Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor on Thursday attended a pro-Palestine rally in Kerala\’s Kozhikode, where he said that Israel\’s response to the attack carried out by Hamas was “disproportionate”. He urged Israel to end the airstrikes on Gaza that began soon after Hamas conducted the biggest-ever infiltration in history and killed 1,400-plus people including soldiers, women, and children.
Israel has vowed to finish Hamas, which controls Gaza – home to two million Palestinians. Israel has been carrying out targeted airstrikes to destroy Hamas infrastructures.
Also Read: Hamas says 50 hostages killed due to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
Addressing the rally which was organised by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Tharoor said that the ongoing bombardment of Gaza was no longer proportionate. He said over 6,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli airstrikes while the Hamas attacks claimed over 1,400 lives, according to Kerala\’s Manorama News.
“Israel calls their operation, ‘Swords of Iron’, but now those swords are dipped in the blood of children,” Tharoor was quoted as saying. He also said that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East was “not a Muslim issue, but a human rights issue.”
The Congress leader, who served in the United Nations before entering politics, said the people of Kerala, a land of acceptance and co-existence for centuries, have welcomed the Jews fleeing persecution since the time of the Babylonian and Roman attacks on their temples. “Kerala is proud of being the only place in the world where the Jews never knew any anti-semitic discrimination,” he said.
The Congress leader appealed to the world to unite to end what he called the human rights violence inflicted on the Palestinian people. He urged Israel to put an end to the campaign of bombing. “Now, it is more than time to announce a ceasefire,” he said.
India has condemned Hamas’ attack on Israel but reiterated its position on the two-state solution. However, Congress has not yet condemned the attack on the Jewish nation. The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, in a statement earlier this month expressed its “dismay and anguish on the war” between Hamas and Israel.
“The CWC reiterates its long-standing support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government, and to live with dignity and respect,” it said. “The CWC calls for an immediate cease-fire and for negotiations to begin on all outstanding issues including the imperative issues that have given rise to the present conflict.”
