Asaduddin Owaisi Jai Palestine Slogan Row: When All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi took oath as an MP today on Tuesday (25 May), he raised the slogan ‘Jai Palestine’ in the Parliament. There is a lot of uproar over this. He tried to defend his slogan by citing Mahatma Gandhi.
He said, “Other members also keep saying a lot of things. I said Jai Bhim, Jai Telangana Jai Palestine. How is this wrong? Please tell us the provision of the constitution. I have said what I had to say. Read what Mahatma Gandhi had said about Palestine.” So let us know what Mahatma Gandhi had said?
Mahatma Gandhi gave this advice to the Jews
In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi presented his perspective on the plight of the Jewish community in Germany. He advised the Jews to “choose the path of non-violence to vindicate their position on earth.” Gandhi also compared it to the Indian Satyagraha movement in South Africa, where Indians had carried out peaceful protests without the support of other countries.
In the weekly magazine Harijan, an article titled “Mr. Gandhi on the Jewish Problem” was published in November 1938. In it, Gandhiji said, “Justice does not make one blind to the requirements of justice. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs to the necessity of returning Palestine to the Jews, either partially or wholly, as their national home. It is wrong to enter Palestine under the shadow of the British gun. There are hundreds of ways to reason with the Arabs, if they (the Jews) will renounce the aid of the British bayonet.”
Gandhiji showed sympathy towards the Jews
In this article, he said, “My sympathies are with the Jews. I have known them since my days in South Africa. It is through them that I have come to know about the atrocities committed against them. They have been the untouchables of Christianity. If I have to make a comparison, I would say that the way Christians have treated Jews, Hindus have treated untouchables in the same way.”
Gandhi further said, “What is happening in Palestine today cannot be justified under any code of morals. The Mandate has no sanction other than the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs to the point that Palestine may be restored either partially or wholly to the Jews as their national home.”
‘Jews should not be forced upon Arabs’
He wrote, “A better approach would be to insist on fair treatment of Jews, no matter where they were born or raised. Jews born in France are French in the same sense that Christians born in France are French. If the Jews want a place in Palestine, would they accept forced removal from other parts of the world where they are today? Or would they want a house or two where they can live as they please?”
He further wrote, “And now a word to the Jews living in Palestine. I have no doubt that they are proceeding in the wrong way. Palestine of the biblical concept is not a geographical area. It is in their hearts. But if they have to consider Palestine of geography as their national home then it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the British gun. No religious work can be done with the help of bayonets or bombs. They can settle in Palestine only with the goodwill of the Arabs. They should try to change the hearts of the Arabs. The same God rules the hearts of the Arabs who rules the hearts of the Jews.”