Sharon's Visit to India

The Vajpayee government has pushed a grossly partisan agenda by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit India. The significance of Mr. Sharon's presence in India on September 11 is obvious, "in-your-face": the pro-Hindutva government wants to underscore its solidarity with his "fight against terrorism".

This is morally and politically appalling. As we see below, Mr. Sharon is himself guilty of terrorism - against the Palestinian people. All sensible citizens must insist that the Sharon visit is cancelled.

To demand this is not to support anti-Semitism or to condone Hamas-style indiscriminate violence against Israeli citizens. Rather, it is to apply a consistent standard in dealing with the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Such a standard isn't visible in the Vajpayee government's awkward attempt to "balance" its tilt towards Israel by inviting Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Sha'ath. This looks like terribly clumsy afterthought.

India's invitation to Mr. Sharon is exceptional, even abnormal. Amidst Israel's war on the occupied territories, most nations wouldn't dignify Mr. Sharon. He certainly won't be welcome in continental Europe. 

There are three reasons for this. First, his Right-wing Likud party always takes an extremist stand against Palestinian nationhood. Second, he deserves to be tried as a war criminal for the Sabra and Chatilla massacres of 1982. And third, he represents the biggest obstacle even in the Washington-brokered Israel-friendly Road Map to peace.

Israel was created in 1948 to right a historic wrong - the expulsion and persecution of the Jews. But this wrongfully deprived the Palestinians of 78 percent of the land under the earlier British Mandate.

In the 1967 War, Israel took over even the rest: the West Bank along the Jordan River, Gaza along the Mediterranean, and East Jerusalem. They have since been under military occupation. Likud justifies the occupation in the name of Biblical-era "Greater Israel". 

Over 400,000 Israelis have illegally settled in the occupied territories. This settlement violates international law. Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring any part of its civilian population into the occupied territory. 

The occupation has been declared illegal by numerous Security Council resolutions. Israel has done nothing to vacate it thanks to the protection it receives from the US. 

The Palestinians have fought determinedly against the occupation. For years, they refused to recognize Israel as a moral-legal entity. But in 1988, in a huge compromise, the Palestinian National Council voted for a two-state solution, with Palestine having only the 22 percent land. The Palestinians want peace, dignity and the right for refugees to return.

Likud strongly opposes a two-state solution, although a majority of Israelis don't want to hold on to the occupied territories. The first uprising or intifadah (1988-93) led to the Oslo "peace" process. But the PLO came to the table in a weak position. The Oslo process was an unmitigated disaster. Israel cheated even on its far-from-heavy commitments. 

Mr. Sharon has blood on his hands. As defense minister in 1982, he launched an unprovoked war on Lebanon (where the PLO had taken refuge), killing 17,000 civilians. In September 1982, he arranged for the Phalangist Christian militia to enter the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps near Beirut, and butcher 2,000-3,000 people. 

The area was then fully under Israeli control. Israel ignored even the US ambassador's pleas: "You must stop the massacres. They are obscene ...They are killing children. You are in absolute control of the area and therefore responsible ..."

A high-level inquiry held that Mr. Sharon failed to take basic precautions to protect innocent civilians; "these blunders constitute the non-fulfillment of a duty." A 2001 BBC documentary "The Accused" contains details of Mr. Sharon's disgraceful role. He must be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

Third, Mr. Sharon's recent role has been extremely negative. He provoked the second intifadah through his walk in September 2000 on a holy site in East Jerusalem. 

Following this, Israel ruthlessly escalated its repression and pursued targeted assassinations, by relying on tanks, helicopter gunships, laser-guided weapons, and F-16s.

Mr. Sharon's hardline policy led to the ceasefire's collapse on August 21.

As for the Road Map, Mr. Sharon did his best to delay its publication, and has since tried to sabotage it by raising 14 objections. The Map is tilted in Israel's favor. But Mr. Sharon is loath to grant statehood to Palestine by 2005 as the Map demands. 

Israel routinely commits massive human rights violations. Its Shin Bet agency has admitted to detaining Palestinian prisoners for weeks at a secret center in violation of international law. The blindfolded prisoners are kept in black, windowless cells. Of their whereabouts, they are told: "on the moon." 

Mr. Sharon's most despicable recent move is to build a high wall between Israel and the West Bank. The 8-metre-high "Apartheid" or "Berlin" Wall will be 650 km-long, compared to the 3.6-metre-high, 155 km-long original. 

Israel is moving towards semi-apartheid. Its parliament has passed a law that would force Palestinians marrying Israelis to live separate lives or leave Israel. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who marry Israeli Arabs will be barred from obtaining Israeli residence permits. 

This cruelly mocks at "pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity"- virtues which India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra sees as common between the US, India and Israel! Mr. Mishra advocates their joint axis to combat terrorism. 

This dangerous proposal is inspired by the Sangh Parivar's demonized perception of Islam. The Parivar admires Israel's militarized society and anti-Arab policies in which it sees a reflection of its anti-Muslim prejudice.

The Vajpayee government is bringing ignominy upon itself by honoring Mr. Sharon. It is reneging on India's long-standing commitment to decolonization, Palestinian nationhood, and peace in West Asia-North Africa. 

Such betrayal of India's own agenda certainly won't go down well with the public. The public must speak up.

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.

Source: www.thedailystar.net