Just International

International Day to Combat Islamophobia

By Ranjan Solomon

Yesterday was the International Day to Combat Islamaphobia.

Muslims have been subjected to violence for decades and recent political events around the world have heightened the trend. The phenomenon has grown by huge quantum in recent decades. Hence, the day must be commemorated with a profound desire to alter patterns of exclusion and oppression Muslims are subject to, especially when they are in a minority.

India with its large number of Muslims, and an antagonistic and fast-emerging Hindutva right wing mass base, ranks as one of the world’s largest Muslim baiters. Of 14% of India’s populace, Muslims are the largest religious minority, with around 200 million individuals. Anti-Muslim hate speech rose by 62% in the second half of 2023, averaging almost one incident per day, according to Washington-based research.

Contemporary Hindu nationalism cultivates exclusion, with surveys showing that 64% of Hindus believe being Hindu is crucial for Indian identity. Ninety percent of religion-based hate crimes between 2009 and 2019 occurred after the BJP party took power in 2014, with hate speech increasing nearly 500% from 2014 to 2018.BJP-led states witness 80% of hate speech gatherings targeting Muslims, with communal violence claiming over 10,000 lives since 1950.Cow protection mobs, predominantly in BJP-governed states, caused at least 44 deaths and 280 injuries between 2015 and 2018.

Among the largest incidents in post-partition India include the large-scale killing of Muslims following the Operation Polo in Hyderabad, 1969 Gujarat riots, 1984 Bhiwandi riot, 1985 Gujarat riots, 1989 Bhagalpur violence, Bombay riots, Nellie in 1983 and Gujarat riot in 2002 and 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. Since there have been innumerable small-scale acts of violence spread in various parts of the country as in Sanvordem-Curchorem, Goa where Hindu mobs attacked Hindus over an illegal mosque. That mosque was awaiting approval by relevant authorities for endless years.

Recent violence, like the 2023 Nuh clashes, led to 7 deaths and over 70 injuries, highlighting ongoing tensions.This took place when on 31 July 2023; communal violence erupted in the Nuh district of Haryana between Muslims and Hindus during an annual Brajmandal Yatra pilgrimage. Seventy-nine percent of Indian Muslims fear furthr violence and government persecution, hindering their economic and social participation.India’s situation stands out globally due to its significant Muslim population and the severity of violence, prompting attention from organizations like the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Colonialism and Communalism proved to be a deadly cocktail in fomenting communal hatred.
British colonial rule exploited and exacerbated existing communal tensions, creating a divisive legacy that continues to impact Indian society today. The British employed a “divide and rule” policy, fostering communal divisions to maintain control and undermine Indian unity. They introduced communal representation in legislative councils, reinforcing separate identities and interests. The British census and classification systems categorized Indians into rigid communal categories, solidifying differences.

Colonial policies deepened the Hindu-Muslim divide, creating an environment of mistrust and hostility. Communal tensions led to sectarian violence, including the devastating Partition riots.

The colonial legacy of communalism has contributed to ongoing intolerance and violence in India. Violence against Muslims in India is an issue rooted in historical tensions and political ideologies. This violence encompasses various forms, including communal riots, targeted attacks, and spontaneous assaults. Historical factors dating back to the Partition of British India in 1947 with unresolved territorial disputes, have contributed to ongoing hostilities. Hindu nationalism, propagated by groups like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has exacerbated religious divisions, with policies and rhetoric marginalizing Muslims and promoting a Hindu majoritarian agenda. The failure of law enforcement and justice systems to address violence against Muslims further creates social insecurity. Consequently, Muslims in India face economic and social exclusion, loss of life and injury, and destruction of property. Therefore, best practices include implementing comprehensive measures to address religion and political ideologies. Initiatives such as peace education programs are important in creating understanding among diverse communities.

Moving towards the future, it is imperative that Indians must decolonize their minds. Indians must acknowledge and learn from their shared histories, rather than perpetuating divisive narratives. Encouraging interfaith dialogue and understanding can help break down communal barriers. India needs to foster an inclusive nationalism that celebrates diversity and promotes equality, rather than perpetuating communal divisions. This obliges the people to acknowledge the complex relationship between colonialism and communalism. It would go a long way towards a more inclusive and harmonious society.

In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating March 15th as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The day aims to raise awareness about Islamophobia and promote tolerance, understanding, and inclusion of Muslim communities worldwide. Teachers must be taught to learn about Islam, its history, and its teachings and teach respectful and open dialogue with Muslim friends, colleagues, or neighbors. The community at large needs to foster initiatives to support Muslim communities and organizations working to promote inclusivity and combat Islamophobia. Islamophobia has had a devastating impact on Muslim communities, affecting their social, economic, and psychological well-being.

UN Resolution 76/254 urged countries to promote understanding and awareness of Islamophobia and its impact on Muslim communities. The resolution also encouraged governments, institutions, and individuals to take concrete actions to combat Islamophobia.

It called for fostering Foster inclusion, tolerance, and respect for diversity, promoting a more just and equitable society for all.

In relation to Islamophobia, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can take several steps:

First, it must acknowledge the existence and harm caused by Islamophobia in India and globally. Secondly, it should publicly condemn hate speech, violence, and discrimination against Muslims and other minority communities.Thirdly, it must promote Inclusion and Understanding in interfaith dialogue initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect by dispelling misconceptions and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. Of utmost importance Develop and implement policies that promote inclusivity, diversity, and equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of their religion or background.

Government must thoroughly investigate hate crimes and prosecute hate crimes and violence against Muslims and other minority communities. It must delete discrimination in education and employment and, instead, discrimination against Muslims in education, employment, and other areas. The media must play a crucial role to encourage diverse representation of Muslims and other minority communities in media to break stereotypes. By taking these steps, the BJP can help combat Islamophobia, promote inclusivity, and build trust with Muslim communities in India.

Other important steps can be to support the growing trend of interfaith marriages in India, particularly among Hindus and Muslims. Interfaith couples often face significant challenges, including social ostracism, family opposition, and legal hurdles. The government tends to join the confusion that emanates by referring to these marriages as ‘love jihad’ which is not just wrong but adds to the stresses and strains of communal relationships. It should, rather, incentivize such marriages, because it goes a long way towards national integration. The Special Marriage Act, 1954, provides a civil marriage option for interfaith couples tends to be snared in bureaucratic machinations.

In March 2024, the Uttarakhand government introduced the Uniform Civil Code, which aims to provide a common framework for personal laws, including marriage and inheritance. There have been several high-profile interfaith marriages in India, including the recent marriage of actor Sonakshi Sinha to Zaheer Iqbal. All such initiatives require public discourse at community level.

There is also need to see how Christians also practice discrimination towards Muslims as in Goa. By denying Muslims a burial space for nearly 32 years, they have indulged in brutal injustice and social discrimination. Prolonged injustice and discrimination must lead to punishment only because hate creates false boundaries.

All major religions, including Hinduism and Islam, emphasize the importance of love, compassion, and kindness towards all human beings. Respect for different beliefs, cultures, and traditions are essential for fostering a sense of shared humanity. The principles of equality and justice are fundamental to promoting human dignity and well-being, regardless of religious affiliation.

Sharing and learning about different cultures, traditions, and customs can enrich our lives and promote cross-cultural understanding. So also, collaborating on community service projects and initiatives can help build bridges between people of different faiths and backgrounds.

As children of one God, we are all part of a shared human family. By embracing our common humanity, we can work towards a brighter future, where love, compassion, and understanding prevail. Some tenets we are obliged to pursue must include:

– Every individual is treated with dignity and respect

– Differences are celebrated, not feared

– Love and compassion guide our actions

Together, we can make a difference and create a more harmonious, inclusive, and compassionate world and affirm a common humanity.

Ranjan Solomon is a political commentator

16 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Three Journalists Among Nine Palestinians Killed in Israeli Airstrike in Northern Gaza

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Nine Palestinians, including three journalists, were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack targeting a civilian vehicle in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza on Saturday.

Mohammad Hassna, a humanitarian worker, stated that the occupation forces struck a vehicle that was transporting aid distribution teams in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPS) confirmed the killing of the three journalists in an airstrike targeting a media team documenting humanitarian efforts in northern Gaza. Among the victims are Mahmoud Al-Saraj, Bilal Akila, and Mahmoud Isleim.

It said the journalists were documenting “aid efforts for those affected by the ongoing Israeli genocide,” adding “targeting journalists obstructs the flow of information and prevents the world from seeing the true situation in Gaza.”

The attack constitutes a “war crime aimed at press freedom and the safety of media and humanitarian workers,” it said.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1900874318881382440]

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that several others were critically injured in the attack.

Israeli Airstrike on Northern Gaza Targeted Aid Team Building Shelter Center

The Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed nine people who were working on a shelter center in Beit Lahia. According to Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesperson, the victims were targeted while engaged in humanitarian efforts.

The Israeli army claimed the strike was aimed at “individuals operating a small drone”. However, reports indicate that the victims were journalists and photographers from a charity organization. They were reportedly using the drone to document relief activities.

The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPS) condemned the attack as a war crime. It warned that targeting media professionals restricts information flow and hides the truth about Gaza’s situation.

Hamas issued a statement condemning the horrific massacre, calling it an escalation of war crimes against civilians, journalists, and humanitarian workers. The resistance movement stated that Israel has been violating international laws and deliberately undermining the ceasefire agreement. Hamas stated that the attack reflects Israel’s intent to sabotage ongoing negotiations for a prisoner exchange and ceasefire extension. The movement called on international mediators, the United Nations, and other global bodies to take urgent action to hold Israel accountable and stop further aggression.

Israeli bombardment across Gaza has not stopped. Israel has breached the ceasefire agreement over 962 times since January 19, 2025. These violations have killed 116 civilians and injured 490 since early March.

Israel has also failed to meet its obligations to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The agreement required 50 fuel trucks daily, but only 978 have entered in 42 days. This averages just 23 trucks per day. The humanitarian crisis worsens as Israel blocks essential supplies. Only 15 mobile homes have entered, despite the urgent need for 60,000 to shelter displaced families.

Heavy machinery for clearing debris and recovering bodies remains restricted. Only nine machines have been allowed, while at least 500 are needed. Construction materials and medical equipment remain blocked, further crippling Gaza’s healthcare system. For the past 14 days, Israel has completely halted humanitarian aid, worsening food shortages and deepening the crisis.

16 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Zionist-Hindutva Nexus: A Historical and Political Investigation

By V.A. Mohamad Ashrof

The convergence of Christian-Jewish-Zionist extremism, European neo-Nazism, and Hindutva ideologies — aided by arms lobbies and imperialist interests — has contributed to a global climate of war hysteria, racism, blasphemy, and social unrest. This paper examines the historical and political foundations of the Hindutva-Zionist nexus, exploring its impact on India’s political trajectory.

Nationalism and Religious Supremacy: A Path to Fascism

The fusion of racial, cultural, and religious supremacy with nationalist politics has historically led to oppressive regimes. Fascism’s rise in Italy under Benito Mussolini (1922-1944) and Nazi rule in Germany under Adolf Hitler (1933-1945) serve as stark reminders. Similar patterns are visible in various regimes, such as the Han Dynasty’s exclusionary politics in China, Hutu extremism in Rwanda, white supremacy in America, and neo-Nazi movements in Central and Eastern Europe. These ideologies typically scapegoat minorities as a means of consolidating power.

Islam and Muslims, as vocal opponents of Zionism, have become primary targets for both Zionist and Hindutva ideologues. This shared animosity has fostered ideological alignment between these forces.

India’s Shift from Secularism to Zionist Alignment

Historically, India stood as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian liberation struggle, grounded in its secular and anti-colonial values championed by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Unlike Pakistan’s largely symbolic and religiously driven support for Palestine, India’s stance was rooted in genuine anti-imperialist principles, as observed by political thinker Aijaz Ahmed in the 1960s and 1970s.1

However, with the rise of Hindutva ideologies, India has increasingly distanced itself from its pro-Palestinian position and aligned itself with Zionist-Israeli interests. This ideological shift is deeply tied to the internal political transformation of India, where fascist social policies and divisive organizations have gained prominence.

The erosion of India’s commitment to human rights reflects this change. Mainstream media narratives now often depict human rights concerns as mere propaganda tools used by extremists. This distortion not only undermines the sanctity of human rights but also threatens the core values of human dignity and cultural inclusivity.

Hindutva: A Fascist Ideology in Practice

Hindutva, a political philosophy distinct from the spiritual and pluralistic traditions of Hinduism, seeks to impose a Brahminical cultural code that excludes India’s rich cultural diversity. It advocates for a hierarchical social order dominated by upper-caste elites, marginalizes minorities, and undermines equal citizenship.

The Hindu Mahasabha (founded in 1915) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, founded in 1925) played no role in India’s anti-colonial movement. Instead, these groups functioned as incubators of right-wing extremism, fixated on positioning Muslims and Christians as subordinate communities. Notably, Nathuram Vinayak Godse (1910-1949), an RSS-affiliated extremist, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, a tragic consequence of such ideological extremism.

Nanaji Deshmukh (1916-2010), a prominent RSS leader, openly admitted that the RSS had no involvement in India’s anti-British resistance.2 Furthermore, M.S. Golwalkar (1906-1973), the ideological architect of Hindutva, rejected the notion that opposition to British colonialism equated to patriotism, branding it a counter-revolutionary idea.3

During the historic Quit India Movement of 1942 — a mass uprising that united Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs in defiance of British rule — Hindutva forces collaborated with colonial authorities and engaged in acts of violence against nationalists.

Jawaharlal Nehru accurately recognized the Hindu Mahasabha’s subversive tendencies, warning that “organizations including the Hindu Mahasabha are communal, seditious, and reactionary.”4

The Rise of the Sangh and its Fascist Agenda

The Sangh forces, which held minimal political influence until the 1980s, gained traction when the Congress Party shifted away from socialism, embraced neoliberalism, and increasingly exploited religious sentiments for political advantage. This political vacuum allowed the Sangh to expand with the backing of communal elements within the bureaucracy. Today, with the support of over 20,000 Vidya Bharati schools and 30,000 branches, and with significant influence over the police, intelligence agencies, and bureaucratic apparatus, the Sangh is rapidly promoting fascist tendencies in the country.

From its inception, the Sangh harbored fascist ambitions. Historian Marzia Casolari has shown, based on archival documents, that one of the Sangh’s founding leaders, B.S. Moonje, visited Italy and held discussions with Mussolini’s regime.5

Sangh leaders have been transparent about their goals. For example, M.S. Golwalkar wrote that non-Hindus in India should adopt Hindu culture and language, glorify the Hindu race and culture, and live without citizenship in a Hindu Rashtra.6 He further stated:

“The main issue today is the resurgence of German nationalism. Germany shocked the world by excluding the Jewish-Semitic section to maintain the purity and culture of the nation. It was a high expression of patriotism. Germany proves that different races and cultures cannot be assimilated into a single unit. We have lessons to learn from this.” 7

This statement reveals Hindutva’s rejection of India’s pluralistic cultural fabric. Instead of embracing the rich diversity and tolerance inherent in Hinduism, Hindutva defines itself by vilifying perceived enemies.

The Anthropological Survey of India’s People of India study underscores the nation’s diverse cultural mosaic, identifying over 4,000 distinct communities with shared characteristics across religious and linguistic lines. The study highlighted that Hindus and Muslims share 95% of their cultural traits, while no community in India is purely indigenous or foreign. These findings directly challenge Hindutva’s exclusionary narrative.

Zionism and Hindutva: A Shared Ideology

Zionism shares ideological similarities with Hindutva in its emphasis on racial superiority. Former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion justified Jewish exceptionalism by claiming: “The secret of our survival is moral and cultural superiority.” 8

Zionism, a racist ideology that promotes hatred and enmity towards Palestinians, has manipulated religious texts such as the Bible to justify the colonization of indigenous Palestinian lands.

Zionism has historically aligned itself with oppressive regimes and violent extremist groups across the globe. It has fostered relationships with apartheid South Africa under Botha, Mobutu’s dictatorship in Zaire, death squads in El Salvador, Lebanese Phalangists, and Colombian right-wing paramilitaries. Zionism’s embrace of Hindutva reflects this pattern of alliances with supremacist movements.

American imperialism, which praises Israel as a “democracy-loving” nation despite its racial apartheid policies, contradicts the principles of pluralism and equality.

Jewish historians have revealed that during the Nazi era, Zionist leaders prioritized establishing a Jewish ethnic state over rescuing Jewish lives from persecution.9 This approach intensified Palestinian displacement and prolonged regional instability.

Today, approximately 1.2 million Palestinians living within Israel and 3.25 million under Israeli occupation face systemic apartheid. Palestinians endure severe discrimination in housing, employment, education, access to energy, and social services. Zionist narratives perpetuate the notion that Palestinians are not only second-class citizens but also inferior human beings.

Until 1990, India maintained a principled stance, supporting the displaced Palestinian people and opposing Zionist aggression. However, much like the Sangh rulers of Gujarat and Orissa, the Israeli regime has demonstrated its extreme communalism by pardoning terrorist groups responsible for violence against Palestinian civilians in the 1980s. 10

The Rising Hindutva-Zionist Front

Hindutva-Zionist ideologies have historically aligned themselves with imperialist powers. For example, the Vajpayee regime openly supported the 1998 U.S. missile strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan, which were claimed to be retaliation for the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Similarly, M.S. Golwalkar unwaveringly supported the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, while Sangh leaders like Sudarshan later endorsed the American-led invasions of Iraq starting in 1991, reflecting their consistent imperialist alignment.

The British and American imperialists played a significant role in facilitating the establishment of Israel in 1948. Both Zionism and Hindutva exploit religious nationalism to divide societies and manipulate public opinion.

The U.S.-based branches of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its student wing, the Hindu Students Council (HSC), have grown influential in American political lobbying since 1992. These groups align with rising Islamophobic forces in the West, particularly in the United States. In 2009, Colonel Prasad Purohit, an army officer arrested by India’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, confessed to having ties with Israel’s Mossad. The Indian Express reported significant Mossad ideological influence on Bajrang Dal cadres and leaders.11

Zionism rejects defined territorial boundaries for Israel, just as Hindutva ideologues define Bharat Mata as extending from Iran in the west to Singapore in the east, with Sri Lanka as its sacred foothold.12

Both ideologies employ state terrorism tactics, targeting innocent civilians and resorting to oppressive measures. Their shared commitment to aggression and violence underscores their ideological alignment.

When Hindu Unity.org, a platform notorious for spreading anti-Muslim and anti-secular propaganda, faced closure, its entire archive was transferred to the Kahane Group — a radical Zionist organization known for inciting communal hatred against Arabs. The Kahane Group operates in both the United States and Israel. Consequently, Hindu Unity.org and Kahane.org are now hosted on Israeli servers.

The Freeman Center, a U.S.-based Zionist organization linked to figures like Ariel Sharon — who faced legal scrutiny in Belgium and Lebanon for the Sabra-Shatila massacre (1982) — maintains ties to extremist ideologues. Aurobindo Ghosh, described by the Freeman Center as a “Hindu historian and publisher,” has been involved in promoting Islamophobic narratives, portraying Muslims as inherently violent in the Indian subcontinent.13

Beginning of Diplomatic Relations

Zionism, born from racial superiority narratives, faced sharp criticism from Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, India’s subsequent foreign policy shifted dramatically, fostering stronger ties with Israel. This shift was part of a broader India-U.S.-Israel strategic alignment, bolstered by groups like the India-American Political Action Committee, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and the VHPA. These organizations actively coordinate with arms lobbies and maintain clandestine ties with Christian-Jewish Zionist factions.

This ideological alliance thrives on exploiting narratives of “Islamic terrorism” to manufacture fear and justify cultural racism. By consistently depicting South Asian, Arab, and Palestinian communities as security threats, these forces promote discrimination, humiliation, and unjust profiling — even targeting high-ranking officials and ordinary travellers alike. Media bias fuels these stereotypes, normalizing cultural racism and reinforcing the alienation of minority groups.

Shockingly, many participants in this divisive agenda unknowingly support these ethnic-nationalist forces, undermining social unity in the process. The deliberate efforts by powerful elites to spread hatred continue to fracture communal harmony.

Trade relations between India and Israel have mirrored this ideological shift. Non-arms trade between the two nations reached $1.27 billion in 2002 — a six-fold increase from the previous decade — making India Israel’s second-largest trading partner.

The Shifting Dynamics of India-Palestine Relations

As a reflection of India’s changing geopolitical stance, Palestinian leaders who once maintained a permanent diplomatic presence in Delhi have been replaced by Israeli military officials. India, which once stood alongside Palestinians in their anti-colonial struggle, has increasingly aligned itself with Israeli colonial ambitions through imperialist alliances. This shift contradicts the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, raising concerns about India’s retreat from its traditional moral leadership.

Mahatma Gandhi famously declared that “Palestine belongs to the Arabs as England belongs to the English.”14 Yet since 2001, both India and Israel have pursued a joint strategy against so-called “Islamic terrorism.” A 2009 Israeli Foreign Ministry survey revealed that India had become the second most pro-Israel country in the world, after the United States.

India’s historical position was markedly different. In 1949, India voted against granting Israel membership in the United Nations. In 1975, India supported UN Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism. In 1988, India recognized the State of Palestine and permitted its embassy to operate in New Delhi. As political analyst Vijay Prashad notes, the period from 1947 to 1988 was a “spring of India-Arab relations.”15

Today, however, India is one of Israel’s largest arms buyers, purchasing nearly half of its arms exports.16 Intelligence cooperation between India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Israel’s Mossad has been increasing, with both agencies working to counter “Islamic terrorism.”17 This growing alliance is reinforced by the ideological dominance of Hindutva and Zionist factions, both of which aim to marginalize Muslim communities.18

The roots of this diplomatic shift can be traced back to September 17, 1950, when the Indian government, under bureaucratic Hindutva influence, formally recognized Israel. In 1977, when L.K. Advani served as External Affairs Minister during the Janata government, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan secretly visited India, signalling deeper ties.

India’s retreat from its longstanding policies of non-alignment, peaceful coexistence, anti-war advocacy, nuclear disarmament, and poverty eradication began to accelerate in the early 1990s. In 1991, U.S. warplanes en route to attack Iraq were allowed to refuel in Mumbai, further demonstrating India’s shift towards Western and Israeli alliances. Evidence suggests that intelligence cooperation between RAW and Mossad began as early as the 1970s.

P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government, which leaned towards Hindutva ideologies, formalized full diplomatic relations with Israel in January 1992. The subsequent BJP government strengthened these ties, with the arms lobby and communal fascists justifying extensive Israeli arms purchases by invoking “Islamophobia.” The BJP government’s policies in 1997 transformed India into Israel’s primary arms customer.19

In September 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited India as a guest of the BJP government, marking a significant moment in India-Israel relations. During this visit, Sharon aligned his ideology with Hindutva forces, suggesting their shared hostility toward perceived “Islamic threats.” Meanwhile, the Immigration Office in Mumbai, which had operated for over two decades, became increasingly influenced by Sangh ideologues during this period.

Savarkar: The Embodiment of Hindutva Zionism

On February 26, 2003, then-President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam unveiled a portrait of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the Parliament Hall. About ten months earlier, on May 4, 2002, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had named the Port Blair airport in the Andamans after Veer Savarkar. It is significant to note that Savarkar, an accused in the Gandhi assassination case, was thus honoured.

Savarkar was a self-proclaimed agnostic or atheist, resembling Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement.21 Like Herzl, Savarkar viewed Hinduism not as a purely religious identity but as a cultural and political construct. Herzl similarly conceptualized Judaism in this manner.

Savarkar portrayed Muslims and Christians as un-Indian and foreign, arguing that their reverence for Mecca and Jerusalem alienated them from India’s national identity. He extended this exclusion to Parsis and Communists as well.

In his early years, Savarkar (1883–1966) advocated Hindu-Muslim unity and was a freedom fighter. He wrote The First War of Indian Independence in 1909, a significant work on the 1857 uprising.22 However, Savarkar later aligned himself with British imperialism, a fact often overlooked. During his imprisonment in the Andamans in 1910, Savarkar submitted mercy petitions to the British government in 1911 and 1913. In a letter to Sir Reginald Craddock on November 14, 1913, Savarkar wrote:

“If the British government, in its mercy, pardons me and releases me, I will serve as a faithful servant of the English Government… Moreover, my conversion to legal profession may be an incentive to the conversion of many misguided people who consider me a leader. Only the strong can show mercy; Therefore, this wayward son should be allowed to enter the government’s door of righteousness.” 23

In August 1938, Savarkar addressed an audience of about 20,000 in Pune, declaring that Germany had the right to implement Nazism and Italy had the right to adopt Fascism.24 In October 1939, Savarkar met with Lord Linlithgow, affirming that the Hindu Mahasabha’s sole objective was to secure India’s status as a dominion under Britain, pledging full cooperation with the British. As a practical measure, Savarkar opposed the Quit India movement in 1942, urging Hindus in government positions to abandon the struggle and fulfil their official duties.25

Savarkar argued that Muslims who revered Mecca as a holy land could not be loyal to India,26 and maintained that only those who considered India as both their “fatherland” and “holy land” could be regarded as Hindus.27 He openly supported the two-nation theory, insisting that Hindus and Muslims were two distinct nations due to historical factors.28

Mahatma Gandhi, aware of Savarkar’s shift toward British loyalty, remarked in Young India:

“The Savarkar brothers have unequivocally declared that they do not want to declare independence from the British; instead, they believe that India’s fate can be decided in conjunction with Britain.” 29

While imprisoned in the Andamans, Savarkar actively supported the “purification” of those who had converted to other religions, urging their reconversion to Hinduism.30

In 1923, while in Ratnagiri, Savarkar wrote his seminal work Hindutva. Emphasizing social unity and Hindu patriotism, he incorporated Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism within the Hindu identity due to their Indian origins. “The Aryans who have taken root in India since the beginning of history have today become Hindus,” Savarkar claimed.31

After reading Hindutva, RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar collaborated with Savarkar and founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925. The RSS’s emphasis on cultural nationalism upheld upper-caste Hindu values, aligning with Brahminical ideals.

In a statement issued on December 19, 1947, Savarkar expressed his support for the creation of a Jewish state and asserted that the Zionist goal would be complete only when all of Palestine belonged to the Jews. He criticized India’s vote against the formation of Israel, calling it an act of “Muslim appeasement.”32

Those who see contradiction in Savarkar’s view, who expressed his affinity for Nazism and Zionism alike, do not really understand the nature of racism. Zionists are those who supported Hitler’s extermination of the Jews to make Israel the sole refuge of the Jews. Hindutva has never hesitated to create communal conflict by sacrificing Dalit and backward people. Nazis and Hindutva do not sincerely love or serve Jews or Hindus.

As early as 1908, the idea of Israel as the birthplace of the Jews had taken root in Savarkar.33 As this idea strengthened in his mind, the alienation of Muslims also began. In his work Hindutva, Savarkar wrote: “If the Zionist dream is realized, Palestine will become a Jewish state; that will make us as happy as our Jewish friends.”34

When Israel was formed in 1948, Savarkar said: “I am happy that most of the four countries have given the Jewish people the right to establish a Jewish state of their own in Palestine and have provided them with arms for that.”35

Criticizing Nehru in harsh language for not cooperating with Israel, Savarkar warned: “If there is an India-Pakistan war, almost all Muslims will side with Pakistan against us; their enemy, Israel, will be our only friend then.”36

Strongly extolling the Zionist narrative, Savarkar reminded: “Palestine was the Jewish homeland at least two millennia before the birth of the Muslim prophet.”37

The Truth of Historical Narrative

Even if Palestine is the land that Savarkar bequeathed to the descendants of Abraham, the European Jews, who constitute the majority of the Jews living in Israel today, cannot claim it. The origin of European Jews was Khazaria, which was spread over Ukraine and Russia; they converted to Judaism in the 8th century. Zionism has a racist view that the indigenous Palestinians who have lived there for centuries have no history, ignoring all evidence. However, many Israeli historians and archaeologists have published studies that prove that ancient Israel is a myth.38

By hiding the history and culture of the Palestinians, Zionism portrays them as backward, irrational, fanatical, violent, and untrustworthy.

While numerous courses are offered in the United States, Israel, and Europe that justify the expansion of ancient history in the Judeo-Christian fundamentalist view of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), there are few courses on the idea of ancient Israel in a secular context under the subject of history. By giving biblical names to archaeological sites, the centuries-old reality of Palestine is being uprooted.

Similar historical distortions are the trump card of Hindutva. Following the first freedom struggle of 1857, Muslims were banned from the army and the upper caste Hindus were appeased by the British as part of a plan to wipe out the forces of the Mughal tradition.

Moreover, as part of the policy of divide and rule through historical narrative, the British imperialist government laid the foundation for the two-nation theory by cultivating Hindu-Muslim communal nationalists and deliberately tried to force the partition of India.

The basic aim of Hindutva historiography is to link the actions of Muslim kings and sultans with Islam and to hold Muslims accountable, thereby fostering a thirst for revenge against them. This is also the methodology adopted by Orientalist historians. This proves that Hindutva is a reinterpretation of the colonial-oriental historical perception. The neo-colonial forces that have adopted the political goals of the colonial rulers are behind Hindutva.

In 1983, British historian James Mill divided history into Hindu phases, Muslim phases, and British phases. This is the perspective from which Hindutva ideologues view history. History should actually be divided into ancient, medieval, and modern periods. The division of Indian history into the glorious Hindu past, the brutal Muslim period, and the British period in order to divide and rule provides strong evidence of Hindutva’s imperialist servitude.

There are no monolithic Muslims or Hindus in India. The majority of Muslims are Hindu converts. In addition to Hindus, Muslim heritage includes Arabs, Turks, Afghans, and Mongols.

Savarkar must have known that it was impossible to classify Vedic-Buddhist-Jain-Shakta-Tantrika-Lingayat sects together as Hindus. Savarkar had British support to inflame religious Hindu-Muslim nationalism.

Buddhism was dominant in India from the 6th century BCE to the 10th century CE. A strong Brahmin revival can be seen from the 8th to the 10th century. As a result, Buddhist-Jain genocide also spread in India. The argument that Buddhism is a part of Hinduism is historically meaningless.

Hindutva and colonialists have constructed ancient India by making the presence of Dalits and backward people invisible. Muslims are portrayed as villains who destroyed the great ancient Indian culture.

The Vedic interpretation of the Indus Valley civilization is also in the interest of the Hindutva ideological project. Even Gujarati Hindus have the heritage of the Gurjars of Central Asia who came under the wing of the Huns. Most Rajputs are descended from the Huns who invaded the Gupta Empire in the 4th century.

The Vedic people were invaders from Khwarizmi about three and a half millennia ago. Those who give the Vedic seal to some other groups ignore this.

The Helmand River in Afghanistan is known as Harkavat in ancient Persian records and as the Saraswati River in Indian myths. This also suggests the foreignness of the ancient priests. It also raises the interesting possibility that Mullah Omar and Praveen Togadia may have descended from a single ancestor.

For Hindus, anything ancient and great is Hindu; anything corrupts and undesirable is foreign. The ‘Karsevak archaeology’ that developed in connection with the Ram temple and the Zionist investigation of the temple of Solomon are advancing with the aim of turning other peoples into aliens and enemies. Social engineering to suppress the marginalized masses using state power motivates Hindutva and Zionism alike.

Advani’s Rath Yatra shed a river of blood in 1991, while Sharon caused bloodshed in September 2000 by announcing his plan to convert the Al-Aqsa Mosque into a Jewish temple. Both groups are extremists and terrorists who believe in racial supremacy. The Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld warlords’ plan, dubbed the War on Terror, has strengthened the unity of both racists. Both groups uphold Huntington’s theory of the clash of cultures.

Hindutva is eager to prove that the Aryans and their language are indigenous to India. They even went so far as to distort the Harappan seals on computers. This was to prove that the Aryans had a horse-riding civilization.

The founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883), argued that the Aryans originated in Tibet. Meanwhile, the Hindu nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) saw the Aryans as originating in the Arctic. Golwalkar made a shameful attempt to reconcile the Arctic with the continental drift theory, which claimed that the Arctic was part of the Indian subcontinent and that the Arctic retreated after the Aryans arrived.

When the Turkish-Afghan invaders entered India during the Middle Ages, there were no powerful Hindu dynasties capable of mounting a unified resistance; those that existed were fragmented and embroiled in internal conflicts. For instance, Jaichand of Kannauj formed a military alliance with Muhammad Ghori against his own relative, Prithviraj Chauhan.

Hindutva ideologues, much like Zionists, are known for selectively appropriating historical narratives to serve their ideological interests. Just as Zionists claim that Jehovah granted the Holy Land of Palestine to the Jewish people, Hindutva asserts that the entire Indian subcontinent rightfully belongs exclusively to Hindus. This historical distortion aims to exclude the rich multicultural heritage of India by marginalizing the contributions of other religious and ethnic groups.

The argument for demolishing the Al-Aqsa Mosque to rebuild Solomon’s Temple mirrors the communal rhetoric employed by Hindutva forces claiming that Ayodhya was once ruled by Rama thousands of years ago. It is notable that Israeli historian Ilan Pappé has observed how both Hindutva and Zionist ideologues have reconstructed centuries-old histories to bolster contemporary nationalist narratives. (39)

While Zionism seeks to erase Palestinian history through an exaggerated focus on ancient Israel, Hindutva’s ideological project similarly seeks to erase or minimize the contributions of other socio-cultural groups by depicting ancient Hindu India as exclusively Vedic in character.

Defending Historical Narratives against Racial Interpretations

The Indian people must actively resist the attempt to normalize Zionist appeasement under the guise of patriotism. Both Hindutva and Zionism are not rooted in genuine religious devotion or national pride; rather, they function as instruments of imperialism, exploiting communalism for political power. These movements manipulate historical narratives to misrepresent the present, future, and even the past according to their ideological agenda. The Indian public must recognize that Sangh publications, which thrive on blasphemy and contempt, are actively promoting communal polarization.

The Quran warns against such divisive tactics, drawing a parallel with Pharaoh’s strategy of exploiting divisions among his subjects: “Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into factions, oppressing a sector among them…” (Quran 28:4). This verse underscores the dangers of fascist ideologies that thrive on humiliating and dehumanizing targeted groups.

The tragic attack carried out by Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian extremist, illustrates the global resonance of such ideologies. Breivik, like Savarkar, combined elements of neo-Nazism, Zionism, and Hindutva to justify his Islamophobic worldview. On July 22, 2011, Breivik murdered 90 innocent people in a chilling act of terror, reinforcing the dangers posed by ideologies rooted in racial supremacy and communal hatred.

The true spirit of Indian civilization lies in embracing the ideals of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and Lokame Tharavaad (the world as one’s home). Indians must reject the politics of hatred and division, and instead uphold a vision of inclusiveness, compassion, and justice that transcends communal boundaries.

Bibliography

1.       Aijaz Ahmed, Israel’s Killing Fields, Frontline, Vol. 17, Issue 23, November 11, 2000

2.       Nanaji Deshmukh, Victim of Slander, Vision Books: New Delhi, 1979, p. 70

3.       M. S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu: Bangalore, 1996, p. 18

4.       Jawaharlal Nehru, Recent Essays and Writings, Kitabistan: Allahabad, 1934, p. 46

5.       Marzia Casolari, Hindutva’s Foreign Tie-up in the 1930s – Archival Evidences, Economic and Political Weekly, January 22, 2000

6.       M. S. Golwalkar, We or Our Nationhood Defined, Bharat Prakashan: Nagpur, 1938, p. 52

7.       Ibid, p. 37

8.       David Ben-Gurion, Israel: A Personal History, New English Library: London, 1971, p. 728

9.       Yehuda Bauer, American Jewry and the Holocaust, Wayne State University Press: Detroit, 1981

10.     Zeev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land, University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 2006, p. 257

11.      Desi Mossad Getting Ready at Bajrang Dal’s Ayodhya Camp, The Indian Express, June 30, 2000

12.     M. S. Golwalkar, Op. cit., p. 111

13.     http://www.Freeman.org

14.     Vijay Prashad, Namaste Sharon, LeftWord Books: New York, 2003, p. 12

15.     Ibid, p. 18

16.     Ibid, p. 63

17.     Ibid, p. 72

18.     Ibid, p. 25-26

19.     Ninan Koshy, Under the Empire: India’s New Foreign Policy, LeftWord Books: New York, 2006, p. 155

20.     Vijay Prashad, Op. cit., p. 10

21.     Pramod Kumar, Towards Understanding Communalism, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development: Chandigarh, 1992, p. 348

22.     V. D. Savarkar, The War of Independence, Phoenix Publishers: Bombay (1909), 1947

23.     R. C. Majumdar, Penal Settlement in Andamans, Publications Division: New Delhi, 1975, p. 211-214

24.     Kitty Kurti, Subhas Chandra Bose as I Knew Him, Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay: Calcutta, 1996, p. 11

25.     A. G. Noorani, The Collaborators, Frontline, December 1, 1995

26.     V. D. Savarkar, Hindutva, Bharat Mudranalaya: Nagpur (1923), 1949, p. 108

27.     Ibid, p. 116

28.     Ibid, p. 140

29.     Mahatma Gandhi, The Collected Works of M. K. Gandhi, Vol. 17, Navjivan: Ahmedabad, 1944, p. 462

30.     Chitra Gupta, Life of Barrister Savarkar, Hindu Mission Pustak Bhandar: New Delhi, 1939, p. 277

31.     V. D. Savarkar, Ibid, p. 108

32.     V. D. Savarkar, Historic Statements, G. P. Parchure: Bombay, 1967

33.     Dhananjay Keer, Veer Savarkar, Popular Prakashan: Mumbai (1950), 1988, p. 467

34.     V. D. Savarkar, Op. cit., p. 449

35.     Koenraad Elst, The Saffron Swastika, Voice of India: New Delhi, 2001, p. 381

36.     Dhananjay Keer, Op. cit., p. 499

37.     Koenraad Elst, Op. cit., p. 381-382

38.     Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, Free Press: New York, 2001

39.     Ilan Pappe, The Square Circle: The Struggle for Survival of Traditional Zionism, in Nimni E (ed.), The Challenge of Post-Zionism, Zed Books: London, 2003, p. 55

V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Indian scholar specializing in Islamic humanism.

15 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Trump Administration Arrests Second Student from Columbia University Over Anti-Genocide Campus Protests

By Quds News Network

New York (Quds News Network)- The Trump administration has arrested a second Palestinian student from Columbia University, escalating its crackdown on anti-genocide protests at U.S. campuses.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the detention of Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student, accusing her of overstaying her F-1 student visa. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took her into custody for deportation.

Kordia’s arrest comes less than a week after Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian protest organizer, was also detained by ICE. Khalil, a U.S. green card holder, now faces the revocation of his residency status. His American wife is eight months pregnant.

Another international student, Ranjani Srinivasan of India, had her student visa revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas. The DHS statement misspelled “Hamas”, raising concerns about the credibility of the accusations.

The Trump administration has increasingly linked protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza with support for Hamas, labeling demonstrators as terrorist sympathizers.

Civil rights groups say these arrests are meant to intimidate students and silence dissent. Khalil’s lawyer says he has been denied private legal counsel, a violation of his constitutional rights.

The crackdown on protesters is part of a broader effort to pressure Columbia University. On Thursday night, the Trump administration issued a demand for Columbia’s Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) to be placed under “academic receivership”. This would strip the university of control over the department, setting a dangerous precedent for government intervention in academic institutions.

15 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

‘This Felt Like a Kidnapping Because It Was’: Family of Mahmoud Khalil Releases Arrest Video

By Jessica Corbett

The family of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States now at risk of deportation because he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last spring, on Friday released a video of his recent arrest by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents in New York City, which has sparked legal battles and protests.

“You’re watching the most terrifying moment of my life,” Khalil’s wife, Noor, said in a statement about the two-minute video. “This felt like a kidnapping because it was: Officers in plain clothes—who refused to show us a warrant, speak with our attorney, or even tell us their names—forced my husband into an unmarked car and took him away from me.”

“They threatened to take me too, even though we were calm and fully cooperating. For the next 38 hours after this video, neither I or our lawyers knew where Mahmoud was being held. Now, he’s over 1,000 miles from home, still being wrongfully detained by U.S. immigration,” said Noor, whose husband is detained at a facility in Jena, Louisiana.

Noor, who is eight months pregnant, noted that “Mahmoud has repeatedly warned of growing threats from Columbia University and the U.S. government unjustly targeting students who want to see an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Now, the Trump administration and DHS are targeting him, and other students too.”

“Mahmoud is clearly the first of many to be illegally repressed for their speech in support of Palestinian rights,” she added. “Everyone should be alarmed and urgently calling for the freedom of Mahmoud and all other students under attack for their advocacy for Palestinian human rights.”

[https://twitter.com/theCCR/status/1900653363353841795]

Khalil, who finished his graduate studies at Columbia in December, is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent. He was living in the United States with a green card until his arrest on Saturday. In response to a filing by his legal team—which includes Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project—a judge has temporarily blocked his deportation.

The ACLU and its New York arm have joined Khalil’s legal team, and his attorneys filed an amended petition and complaint on Thursday. NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said that with the new “filing, we are making it crystal clear that no president can arrest, detain, or deport anyone for disagreeing with the government. The Trump administration has selectively targeted Mr. Khalil, a student, husband, and father-to-be who has not been accused of a single crime, to send a message of just how far they will go to crack down on dissent.”

“But we at the NYCLU and ACLU won’t stand for it—under the Constitution, the Trump administration has no basis to continue this cruel weaponization of Mr. Khalil’s life,” Lieberman added. “The court must release Mr. Khalil immediately and let him go home to his family in New York, where he belongs. Ideas are not illegal, and dissent is not grounds for deportation.”

Samah Sisay of CCR reiterated those messages as the arrest video circulated on Friday, saying that “Mr. Khalil was taken by plainclothes DHS agents in front of his pregnant wife without any legal justification. Mr. Khalil must be freed because the government cannot use these coercive tactics to unlawfully suppress his First Amendment protected speech in support of Palestinian rights.”

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

15 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Anti-Semitism in the Quran: A Critical Analysis

By V.A. Mohamad Ashrof

The Quran contains approximately fifty references to the Children of Israel, along with 137 references to Moses and 18 references to the Torah. Most of these references are positive, acknowledging the special status and divine favour bestowed upon the Israelites. For instance:

“O Children of Israel, remember My favour upon you and that I preferred you above all peoples.” (Quran 2:47)

“Indeed, We settled the Children of Israel in a suitable dwelling place and provided them with good things.” (Quran 10:93)

These verses affirm the honoured position of the Israelites and the blessings they received from God.

The Special Role of the Israelites in History

The Quran presents the Israelites as a people chosen for a special purpose:

1.       A Divinely Favoured Nation: The Quran acknowledges their chosen status in several passages. (1)

2.       Recipients of Numerous Prophets: Many prophets, including Moses, were raised among them to guide their society. (2)

3.       Covenantal Responsibility: The Quran emphasizes that the Israelites were entrusted with God’s covenant. (3)

4.       Moral Accountability: The Quran critiques the Israelites for repeatedly breaking their covenant and turning away from divine guidance. (4)

5.       Consequences of Transgression: The Quran attributes periods of hardship and oppression to these moral failings. (5)

Despite these critiques, the Quran’s intention is corrective rather than malicious. The emphasis is on moral accountability, applicable to all nations, rather than singling out one community for condemnation.

Historical Allusions in the Quran

The Quran references key historical events in Jewish tradition, such as:

The Israelites were constantly subjected to oppression because of their corruption. (6)

•        The Exodus: The Quran recounts the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt under Moses. (7)

•        The Babylonian Exile: The Quran briefly alludes to the Israelites’ exile in Babylon, a period of immense suffering and reflection. (8)

The Accusation of Anti-Semitism

Critics have claimed that the Quran promotes anti-Semitism due to its critique of certain behaviours within Jewish history. However, these criticisms fail to consider the Quran’s broader moral lessons, which apply to all humanity. The Quran’s references to negative traits — such as arrogance, corruption, or hypocrisy — are directed at specific behaviours, not an entire ethnic or religious group.

For example, the Quran highlights a claim attributed to some Israelites:

“And they say, ‘The Fire will not touch us except for a few days.’ Say, ‘Have you taken a covenant with God? For God will never break His covenant.’” (Quran 2:80) (9)

This belief is reflected in parts of the Talmud, where some interpretations suggest that Jews would face only brief punishment in the afterlife. (10) The Quran critiques this sense of false security, which is relevant to all who misuse religious doctrine for self-righteousness.

Accusations of Scriptural Corruption

The Quran presents the charge that some Israelites altered divine scripture:

“Do you covet [the hope] that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of God and then distort it after they had understood it.” (Quran 2:75) (11)

This critique aligns with references in the Old Testament that similarly acknowledge textual corruption:

“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? Behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (Jeremiah 8:8) (12)

Criticism of Hypocrisy in Religious Leadership:

The Quran’s critique of Jewish scholars mirrors Jesus’ own rebuke of religious authorities. As recorded in the Gospels, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for prioritizing superficial rituals over deeper moral principles:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, but have disregarded the weightier matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faith.” (Matthew 23:23)

This parallel reinforces that the Quran’s criticisms echo the moral rebukes found in earlier scriptures.

The “Monkey” Allegation and Historical Context:

The Quran’s reference to a group of Israelites transformed into monkeys has faced strong criticism. However, this passage refers specifically to a community that violated the Sabbath:

“And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the Sabbath, and We said to them, ‘Be apes, despised.’” (Quran 2:65) (13)

This narrative is symbolic, indicating moral degeneration rather than literal transformation. Similar language appears in the Old Testament:

•        Ezekiel 20 describes Israel’s repeated disobedience and punishment.

•        Nehemiah 13 condemns Sabbath violations and demands strict accountability. (14)

The Quran’s references to the Israelites are not expressions of racial hatred or anti-Semitism. Rather, they reflect a broader moral critique that applies to all communities guilty of corruption, injustice, or arrogance. The Quran’s positive affirmations about the Israelites, combined with its call for justice and mercy, challenge the false notion that Islam promotes hostility toward Jews.

Quranic Critique of the Jewish Priesthood and Religious Elitism

The Quran critiques certain Jewish priests for exploiting the people through manipulative practices:

“O Messenger, do not grieve for those who hasten into disbelief — of those who say, ‘We believe’ with their mouths but their hearts believe not… They distort words from their proper usage… They consume unlawful gain…” (Quran 5:41-42) (15)

This criticism aligns with Jesus’ rebuke of the Jewish priesthood, where he condemned religious leaders for imposing heavy burdens on the common people without offering guidance or compassion:

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4) (16)

Rejection of Exclusivism and Racial Superiority

The Quran strongly challenges the notion that salvation or divine favour is reserved exclusively for the Jews:

“And they say, ‘None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian.’ This is their wishful thinking. Say, ‘Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.’” (Quran 2:111) (17)

Jewish scholars themselves have acknowledged this exclusivist tendency in some interpretations of Jewish theology. For instance, prominent Jewish thinker Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) once remarked on the perception of Jewish uniqueness, asserting that Jews possess a distinct identity that separates them from others. (19)

The Quran counters this notion, describing such exclusivism as spiritual arrogance rather than divine truth. The Quran warns against the misguided belief that salvation is confined to one group:

“The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of God and His beloved ones.’ Say, ‘Then why does He punish you for your sins? No! You are but humans from among those He has created…’” (Quran 5:18) (25)

Islam rejects the concept of racial or ethnic superiority, affirming instead that spiritual excellence is determined by piety and moral conduct.

Criticism of Financial Corruption and Usury

The Quran critiques a faction of Jewish priests for manipulating religious teachings to permit usury, despite its clear prohibition in earlier scriptures:

“And for their taking of usury while they had been forbidden from it, and their consuming of people’s wealth unjustly — We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.” (Quran 4:161) (28)

This critique finds support in historical accounts. Certain Jewish authorities reinterpreted the Torah’s prohibition on usury, limiting it to transactions between Jews while allowing exploitative practices toward non-Jews. (29) Such distortions of religious ethics reflect a broader critique found in both the Quran and the Old Testament.

The Crucifixion of Jesus: Clarifying Historical Misconceptions

The Quran addresses the claim that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion, noting that while some claimed to have killed him, they had not succeeded:

“…And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of God.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them…” (Quran 4:157) (31)

This verse serves as a corrective narrative, not an accusation. While both the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 5:30) (30) and the Talmud contain references to Jewish involvement in Jesus’ death, the Quran ultimately absolves the Jewish community from collective responsibility for the crucifixion. In doing so, the Quran dismantles a major foundation of anti-Semitic rhetoric that has persisted in Western narratives. (32)

Defence of Jesus and Mary’s Sanctity

The Quran severely and blatantly condemns slander against Jesus and Mary, defending their holiness:

“And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander.” (Quran 4:156) (33)

“And [mention] when the angels said, ‘O Mary, indeed God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.’” (Quran 3:42) (34)

This defence of Jesus and Mary underscores the Quran’s reverence for figures central to both Christian and Jewish traditions.

The Quran’s criticism of certain Jewish practices or beliefs is not an expression of anti-Semitism but rather part of a broader moral critique applicable to all communities that stray from ethical principles. The Quran both acknowledges the Israelites’ privileged status and holds them accountable for failing to uphold their covenant with God.

Those who accuse the Quran of anti-Semitism often overlook its praise of Jewish prophets, its acknowledgment of righteous Jews, and its shared ethical framework with earlier Abrahamic traditions. Such accusations are frequently rooted in misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation.

Jewish Criticism in the Bible: A Balanced Perspective

Criticism, when constructive and purposeful, serves as a tool for reflection and improvement. The Bible contains numerous instances of such criticism directed at the Israelites, emphasizing moral accountability rather than ethnic prejudice.

For example, the Bible recounts how many Hebrews rebelled against Moses, despite their profound reverence for him as a prophet and leader. (35) The Old Testament frequently highlights episodes where God’s displeasure was directed at the Israelites due to their transgressions and moral failings:

“But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10) (36)

The Bible portrays God as impartial, punishing wrongdoers regardless of their background. In this spirit, God’s judgment is shown to have fallen not only upon the Israelites but also on other groups such as the people of Damascus, (37) Edom, (38) Ammon, (39) and Moab. (40)

Jesus himself warned the Israelites that their privileged status could be revoked if they failed to live righteously:

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43) (42)

Similarly, the book of Ezra criticizes some Israelites for neglecting their civic duties and creating social unrest:

“Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem; they are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city… They will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will suffer.” (Ezra 4:12-15)

Not All Jews Are Transgressors

Both the Quran and the Bible acknowledge the presence of righteous Jews who uphold moral values. The Quran affirms:

“They are not all the same; among the People of the Book is a community standing in obedience, reciting the verses of God during the night while they prostrate.” (Quran 3:113) (43)

The Quran encourages learning from the righteous among the Jewish people. (44) However, it advises against befriending those who promote hostility and injustice. (45)

Muslims are encouraged to coexist peacefully with Jews, fostering mutual respect and cooperation. The Quran even permits Muslim men to marry Jewish women (47) and allows Muslims to consume meat prepared by Jews. (48) These legal allowances reflect Islam’s commitment to social harmony and interfaith coexistence.

Historical Testimony of Muslim-Jewish Coexistence

The Medina Charter, established by Prophet Muhammad in 622 AD, is an important historical testament to Muslim-Jewish cooperation. This constitution, recognized as one of the earliest written social contracts, guaranteed religious freedom and equal citizenship to Jewish tribes in Medina.

During the Middle Ages, while Jews faced severe persecution in Europe, they found refuge and humane treatment in Muslim lands. Philosopher Bertrand Russell highlights this distinction, noting that Muslims upheld principles of tolerance and justice when others did not. (49)

Both the Quran and Jewish scriptures uphold justice as the ultimate moral standard. (50) The Quran calls for cooperation in goodness and peacebuilding:

“For every community, We have appointed a code of law and a path. If God had willed, He could have made you one nation; but He tests you in what He has given you. So race to do good…” (Quran 5:48)

“O People of the Book! Come to a common word between us and you: that we worship none but God, associate no partners with Him, and that none of us take others as lords besides God.” (Quran 3:64)

The Quran further highlights the shared sanctity of religious spaces — synagogues, churches, and mosques — underscoring Islam’s recognition of the spiritual value of all faith traditions:

“And were it not that God repels some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques — wherein God’s name is much remembered — would have been demolished.” (Quran 22:40)

A Vision of Unity and Justice

Both the Quran and the Bible contain critiques of certain Jewish behaviours, yet these critiques are ethical rather than racial. They serve as moral warnings, addressing social corruption, injustice, and spiritual neglect rather than condemning an ethnic or religious identity. The Quran’s acknowledgment of righteous Jews, its call for social cooperation, and its historical promotion of peaceful coexistence reflect Islam’s balanced and just stance.

The Quran envisions a world where mutual respect and cooperation between community’s foster truth, justice, and peace. By emphasizing moral conduct rather than racial superiority, the Quran promotes unity in diversity.

The Quran asserts that it offers clarity where the Children of Israel’s scriptures were marked by disputes and inconsistencies:

“Indeed, this Quran relates to the Children of Israel most of that over which they disagree.” (Quran 27:76)

The Quran also references the political and social fluctuations in the history of the Children of Israel. It foretells periods of power, corruption, and eventual restoration:

“And We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture: ‘You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice, and you will become tyrannically arrogant. When the first of the two warnings came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours of great military might, and they probed [even] into the homes. And it was a warning fulfilled.’” (Quran 17:4-5)

The Quran highlights that the people of Israel will face continued challenges unless aided by God or supported by righteous conduct:

“They will be stricken with humiliation wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) with God or a covenant with the people. They have drawn upon themselves anger from God…” (Quran 3:112)

While some Israelites have faced hardship and humiliation, the Quran also emphasizes that a virtuous group within them remains steadfast:

“Yet they are not all alike: among the People of the Book are those who stand (for the right); they recite the verses of God during the night while they prostrate themselves (in prayer).” (Quran 3:113)

The Quran calls upon those who uphold moral values — whether from Jewish, Christian, or other backgrounds — to join forces in promoting justice and righteousness.

Remarkably, the Quran stands out as the only non-Jewish scripture that extensively praises the Children of Israel and acknowledges their prophetic legacy. (51) It declares that they too can attain salvation by returning to the essence of their own scripture and living righteously:

“If only the People of the Book had believed and been mindful (of God), We would have surely absolve them of their sins and admitted them into Gardens of Bliss.” (Quran 5:65) (52)

Far from being anti-Semitic, the Quran’s portrayal of the Israelites is deeply rooted in moral guidance and creative and constructive criticism. Its emphasis on justice, compassion, and shared spiritual values offers a noble vision for humanity. The Quran, like Torah, Injeel and Zabur, stands as a call to self-reflection, urging believers of all traditions to embrace righteousness, cooperation, justice and peace. (53)

Bibliography and Notes

1. Quran 44:32, 5:20, 2:47

2. Quran 44:32

3. Quran 5:20

4. Quran 2:100, 4:153, 5:12-13

5. Quran 7:167

6. Quran 17:4-5

7. Quran 5:21-26

8. Quran 17:6

9. Quran 2:80, 3:24

10. Hagigah 27a

11. Quran 2:79, 3:78, 4:46, 5:13, 5:41, 3:75, 5:64, 3:181

12. Jeremiah 8:8-9, 23:36, Isaiah 10:1

13. Quran 2:65, 5:60

14. Ezekiel 20:13-49, Nehemiah 13:17-18

15. Quran 9:34

16. Matthew 23:2-4

17. Quran 2:111-113

18. Israel Shahak, N. Mezvinsky, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, Pluto Press: London, 1999, p.58

19. E.Wiesel, Against Silence, Holocaust Library: New York, 1985, p.153

20. Quran 3:113-114, 3:199, 5:82, 2:62, 2:111, 2:113, 4:155-157

21. Quran 2:61, 3:181

22. Luke 11:50-51, Matthew 27:25, Matthew 23:30-31

23. Quran 5:64

24. Quran 9:30

25. Quran 49:13, 4:1

26. Exodus 6:4, Leviticus 20:26, 1 Chronicles 16:13, Psalms 105:6

27. Romans 8:16, 8:21, Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 1:5, 5:1

28. Quran 4:161, 6:146, 9:34

29. Quran 23:19-20, 4:161

30. Acts 5:30, 10:39

31. Quran 4:153-158

32. Quran 4:153-158

33. Quran 4:157, 4:156-159

34. Quran 21:91, 3:39, 4:170, 3:36-37

35. Exodus 16:19-20, 20:11-12, Deuteronomy 31:27, 9:21-24, Numbers 11:1-6, 14:1-4

36. Numbers 12:9-10, 14:10-34. For more Old Testament criticism of the Jews, see: 2 Kings 17:18, 23:27; Deuteronomy 9:6-11

37. Amos 1:9-10

38. Amos 1:11-12

39. Amos 1:13-14

40. Amos 2:1-3

41. Amos 2:4-8, 2:10-11, 9:9-10

42. See Quran 2:84-85

43. Quran 5:69, 2:62, 22:17, 3:113-115, 3:199

44. Quran 10:94, 16:43

45. Quran 5:57-59, 60:8

46. Quran 60:8, 4:135, 5:8, 3:64

47. Quran 5:5

48. Quran 5:5

49. Bertrand Russel, History of Western Philosophy, Routledge: London, 1946, p.324

50. Leviticus 9:15, Quran 5:8, 4:135

51. Quran 2:40, 2:47, 10:93, 44:30-32

52. Quran 2:62, 5:69, 22:17

53. Quran 42:13, 5:2, 5:8, 8:61, 30:21, 24:22, 49:13, 3:103, 17:70

V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Indian scholar specializing in Islamic humanism.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

The Healthcare System in Cuba

By Renée L. Quarterman

How a Tiny Island Defies U.S. Sanctions to Lead in Healthcare

In the heart of the Cuban capital, the Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller Teaching Polyclinic stands as a testament to the nation’s unique approach to healthcare: universal, free of charge, accessible, regionalized, community-centered, and deeply rooted in preventive medicine. Unlike the profit-driven models that dominate much of the world, Cuba’s system prioritizes equitable access, public health education, and early intervention.

At the core of this approach is a commitment to health promotion through education, disease prevention through habit management, and the integration of medical care and rehabilitation. By emphasizing proactive healthcare rather than reactive treatment, the system ensures that communities receive continuous, comprehensive support to maintain overall well-being.

During a recent visit to the Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller Teaching Polyclinic in Havana, the staff detailed how the system was developed and how it ensures that no Cuban, regardless of income, is left without medical care.

The Structure of Cuba’s Healthcare System

Cuba’s National Health System operates as a hierarchical, state-run model designed to ensure seamless coordination of care. At the top, the National Assembly oversees the Ministry of Public Health, which sets national policies and directs specialized health institutes that tackle broader public health concerns.

Below the Ministry, provincial governments, answering directly to the Assembly, oversee provincial health departments, which manage larger hospitals and specialized medical facilities. These provincial bodies, in turn, delegate responsibilities to municipal governments, which run the municipal health departments and smaller hospitals that serve local populations. At the community level, municipal health departments manage Cuba’s extensive polyclinic network, the cornerstone of the country’s healthcare system. These polyclinics not only provide specialized care, diagnostics, and emergency services, but they also coordinate closely with family doctor-and-nurse teams, who serve as the first point of contact for Cuban citizens.

These frontline providers play a crucial role beyond immediate treatment, emphasizing preventive care, home visits, and alternative therapies such as nutrition counseling, acupuncture, and plant-based medicine. Despite supply shortages exacerbated by U.S. sanctions, this integrated, top-down approach ensures that resources are distributed efficiently, maintaining consistent healthcare access nationwide.

Founded in 1974, the Dr. Ordoñez Carceller Polyclinic serves approximately 13,000 residents, offering care in medical specialties such as cardiology, orthopedics, fertility consultations, and genetic testing. The clinic is named after Dr. Cosme Ordoñez Carceller (1927–2019), an epidemiologist and pioneer of Community Medicine, who championed the polyclinic model that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. He played a key role in training young physicians in comprehensive general medicine and launched innovative programs like the Grandparents’ Circles, a senior care initiative so effective that it was replicated nationwide.

Unlike the profit-driven models that dominate much of the world, Cuba’s system prioritizes equitable access, public health education, and early intervention. The country’s healthcare approach is rooted in promoting health through education, preventing disease by managing habits, and ensuring comprehensive medical care and rehabilitation. Unlike the fragmented, for-profit U.S. healthcare model, Cuba’s integrated, community-based approach ensures better health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction. At polyclinics like Ordoñez Carceller, primary care is not just about treating illness but about education, prevention, and holistic well-being. This commitment to accessible, people-centered medicine reflects Cuba’s broader philosophy: that healthcare is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right.

Cuba’s Healthcare Achievements: A Global Leader in Public Health

Despite enduring over six decades of economic embargo, Cuba has achieved remarkable public health milestones. The following list highlights key accomplishments of both the Ordoñez Carceller Polyclinic and the Cuban healthcare system as a whole:

  • AIDS: Cuba identified HIV in 1983 and quickly set up a system to track and treat it. By 2014, it eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, a milestone the U.S. has yet to reach.
  • COVID Cuba developed two COVID vaccines, kept infections low, and even sent vaccines abroad.
  • Diabetes The nation has developed an effective medication that treats diabetic ulcers (skin wounds that result from poor blood sugar control)
  • Alzheimer’s Research: Cuba developed a drug that may help reverse Alzheimer’s effects.
  • Maternal-fetal medicine 99% of Cuban children are vaccinated, and the country has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S.
  • Nutrition While obesity is not an issue in Cuba, malnutrition is an increasing concern due to shortages caused by the U.S. embargo
  • Home health Doctors make house calls to care for the elderly and new mothers.

Profit vs. Public Health: How Medical Education and Healthcare Delivery Differ in Cuba and the U.S.

The paths to becoming a doctor in Cuba and the United States could not be more different. In the U.S., medical students take on crippling debt, often exceeding $200,000, before ever treating a patient. The pressure to repay loans steers many toward high-paying specialties, leaving primary care and rural communities underserved. The system is structured around financial incentives rather than public need, reinforcing the idea that medicine is a business first, a service second.

Cuba takes the opposite approach. Medical education is fully state-funded, allowing students to focus on patient care instead of profit. Training begins immediately after secondary school, with students placed in community clinics early in their careers. By the time they specialize, they have already served in primary care settings, ensuring that the system produces physicians committed to public health, not private wealth.

A Focus on Prevention, Not Just Treatment

Cuba’s prevention-first model stands in stark contrast to the reactive nature of U.S. healthcare. While American medicine often prioritizes treatment over lifestyle interventions, Cuban doctors routinely incorporate nutrition, exercise, and disease prevention strategies into care plans. The country’s polyclinic system ensures patients receive consistent, community-based healthcare rather than navigating a fragmented, for-profit system that often leaves them behind.

The U.S. Blockade: An Unjust Barrier to Health

The U.S. embargo continues to hinder Cuba’s healthcare system by restricting access to essential medicines, medical equipment, and scientific research. Pharmaceutical and shipping companies, fearing U.S. penalties, avoid business with Cuba—leading to severe shortages of everything from aspirin to cancer treatments.

Even medical journals and online resources are blocked due to U.S. restrictions, forcing Cuban researchers to work under constraints that most Western physicians never encounter.

Yet, rather than succumbing to these barriers, Cuba has turned to self-sufficiency, investing in biotechnology, vaccine development, and herbal medicine research to compensate for limited imports. If freed from economic sanctions, Cuba’s contributions to global healthcare innovation could expand exponentially.

For decades, Cuba has exported medical expertise worldwide, sending doctors to disaster-stricken and underserved regions. These global medical brigades have provided care to millions, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Yet, rather than supporting these humanitarian efforts, Washington has sought to dismantle them. In February 2025, the U.S. expanded sanctions on Cuba’s international medical program, further restricting its ability to send doctors abroad. The move reflects a deeper failure to understand Cuba’s model of solidarity-driven healthcare, a stark contrast to the U.S. system, where medicine is often dictated by profit rather than public service.

It is within this profit-driven framework that Cuba’s medical missions are misunderstood, labeled as “forced labor” by those who cannot imagine doctors choosing service over salary. The very idea of healthcare as a human right, rather than a commodity, challenges the U.S. worldview, leading to efforts to discredit and sanction those who practice it differently.

What Could Be If the Embargo Were Lifted

Cuba’s healthcare system is a model of resilience and innovation, but its full potential remains hindered by decades of U.S. sanctions. If given access to global resources and technology, Cuban researchers could expand medical advancements in infectious diseases, chronic illness treatment, and disaster response. For now, Cuban doctors continue their work—undaunted by external pressures, committed to the principle that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

Renée L. Quarterman, MD, FACS, is a surgical breast specialist. She is the director of Delaware Breast Care, a part of US Oncology.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

Ukraine – The lost war

By Ranjan Solomon

Ukraine and the US recently proposed a ceasefire agreement, but Russia has rejected it and offered an alternative proposal. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that while he agrees with the idea of a temporary ceasefire, it should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of the war. Putin’s alternative proposal undermines the US and Ukraine’s goals, as it would grant Russia significant advantages. Russia would be allowed to continue military recruitment, production of military equipment, and receipt of military aid, while Ukraine would be restricted from doing so.

Russia’s rejection of the ceasefire proposal and its counteroffer suggest that Putin is holding the proposal hostage and attempting to extract concessions before formal negotiations begin. This move is consistent with Russia’s previous actions, as it has been accused of using negotiations as a delaying tactic to continue its military advances. The situation on the ground remains tense, with Russian forces continuing their offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. Despite some Ukrainian counterattacks, Russian forces have made marginal gains in the Kupyansk direction.

Russia’s demands in the Ukraine conflict are multifaceted and have evolved over time. At its core, Russia seeks to halt Ukraine’s integration with Western institutions, particularly NATO. Russia will not stop shot at demanding halting NATO expansion. Russia wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and has called for a ban on NATO military exercises in Ukraine.

As far as territorial control goes, Russia demands recognition of its annexation of Crimea and control over the Donbas region. Russia seeks to limit Ukraine’s sovereignty by designating it as a “neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear” state. Russia demands protection for Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine, which could be used as a pretext for future interference.

As yet another pre-condition, Russia wants to demilitarize Ukraine, which would significantly weaken its ability to defend itself. These demands are non-negotiable for Russia, and it has shown willingness to use military force to achieve its objectives.

Ukraine’s stance on negotiations with Russia has been shaped by the ongoing conflict and the country’s commitment to sovereignty. Ukraine’s non-negotiable dimensions are in sharp contrast in multiple ways. Ukraine insists on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory. Ukraine declines to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea or the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine is stubbornly committed to its goal of joining NATO and will not abandon its bid for membership. This factor alone makes the entire peace process a non-starter although even NATO countries and some European countries do not want Ukraine in NATO. Of these Hungary and Germany are votaries against Ukraine being in NATO. The USA has also asserted this position. These alone make a NATO membership complicated for Ukraine.

Hungary Hungary’s Concerns has expressed concerns about the treatment of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine, particularly in the Zakarpattia Oblast. Hungary wants to ensure that the rights of the Hungarian minority, including language and cultural rights are protected. There are also historical border disputes between Hungary and Ukraine, which have contributed to tensions between the two countries.

Germany has traditionally had close economic and energy ties with Russia, and has been cautious not to antagonize Russia further. Germany has emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine, rather than a military one. Some in Germany have also expressed concerns about NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe, and the potential for it to be seen as provocative by Russia. These concerns highlight the complexities of European politics and the need for careful diplomacy in addressing the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Russia views NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, as a direct threat to its national security. Russia has historically sought to maintain a buffer zone between itself and NATO, and sees Ukraine as part of this buffer. On the flip side, Russia has also been accused of seeking to maintain its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, and views Ukraine’s NATO membership as a challenge to this influence.

Ukraine and its Western allies argue that Ukraine’s NATO membership is a matter of sovereignty, and that Russia has no right to dictate Ukraine’s foreign policy choices.

Ukraine and its allies also argue that NATO membership is necessary for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, particularly in the wake of the 2014 annexation of Crimea. NATO membership is seen as a way to bring stability and security to the region, and to counter Russian efforts to destabilize Ukraine.

Some argue that Ukraine’s NATO membership is part of a broader containment strategy aimed at reigning in Russian aggression and expansionism.  NATO membership is seen as a way to deter Russian aggression, by making it clear that any attack on Ukraine would be met with a collective response from the alliance. By promoting stability and security in Ukraine, NATO membership is seen as a way to promote stability in the broader region, and to reduce the risk of Russian aggression.

Russia has consistently demanded that Ukraine must not join NATO and has sought guarantees that the alliance will not expand further eastward. Ukraine, on the other hand, has been adamant about its right to join NATO and has received support from several Western countries.

The issue of NATO membership is closely tied to the broader conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and any resolution to the conflict will likely need to address this issue. However, it’s unclear what compromises might be possible, as both sides have taken firm stances on the matter.

Russia will not likely accept the very light and vague “readiness to accept” a ceasefire unless the promise to “immediately begin negotiations toward an enduring peace that provides for Ukraine’s long-term security” also addresses some of Russia’s key concerns about their long-term security. Russia is unlikely to accept a 30-day ceasefire that could just end with resumption of fighting with rested and resupplied Ukrainian armed forces. And they are unlikely to accept the possibility of endless extensions that the agreement offers that would freeze the situation in a manner that addresses none of the concerns that Russia went to war for.

Russia might be willing to accept a ceasefire agreement that includes promises of relief from some sanctions. They will likely insist on possession of all or some of the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as constitutional guarantees of protection of the ethnic Russians in the regions that remain part of Ukraine and of permanent Ukrainian neutrality, including no membership in NATO.

In return, Russia might we willing to negotiate the return of some of the annexed territory, to use unfrozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine, and to abandon their demand for the demilitarization of Ukraine on condition that weapons supplied by the West be restricted to defensive weapons with no long range capacity to strike inside Russian territory. Much of this is possible, since the U.S. and Russia have said that the “Istanbul protocol agreement” will be used as a “framework” and “guidepost” in the negotiations.

And there is some evidence that the ceasefire is coming with some preconditions. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed, for example, that the Saudi Arabia talks with Ukraine included discussions about “territorial concessions.” Zelensky said the same day that Ukraine “will not recognize any occupied territories as Russia’s.” But the refusal to formally and legally “recognize” the loss of the territory does not preclude the de facto recognition of the reality that those territories will remain under Russian control unless they can be won back through diplomacy at a later date. Zelensky has previously conceded that “De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We don’t have the strength to bring them back,” while still insisting that Ukraine “cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian.” The conundrum is that negotiations without those conditions could be unbearable for Putin, while negotiations with those conditions could be politically and domestically unbearable for Zelensky.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has baptized Putin as “manipulative” and said the Russian leader would either stall or try to kill the deal. US President Donald Trump once again signaled that Ukraine would have to make territorial concessions to Russia and that its desire to join the NATO alliance was a non-starter.

Trump described the negotiations as a “complicated” process of redrawing international boundaries: “You’re sort of creating the edge of a country.” A poll released from Reuters and Ipsos found that 56 percent of Americans felt Trump was “too closely aligned” with Russia. Peter Zalmayev, a political scientist in Kyiv and the executive director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, has told Al Jazeera he would be wary of any peace deal that would sacrifice Ukrainian territory. Russia currently occupies 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, and Zalmayev said surrendering that area would have a “severe impact on international law”. But then? What exactly constitutes the 20 percent? And will that 20 percent all of a sudden balloon to, let’s say, 25 percent?”

Zalmayev observes: “Ukraine might actually be at peace with the idea of exchanging that loss for a promise of solid guarantees of security, investment, economic development. Russia may push to retain control of those areas as well, if territorial concessions are on the table. Ukraine would have to cede those cities like Kherson, which fought back and was recaptured from the Russians at the cost of thousands of lives of soldiers… “It could create significant discontent on the part of the returning soldiers, veterans, et cetera. And that in itself, I think, Vladimir Putin is very cognizant of and actually would not mind chaos in Ukraine.”

Occupied territory is a ‘bargaining chip’ for Putinaccording to experts.Territorial concessions are not the main goal of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“For Vladimir Putin, territory is not the main issue. The war is not for territory. The war is for the future security architecture in Russia, and I think Putin quite genuinely sees this war as existential for Russia.” The longer the war stretches on, the more Russia will gain the upper hand. TheRussians have been continuing their slow advance in Ukraine for many months – for over a year. This seems to be what is probably going to continue if no peace deal is achieved at the moment.

Putin figures that with every month of fighting continuing, Ukraine is losing, and the deal that is feasibly attainable by Ukraine is getting worse with each month Ukraine continues to remain in the battle. Putin is just waiting for Kyiv to admit that there is no way out from this war except negotiations.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a significant asset in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Specifically, it has become a key data analysis tool that helps operators and war fighters make sense of the growing volume and amount of information generated by numerous systems, weapons and soldiers in the field. As AI use continues to evolve, its application on the current Ukrainian and future battlefields will translate into more precise and capable responses to adversary forces, movements and actions. Ukraine’s application of this technology in combat is made possible by both government and private sector efforts. On balance, Ukraine seems to be gaining more from using this technology, although it’s too early to predict whether such a technological edge will translate into significant gains against entrenched Russian positions. So far, Ukraine has managed to maintain a human-centric approach toward AI use, with operators making the final decisions. In my view, Ukraine’s Western partners are embracing that approach, but their militaries still need to agree on how to use AI after its debut in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

An absolutely crucial aspect of this war is the rapid evolution of combat technologies and the adaptation of key tactics and concepts by both sides. In this war, Ukraine has benefited from allies and partners offering their artificial intelligence technologies and concepts, which are used in several key roles. A key role of AI in Ukraine’s service is the integration of target and object recognition with satellite imagery, prompting Western commentators to note that Ukraine has an edge in geospatial intelligence. According to public sources, neural networks are used to combine ground-level photos, video footage from numerous drones and UAVs, and satellite imagery to provide faster intelligence analysis and assessment to produce strategic and tactical intelligence advantages.

Putin gave a ‘sensible’ reply to ceasefire deal

An eminent political science academic Nicolai Petro, has praised Putin’s guarded response to the 30-day ceasefire proposal as a smart one in Al Jazeera. He warned that the devil is always in the details, and that’s what Moscow is waiting to see,” Petro told Al Jazeera. Putin is nobody’s fool.  Putin asserted he agreed in general to the prospect of peace, but not without factoring “the root causes of the crisis”. These include the the oppression of the Russian-speaking minority within Ukraine and the unbridled expansion of NATO eastward. The latter was in violation of the Minsk agreements. It was the notorious Clinton who cheekily and stealthily led the expansion into Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Then came more countries: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. Finally, in came Finland with citizens lying to themselves that they were at risk of nuclear war. Finland imagines that because its borders stretch nearly 1340 kilometers. It has its significance because of a complex history and diplomatic relations.

Western policymakers should study the lessons of the Minsk agreements – and drop any illusions about the ways in which Russia supposedly acts. As Marie Dumoulin, director of the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations notes, “Russia has acted in and around past negotiations about Ukraine – the most prominent results of which were the Minsk agreements. These have long since become a byword for the West’s failure to deal with the post-2014 conflict in eastern Ukraine. In the debate relating to the Minsk agreements, they tend to either be branded a de facto capitulation to Russia or made out to be the main reason for Russia’s full-scale invasion of 2022, because of a supposed failure by Ukraine to implement these agreements (a view which echoes the Russian narrative, whether knowingly or not).

Gorbachev undid the Cold War under the condition that WARSAW would be wound up, and, in return, East and West Germany could be integrated. But, NATO held on claiming it was a mere defense alliance. It is now interventionist. It bombed Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and now Ukraine. It had no UN mandate for these wars and could be termed as a terrorist organization with a huge Military-Industrial Complex from which its host nations also gain. This is the hypocritical West. It has supported authoritarian regimes and enabled repression against Russia has its options. Alliances with China, Iran, Syria, will stave off threats from the post-colonial/still-colonial western bloc. It should work with allies in the Eastern bloc including Ukraine, Belarus, and Caucasus. At the economic level it must diversify so it becomes an economic power and overpower a compromised Europe devoid, as it is , of sterner stuff than some hand outs and no principles.

A robust BRICS can enable Russia to stave off western sanctions- in which area they are already cheating. Its exports must be prioritized to BRICS members like China and India. The New Development Bank (NDB) and the contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) are ways in BRICS can alter the dynamics of the way in which neo-colonial Europe plays its sullied political playoffs.

NATO can claim no credibility when it comes to democracy. Russia is right to reject any NATO presence in its borders. NATO leaders have lacked honesty and principle and are a violent militaristic bunch of allies.

Ranjan Solomon is a political commentator

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

The Monkey’s Tail: How Netanyahu’s Ambitions Expose Israel’s Vulnerabilities

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

“The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his tail,” warns a timeless Chinese proverb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, seems to neither heed the lessons of history nor the wisdom of such folk sayings.

By leading a vilification campaign against Egypt, the Israeli leader is further exposing his country’s vulnerabilities. This is yet another example of Israel’s inability to alter the political reality in Gaza, 17 months after it launched its devastating war on the Strip.

By targeting Egypt, Israel aims to project an image of prowess, and that it is unafraid to confront the most populous Arab nation. Yet, in doing so, it inadvertently exposes its own weaknesses. This behavior is wholly consistent with Netanyahu’s legacy of running away forward.

Long before the October 7, 2023, war, Netanyahu was riding a wave of political euphoria. At the time, his relentless climb to greater heights seemed justified. His Global South diplomacy was reversing decades of Israeli isolation, and his success in gaining international recognition without paying a significant political price earned him immense popularity at home.

In Israel, Netanyahu kept winning one election after another. His latest right-wing extremist coalition secured a comfortable majority in the Knesset facing little pushback. The extremists were poised to transform Israel from within, reconfigure the region, and, with the usual unconditional support from the United States, position Israel as a global power commanding respect and authority.

However, October 7 and Israel’s catastrophic failure on all fronts exposed Netanyahu’s tail as a failed leader. The crisis quickly manifested in global outrage as Israel carried out a genocidal war on the Palestinians, killing and wounding over 160,000 people in the course of 15 months. The Israeli tail was further exposed as the once-confident leader, who tirelessly promised to reshape the Middle East to fit Israel’s agenda, became a wanted criminal by the International Criminal Court on November 21, while his country faced investigations for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice.

Yet Netanyahu climbed even higher, doubling down on his approach. He insisted on continuing the war in Gaza, maintaining a military presence in Lebanon, and carrying out frequent and massive bombing campaigns in Syria.

Bravado aside, Netanyahu has still failed to achieve any of Israel’s stated objectives through the devastating war on Gaza—a war that has also cost Israel unprecedented losses and casualties. Meanwhile, the divisions among the political and military elites are deepening. The latest manifestation of this is the firing of many top military brass and the reordering of the army to align with Netanyahu’s political ambitions.

The more Israel’s vulnerabilities are exposed, the more Netanyahu and his allies intensify their threats—not only against Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria but also against Egypt. In fact, Egypt, which is not a party to the war and has been one of three mediators in ceasefire talks, has become the primary target of Israel’s new strategy aimed at ethnically cleansing Gaza’s population into the Sinai desert.

But how did this come about?

Egypt was hardly a factor in the Israeli war on Gaza. Yet, as the war on Gaza dragged on, with no possibility of a “total victory,” top Israeli officials began pointing fingers at Egypt.

The idea of taking over the Philadelphi Corridor, separating the city of Rafah in southern Gaza from the Egyptian border was first floated by extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Others, including Netanyahu himself, soon began parroting the same words.

In the media, the language took an even more foreboding turn, with some accusing Egypt of arming Hamas, or of not doing enough to stop the flow of weapons to the Palestinian resistance.

When Egypt rejected Israeli accusations and refused to accommodate Israel’s wish to ethnically cleanse Gaza, Israeli leaders began talking of an Egyptian military threat, alleging that Egypt was amassing troops at its border with Israel.

The original aim of roping Egypt into Israel’s failed war was meant to create a distraction from the battlefield. Eventually, however, the distraction turned into deflection: blaming Egypt for Israel’s inability to win the war or to displace the Gaza population.

To some extent, Netanyahu has succeeded in making Egypt part of the conversation on Gaza. With US President Donald Trump repeatedly proposing the displacement of Palestinians and the takeover of Gaza, the Israeli leader felt that, finally, he had a clear American commitment to export Israel’s problems elsewhere.

Even the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, used Egypt to distract from his own failure to mount a serious challenge to Netanyahu’s rule. On February 25, he proposed that Cairo oversee the Strip for a number of years at a conference in Washington.

While Palestinians, Arabs, and others reacted angrily to the Israel-US ethnic cleansing schemes, few paid attention to the fact that, historically, Israel has never sought permission to ethnically cleanse Palestinians. This was as true during the 1948 Nakba as it is today. Putting pressure on Arab countries to concede to Israel’s ethnic cleansing plans is the strongest sign yet of Israel’s weakness.

Tough talk and threats aside, Israel finds itself in a more vulnerable position than at any point in its history. It is clear that Israel is now using the Arabs to mask its own vulnerabilities. And though the monkey continues to climb, his tail has never been as exposed as it is today.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

UN inquiry verifies Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive violence; silence no longer an option

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Geneva – Israel’s systematic sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians is widespread and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to United Nations experts. Anew report released by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, also concludes that Israel has been responsible for acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

The long-standing impunity enjoyed by Israel, which has enabled it to continue its systematiccrimes against Palestinians, must end immediately due to the seriousness of the report’s contents.

In its report “‘More than a human can bear’: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since October 2023” released today (13 March 2025), the International Commission of Inquiry concludesthat the frequency, severity, and prevalence of sexual and gender-based crimes against Palestinian men and women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory show that Israel is increasingly and systematically employing sexual and gender-based violence as a deliberate strategy to destabilize Palestinian society, assert control, persecute its people, and contribute to their destruction.

According to the report, thousands of women have died in Gaza since 7 October 2023 as a result of Israeli military operations that have disproportionately affected civilians, especially Palestinian women and girls, many of whom were directly targeted.

The Commission of Inquiry asserts that Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian women and girls have also resulted in severe gender-related harm, including death from pregnancy and childbirth complications, as well as serious physical and psychological harm. This is because of deliberate Israeli policies that have destroyed the Gaza Strip’s health system and preventedwomen and girls of reproductive age from accessing reproductive healthcare.

Israel specifically targeted facilities related to sexual and reproductive health, which had both immediate and long-term effects on women’s physical and mental well-being as well as their capacity to procreate. These effects will have a lasting impact on the fertility of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a whole. All phases of reproduction—from pregnancy and childbirth to postpartum recuperation and breastfeeding—have been negatively impacted by Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war, blocking of humanitarian aid, and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Strip.

The Commission of Inquiry documented systematic patterns of gender-based and sexual violence against Palestinians, including crimessuch as rape, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, sexual torture, genital-targeted violence, and degrading treatment. As part of Israeli tactics meant to degrade and terrorize Palestinians, these infractions were photographed or recordedand shared online on social media platforms.

The report also noted that Palestinian men, women, and children have been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence across the occupied Palestinian territory, whether during arrest, in interrogation centers and prisons, or amid forced displacement in Gaza. These violations were systematically committed by Israeli security forces, as well as by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The Commission determined that the sexual and reproductive crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories since October 7, 2023, constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. It further concluded that some of these acts amount to genocide under the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention and The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The Commission confirmed that Israel has systematically targeted the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza through the deliberate destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals and in-vitro fertilization centers, significantly undermining childbirth within the Palestinian community. Additionally, Israel imposed a comprehensive siege, preventing access to essential humanitarian aid, including food, water, and critical medications and equipment necessary for safe pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care. These actions have resulted in irreversible long-term effects on the mental health, physical well-being, and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians in Gaza as a group.

Furthermore, Israel used starvation as a method of warfare and systematically denied exit permits for patients, particularly women suffering from serious illnesses such as gynecological cancer, exacerbating their suffering and putting their lives at grave risk. The Commission concluded that these combined policies amount to the deliberate imposition of living conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians, in whole or in part—an act explicitly classified as genocide under Article 6 of the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.

The report of the UN committee is entirely in line with the documentation of human rights organisations, including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, during the last 17 months in the Gaza Strip. Despite the fact that Israeli crimes against civilians in the Strip have unquestionably included elements of genocide, most members of the international community have shamefully done nothing to stop the crime or hold Israel and its allies responsible for it.

Euro-Med Monitor has previously documented Israel’s systematic use of sexual violence, including rape and other forms of sexual crimes. These violations are a clear part of a larger Israeli campaign of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people, and Israel should therefore be added to the list of organisations that engage in sexual violence during times of conflict.

In October 2024, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor published a report documenting the various elements of the crime of genocide, including the imposition of measures aimed at preventing childbirth within the Palestinian community. The report found that Israeli occupation forces have acted with prior and specific intent through deliberate measures to prevent births in Gaza as part of the crime of genocide. These measures include expanding the killing of individuals of reproductive age, forcibly displacing and separating Palestinian families, destroying embryo preservation laboratories, dismantling the healthcare system, and imposing harsh living conditions through starvation and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid.

The International Commission’s report ought to be a wake-up call for all pertinent states and organisations to take immediate action to fulfil their responsibilities under the Genocide Convention, rather than just sitting on paper. The continued inaction of these states and entities regarding Israeli crimes has directly or indirectly contributed to the ongoing crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and is thus legally and morally indefensible.

Many people of conscience have lost faith in the international system and the principles of justice and equality. This loss is justified, given the international community’s persistent disdain for the reports and recommendations of competent independent entities, as well as its preference for political interests and considerations over moral and legal obligations. This also creates the necessary conditions for tensions and conflicts to continue and escalate.

In line with their international commitments, states must enact economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions to force Israel to stop its crimes, in light of the overwhelming evidence that it has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. The financial assets of officials implicated in crimes against Palestinians must be frozen, trade privileges and bilateral agreements suspended, arms exports and purchases from Israel prohibited, and military cooperation with Israel suspended. States must also refrain from interfering with the International Criminal Court’s work in any manner and assist it in its continuing investigations into the situation in Palestine.

To be in compliance with international law, the international community must take immediate action to ensure the Palestinian people’s right to live in freedom and dignity, support their right to self-determination, and eradicate the underlying causes of their suffering and continuous oppression over the past 76 years, i.e. occupation and ethnic cleansing. They must also seek to lift Israel’s illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, ensure accountability for Israeli perpetrators, guarantee the right of Palestinian victims to redress and compensation, end the illegal Israeli occupation and violent settler colonialism imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and demolish the system of isolation and apartheid imposed by Israel and its allies against Palestinians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

14 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org