Indians, Palestine was never just a Muslim issue but unfortunately it is now reduced to that. Memory erasure plays in different directions, we will have correct this,” Mr. Jha said.
Mr. Tyagi said that the meeting was a precursor to the formation of a formal solidarity group. “They want the Indian government and parliamentarians to stand for their cause. Since the BJP government has come to power, the warmth between Indians and Palestinians has drastically reduced,” Mr. Tyagi said.
