#NotoNetanyahu No to complicity with Israel’s Apartheid

In the coming week, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will tour different cities of India along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit comes at the beginning of a year that sees Israel globally ever more isolated and ever more aggressively advancing its ethnic cleansing and annexation of Palestinian land. To invite the leader of Israel’s apartheid regime for a diplomatic visit is nothing short of an open endorsement of Israel's crimes and ominous for the Palestinian and the Indian people.

2018 marks 70 years since the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians to forcibly establish Israel. The process of making Palestinians refugees, destroying villages and towns, conquering lands that began then continues till today. Israel has established a regime of settler-colonialism, occupation and apartheid against Palestine which operates in utter violation of international law and human rights. Israel’s exceptionalism rests on the support it still receives from western imperialist powers and increasingly now from India.

After the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in violation of international law and Palestinian rights, the thuggishness of both Trump and Israel have been opposed by the entire world in the UN General Assembly resolution ES‑10/L.22 in which 128 countries voted against this decision. This was met with open threats by the US Ambassador to the UN. And now, Modi rolls out the red carpet for Israel, all out to build the alliance of Hindutva and Zionism and to strengthen a Trump-Israel-Modi axis of anti-democratic policies of exclusion, repression and supremacy.

This visit is being hailed as a milestone in Israel-India relations. What really have these relations done for India? India is the biggest importer of Israeli weapons, which go on to strengthen the capacities of repression of the Indian government against any form of dissent and undermine our democracy. Israel’s technology in agriculture is bringing forth unsustainable contract farming models. Despite having been shown to be disastrous in its impact, Israeli state and corporate investments in Indian agriculture are garnering favours by state governments. Israel is assisting the increase in surveillance technology, it is privatizing water resources, and yet it is being celebrated by pro-government agencies. These trade and military relations finance the repression of Palestinians and help Israel’s PR attempts to whitewash its crimes.

There is another connection between Modi and Netanyahu- their visceral fear of resistance. Palestinians have shown the path to the rest of world with their valiant and ongoing resistance in the face a brutal regime, sustained by imperialist powers. 12 years ago, Palestinians have called upon the world to join their resistance by building a movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This movement has grown across the world to become one of the biggest challenges to Israel’s apartheid in its efforts to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and isolating it till it respects Palestinian human rights.

Israel is currently engaged in an all-out "war on BDS" but it is compelled to acknowledge that all its money and military cannot stop people from acting in solidarity. The movement continues to grow. Similarly, in India, dissenting voices of Dalits, minorities, farmers, students, journalists, etc. are regularly threatened, attacked and even killed by henchmen of the ruling regime and delegitimized as ‘anti-national’. Four senior judges of the Supreme Court of India have recently expressed their grave concern at the state of democracy in India, showing just how each aspect of civil rights and freedoms in India is under threat.

Palestinians were inspired by the Indian experience of boycotts when they launched their call for BDS. Today, we have to remember the history of Indian solidarity with Palestine and inspire ourselves with the steadfastness and courage of the Palestinian resistance.

We, the undersigned, refuse to be a part of the growing complicity of India in Israel’s crimes. We are deeply aware of the political climate of India today and how, with this alliance of Hindutva and Zionism, we are endangering our future as a nation. It is more important than ever before for the progressive and liberal political forces and individuals to come together to extend steadfast solidarity to the Palestinian resistance. Standing for Palestine is to stand for justice, freedom, equality and secularism- in Palestine, in India and everywhere. Supporting the BDS movement is to stand up to corporate bulldozing everywhere. Standing for Palestine is standing on the right side of history. Therefore, we wish to state in absolutely clear terms- Netanyahu is not welcome here!

1. Geeta Kapur, Art Critic, Art Historian and Curator
2. Vivan Sundaram, Contemporary Artist
3. Anuradha Kapur, Theatre Director
4. Ram Rahman, Photographer
5. Pushpamala N, Artist
6. Shivasundar, Editor, Gauri Lankesh Patrike
7. Nivedita Menon, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
8. Madan Gopal Singh, Musician
9. Saba Dewan, Filmmaker
10. Sharmila Samant, Academic, Shiv Nadar University
11. Uma Chakravarti, Feminist Historian
12. Sadanand Menon, Academic, Art Curator and Photographer
13. Pramod Balakrishnan, Architect
14. Belinder Dhanoa, Writer and Artist
15. Prabhat Patnaik, Renowned Economist and Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University
16. Shaina Anand, Filmmaker
17. Archana Hande, Artist
18. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, Academic
19. Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher
20. K P Jayasankar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
21. Kalpana Sahni, Author
22. Shivaji K Panikkar, Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi
23. Shireen Jungalwala, Director, Chemould Prescott Road
24. Madhusree Dutta, Filmmaker
25. A. Mangai, Theatre Activist
26. Gita Jayaraj, Research Scholar
27. Nayantara Sehgal, Writer
28. Mary E John, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi
29. Imrana Qadeer, Retired Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
30. Vinod Bhardwaj, Writer 

31. Tishani Doshi, Poet and Dancer
32. Achin Vanaik, Retd. Professor of International Relations, University of Delhi
33. Pamela Philipose, Journalist
34. Jahangir Asgar Jani, Artist
35. Gauhar Raza, Poet and Artist
36. Anjali Monteiro, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
37. Rania MADI, Alternative Refugee Center, Geneva, Switzerland
38. Ranjan Solomon, Director, BADAYL- International
39. Periyasamy
40. Deepa Natarajan
41. Ramdas Rao, People’s Union for Civil Liberties
42. Subba Ghosh, Artist
43. Vijay Prashad, Chief Editor, LeftWord Books
44. Uma V Chandru, Bangalore
45. Banojyotsna, United Against Hate
46. Marcy Newman, Author: The Politics of Teaching Palestine to Americans
47. Subhash Gatade, Writer and Activist
48. S.Kannaiyan, South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM)
49. Kavita Krishnan, All India Progressive Women’s Association, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
50. Prabir Purkayastha, Founding Editor, Newsclick.in
51. Arundhati Ghosh, India Foundation for the Arts
52. Rahul Roy, Filmmaker
53. Harsh Mander, Social Worker and Writer
54. Gautam Navlakha, Human Rights Activist
55. Ilina Acharya, Student, Ambedkar University Delhi
56. Orijit Sen, Artist
57. Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
58. Chaman Lal, Novelist and Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
59. Roselle Solomon, Child Psychologist
60. K Satchidanandan, Poet and co-editor, Guftugu
61. Githa Hariharan, Writer and Founder Editor, Indian Writers Forum
62. Sudhanva Deshpande, LeftWord Books

63. Moloyashree Hashmi, Jana Natya Manch
64. Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Filmmaker
65. K. V. Subrahmanyam, Academician
66. Ram Puniyani, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism
67. Sanam Roohi, Assistant Professor, St. Joseph's College, Bangalore
68. Anand Chakravarti, Retd Professor of Sociology, Delhi University
69. Vijoo Krishnan, All India Kisan Sabha
70. Bindu N. Doddahatti, Alternative Law Forum
71. Vikramaditya Sahai, Consultant, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
72. Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
73. Rajni Palriwala, Professor, Delhi University
74. Meenu Pandey, Delhi
75. Tapan Kumar Bose, Human Rights Activist and Filmmaker
76. G. Arunima, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
77. Sukumar Muralidharan, Journalist
78. Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre
79. Nandini Sundar, Professor, Delhi University
80. Kasturi Sen, Social Scientist
81. Pushpendra, Patna
82. Zoya Hasan, Retd. Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
83. Xavier Dias, Editor, Mines, Minerals and Rights
84. Sohail Hashmi, Writer and Filmmaker
85. Urvashi Sarkar, Independent Journalist
86. Usman Javed, Centre for Equity Studies
87. Burhan Qureshi, Research Scholar, Delhi University
88. Suvrat Raju, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bangalore
89. Subasri Krishnan, Independent Filmmaker
90. Sukruta Alluri, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata
91. Soibam Haripriya, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati
92. Subhadeepta Ray, Assistant Professor, Tezpur University
93. Apoorva Gautam, Palestine Solidarity Committee
94. Amrapali Basumatary, Assistant Professor, Kirorimal College, Delhi University
95. Bonojit Hussain, Independent Researcher and Activist