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Scroll.in
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
May nonfiction: Six newly published books that present the many ways of seeing India
All information sourced from publishers. Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel, Azad Essa In the past decade, under the Narendra Modi-led government, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with the country's sharp turn towards authoritarianism and Hindutva, little attention has been paid to the way India has leaned on Israeli weapons, military tactics and technical support to build its own ethnonationalist state. As a leader of the much-lauded Non-Aligned Movement, India was once perceived as a pillar of pro-Palestine solidarity. New Delhi had equated Zionism with racism, after all. It was the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. How, then, did Israel become a cornerstone of India's foreign policy? If India was an opponent of colonialism and apartheid, why does its agenda in Kashmir look so similar to Israel's settler-colonial project in Palestine? And how did a traditional supporter of the Palestinian cause become such a willing partner to Israel's genocide in Gaza? Hostile Homelands puts India's relationship with Israel in its historical context, looking at the origins of, and connections between, Zionism and Hindutva. It examines the nature of India's changing position on Palestine and its growing military-industrial relationship with Israel from the 1990s onwards. The Last Bench, Adhir Biswas, translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy A village barber's son who migrated with his family from erstwhile East Pakistan to India in 1967 revisits his childhood in the lost land. When his father set up a hair salon in the local weekly market near their new home, it fell to the little boy to seek out customers and bring them to the shop for a haircut or a shave. But the father was keenly aware that only an education could offer his boy a way out of the penury that had been their lot. Disappointed in his older sons who had both dropped out of school, he now pinned all his hopes on the youngest son. But school was brutal on the young boy who was always shown his 'place', the last bench, where he sat alone, with his cracked slate and a wet rag to wipe it clean. His only refuge was his ailing mother, with whom he sometimes forayed into the woods and up to the outskirts of the village. They saw the world through each other's eyes. And after her passing, he found another constant companion: Bhombol, the dog that followed him like a shadow. The Last Bench is a poignant childhood memoir about what it means to be invisible in an unequal society, about the exchanges between man and nature, and most of all, what it means to lose those whose absence changes everything. Adivasi or Vanvasi: Tribal India and the Politics of Hindutva, Kamal Nayan Choubey Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, popularly known as Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram or VKA is the tribal wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). As the largest tribal organisation in the country, it works in many areas of Kerala, Jharkhand and the North-east of India. Till the late 1970s, VKA's work was limited to a few districts of Chhattisgarh (then Madhya Pradesh), Jharkhand (then Bihar), and Odisha but it has gradually and continuously expanded its footprint in different parts of the country. It is noteworthy that from its inception, VKA focused on spreading Hindu values by organising religious rituals in tribal areas and working in the area of education and hostels. It has tirelessly worked to provide medical help to the tribals from the mid-1960s. However, after the late 1970s, it started to work in different aspects of tribal communities' lives. By the 1990s, it also formally began to raise questions related to the rights of tribal communities over forest land and its resources. Exploring its genesis, historical journey, the nature of ideological discourse, and various functions of the VKA, this book opens a window to the contribution of an organisation, which largely remained untold and therefore unknown. Hijacked: A True Story of Surviving 331 Days with Somali Pirates, Pralav Dhyani On 11 April 2010, Pralav Dhyani, a freshly minted deck officer in training on a cargo merchant vessel, was contemplating the intense discipline life at sea would require from him, when armed pirates forcefully boarded the ship off the coast of Africa. As confusion ensued, one thing became clear to Pralav: the MV RAK Afrikana was being hijacked. It was the beginning of a nightmare that Pralav – then all of 21 – has never been able to forget. The crew was taken to an obscure location in Somalia, from where negotiations commenced with their ship's company for their release. For 331 days, the small band of men, who had come together from different countries to earn a living for their families, stuck together through mock executions and mental torture, terror and betrayal, as a complex web of politics and piracy revealed itself to them. It would be eleven months before Pralav and his crewmates would be free again. Learning To Make Tea For One, Andaleeb Wajid In the summer of 2021, India was throttled by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals were running out of oxygen and the daily news recorded the soaring death count. Families were torn apart as beloved ones were quarantined or confined in intensive care units and lost to the deadly virus – leaving survivors without even a chance to say goodbye. In that cruel summer, Andaleeb Wajid lost her mother-in-law, and then just five days later, her husband, even as she was hospitalised with COVID herself. Wajid's grief struggled to find words as she returned to a home that was shorn of the love that had once inhabited it and was now empty, but for her two children. Wajid finally turned to her writing to make sense of it all. She found herself wanting to tell the story of her life and her loss. She chronicled her family life, of growing up as a cherished daughter of a father whom she lost too early. She wrote about her marriage, the happy companionship that marked it, and the many ways in which her husband and she looked at life so very differently. She described the incredible joys and the unbearable pain of motherhood too. Learning to Make Tea for One is Andaleeb Wajid's journey through her grief. Chasing a Conjecture: Inside the Mind of a Mathematician, Chandrashekhar B Khare A conjecture is like an unfulfilled fantasy in the world of pure mathematics, where the most fantastic things happen routinely. Proving a conjecture is like trying to make a fantasy come true, and it can consume a mathematician for years, just as the effort to produce a great work of fiction, music or art can take over the life of its creator. This unusual, beguiling memoir is about such a journey. It begins with a child growing up in Mumbai, fascinated by mathematics, and ends with a man, just turned 40, winning a prestigious prize for proving, with a fellow traveller, one of the most important conjectures in number theory – the branch of mathematics that studies whole numbers.
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Mohammed bin Salman wants an alternative to Trump's Gaza plan – but one that most benefits Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has suddenly experienced a diplomatic awakening after lukewarm engagement with the conflict in Gaza. Today, leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will gather in Riyadh to discuss Donald Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza. (Keen to be viewed as a global deal maker, Saudi Arabia will also be hosting negotiations over Ukraine this week.) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was alarmed by Trump's outrageous 'Riviera plan' to reconstruct Gaza following eviction of its people to neighbouring countries. Alongside Arab leaders, he hopes to propose an alternative plan with the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem its capital at its core. The crown prince has insisted that there will be no normalisation of Israel without a Palestinian state. In the short term, he may succeed in preventing the eviction of Palestinians from Gaza and their proposed resettlement in Egypt, Jordan, and even Saudi Arabia. The summit promises to raise enough funds for reconstruction while leaving Palestinians in temporary shelters on their own land. The urgent and more challenging item of the summit's agenda will be finding an alternative power to replace Hamas as the government of Gaza. Prince Mohammed is a sworn enemy of several Islamist movements, but his disdain for Hamas is more profound. He considers it responsible for derailing his plan to complete normalisation with Israel after 7 October 2023. The crown prince's determination to normalise relations with Israel springs out of domestic interest. Saudi Arabia would like to see the transfer of Israeli technology, military equipment, intelligence and develop closer trade relations. More importantly, he hopes such a move would lead to closer security ties with the United States. In the long term, Prince Mohammed is unlikely to be successful for two reasons. First, Israel will prove a major obstacle, given that Benjamin Netanyahu unequivocally refuses to accept Palestinian statehood and sovereignty. Second, an alternative plan that completely sidelines Hamas has very little chance of succeeding. The political organisation may give up governance in Gaza in return for reconstruction, but it will not simply vanish. Unlike in 1982, when the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) under Yasser Arafat was pushed out of Lebanon to Tunisia after the Israeli occupation of the south of the country, Hamas is fighting on its own land. The subsequent Lebanese Christian massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila after the departure of the PLO is still alive in Palestinian memory. Hamas will not accept any plan that will bring about an end to Palestine as it is imagined by several generations of Palestinian exiles around the world and the people of Gaza who endured more than 15 months of slaughter. The Saudi alternative plan is driven by pure self-interest, namely, to mitigate against the destabilisation of several Arab regimes, itself included. Forced eviction of Palestinians will inevitably spread Hamas, its fighters and political Islam – mainly the Muslim Brotherhood – into countries that have been deliberately and successfully suppressing such ideology. None of the Arab regimes want to see Hamas fighters and their extended communities living in their countries. The Muslim Brotherhood ideology invokes governance according to Islam, but at the same time talks about democracy. It is a global movement that appeals to many young Muslims, including Saudis, aspiring toward some kind of Islamic democratic rule, according to their own interpretation of both Islam and democracy. As such it immediately threatens monarchical rule. Prince Mohammed has focused on economic and social liberalisation, both of which included suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood variant of Islamism. Any attempt to evict Palestinian Hamas will definitely revive political Islam. Moreover, should Palestinians be forced to leave their territory en masse, Prince Mohammed fears the reaction of the Saudi public and being portrayed as the Arab monarch who 'sold Palestine'. Saudi citizens have more solidarity with Palestinians than their regime as the latter had been indoctrinating them to be leaders among Arabs and Muslims when it suited the monarchy's interest. Prince Mohammed has since pivoted to adopting slogans such as 'Saudi Arabia for Saudis' and 'Make Saudi Arabia Great', echoing Trump and hoping to divorce Saudis from regional and global Muslim causes. However, Saudis have already internalised their religious duty to side with Arabs and Muslims. So far, Prince Mohammed has pushed to repress solidarity by jailing those who openly support or call for demonstrations on behalf of Palestinians. It is still unclear what the governance of Gaza will look like. Despite the destruction, neither Prince Mohammed nor other Arab countries can successfully decide the fate of Gaza without engagement with the Palestinians themselves. While many Arab countries have already signed normalisation agreements with Israel, none have brought peace. In fact, the opposite has happened, for a simple reason. Palestinians themselves were sidelined. Only an agreement between Israel and Palestinians that guarantees Palestinian statehood and sovereignty will bring about a long-lasting peace. The 'Saudi awakening' will pass without creating the conditions for this peace if all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, are not sitting at the negotiation table. Madawi al-Rasheed is a fellow of the British Academy and a visiting professor at the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics. She is the author of The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia
The Guardian
06-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Worst nightmare': Egypt and Jordan put in impossible bind by Trump Gaza plan
International outrage in recent days has focused on Donald Trump's proposal that the US take 'ownership' of Gaza, and that more than two million Palestinians be displaced to allow the territory to be transformed from 'a demolition site' into a 'riviera' in the Middle East. In Jordan and Egypt, the demand that both countries accept huge numbers of Palestinians from Gaza – potentially on a permanent basis – has prompted equal concern. Leaders of both countries immediately rejected the proposal, and the Jordanian king, Abdullah II, and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, are heading for Washington in an attempt to convince Trump to change course. 'They are terrified that an Israeli policy of population transfer will actually become real,' said Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow of the Middle East programme at the Chatham House thinktank in London. But Abdullah and Sisi know too that they are vulnerable to Trump's trademark transactional style of geopolitics as their countries' economies and security depend heavily on huge levels of US aid and trade. Jordan accepted huge waves of displaced Palestinians in 1948 during the wars surrounding the foundation of Israel, and in 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. A large proportion of Jordan's population – probably more than half – is of Palestinian origin, with many still classed as refugees. 'It would be a repeat trauma of an already traumatised people. The Nakba [the displacement of 1948] is still very fresh in the collective memory of the Arab people,' said Katrina Sammour, an independent Amman-based analyst. The role, presence and the future of Palestinians in Jordan is one of the country's most politically sensitive issues. In 1970, armed factions of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation came close to wresting control of the kingdom from the current king's father, Hussein. Though a repeat is highly unlikely, the events 55 years ago have not been forgotten. Jordanian officials have been warning of the consequences of displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the war, as violence there has ramped up and Israeli settlements expanded. An effort to force Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan – long an ambition of Israel's right wing – would be a red line that would be seen as a 'declaration of war' by their militarily powerful neighbour, the officials have said. 'The Jordanians are very worried that what happens in Gaza [could open] the door to the annexation [by Israel] of the West Bank,' said Quilliam. Authorities in Jordan have also faced months of domestic protests calling for stronger measures in support of Palestinians and any move to comply with Trump's demands would appear a total betrayal of the Palestinian cause. But Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel and close military and economic ties with the US. It also receives massive and vital financial aid from Washington, giving Trump significant leverage. Officials in Amman privately refer to the kingdom's 'balancing act'. 'The questions of who counts as Jordanian and what it means to be Jordanian are highly combustible,' said Alia Brahimi, a regional expert at the Atlantic Council. 'So there's the demographic issue, but also the fact that Trump is drawing attention to King Abdullah's ties to Israel and his alliance with and dependence on the US. Both matters have the very real potential to destabilise the Jordanian monarchy.' Another issue is practical. The Jordanian economy has suffered through the war and public services are stretched to breaking point. Security services too have struggled to contain Islamist extremists, while support for more moderate Islamists has apparently surged. 'A plan like this needs years of preparation … It could be a security nightmare, and Jordan would be seen as betraying the Palestinian cause,' said Sammour. In Cairo, a major concern is security, especially in the highly sensitive zone of the Sinai desert where some have suggested vast refugee camps could be built. Egypt has adamantly refused to allow Palestinians in Gaza to flee into its territory during the 16-month war there, fearing a massive and destabilising influx that could then become permanent. Brahimi said: 'Amongst a forcibly displaced population there are always going to be militants, whether Hamas or new groups looking to stand up for a new generation of brutalised and disenfranchised Palestinians. If they were to operate from Egyptian soil this would endanger and likely upend Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, but it would also energise and embolden local militant groups that are opposed to the Egyptian regime.' Egypt also has deep economic problems, despite receiving massive amounts of aid from the US and elsewhere. 'Egypt is a huge country but this would come with a huge … economic cost,' said Quilliam. 'The Egyptian economy already has massive problems.' Security services in Egypt struggle to keep a lid on discontent and officials fear new instability could lead to another mass protest movement. Brahimi said: 'As with King Abdullah of Jordan, there's the potential for political calamity too, in that neither Arab leader can afford to be complicit in the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Frankly, Trump has given voice to the worst nightmares of the leaderships in Amman and Cairo.' Trump appears to disagree. In the press conference with Netanyahu, the US president said Abdullah and Sisi would come around to his proposal and 'open their hearts [to] give us the kind of land that we need to get this done and people can live in harmony and in peace'.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Memo to Starmer: Stand up for the two-state solution
With a smiling and evidently self-satisfied Israeli PM Netanyahu beside him, President Trump on Tuesday made an announcement on the future of Gaza and the West Bank, which, even by his standards, was nothing short of outrageous. Driving a coach and horses through international law and norms, Trump's words amounted to planning the ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of some two million Palestinians from Gaza and called into question the sovereignty of the West Bank. It was his remarks about the West Bank that were most troubling. Sovereignty in the West Bank is not up for debate. The West Bank, along with Gaza, are the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They belong to Palestinians. Should the US move in to somehow 'own' the territory in Gaza and embark on a reconstruction programme (paid for presumably by Arab Gulf states) to turn Gaza into a ' Middle East Riviera,' and the West Bank be handed over to Israel, this would be the end of the state of Palestine and the long prized two-state solution. Trump has managed to achieve a rare example of international consensus, with virtually all world powers condemning his harebrained idea. In the UK, David Lammy stated that 'we must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank'. Within the region, Saudi Arabia issued an 'unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, the annexation of Palestinian lands, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land'. Jordan and Egypt have also made clear that they will have no part in these plans, such as they are. As for peace, Trump's announcement, should he follow through, will likely undermine talks on the second stage of the Gaza ceasefire. This fragile truce must hold. But where a shared basis for further ceasefire talks had been reached after months of negotiations, Trump's comments now risk throwing that into jeopardy. I fear for the hostages as much as I do for the Palestinian lives in that scenario. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation are also highly suspicious of the US giving the green light to Israel's annexation of the West Bank, something that would doubtless lead to yet more conflict. And more generally, any hopes the US and Israel might have had for the great 'prize' of normalisation of Israeli relations with Riyadh will surely be ditched. In all, this is a recipe for more conflict and while Netanyahu might be able to cling on to power it will do absolutely nothing for Israel's security. It will also give succour to bad actors and risk inflaming already tense inter-community relationships, including in our communities in the UK. That is why we join with our allies in Europe, the Arab world and the Global South to do everything we can to dissuade Trump and his cohorts from enacting this crazy plan, using all peaceful and diplomatic means at our disposal. A UN Security Council emergency meeting must be called immediately to make this clear. We must condemn in the strongest terms this flagrant attempt to ride roughshod over international law and forcibly displace a people from their homeland. Enough war, destruction and death in the Middle East. We must preserve the ceasefire and give the Palestinians a political horizon for their own state that will restore hope in this blighted region. One thing that the UK government could do now is to join the 145 UN member states that have already recognised that state on 1967 lines, something that parliament called for a decade ago. This government keeps talking about recognition 'at a time that is conducive to a peace process '. This statement may have made sense in the 1990s but it no longer fits. What we are now talking about is ensuring the survival of Palestine as a country. Recognition would send a clear message to the US administration and the Netanyahu regime that we will have no truck with land grabs of the sort that Trump's ideas imply. Britain has a proud history, contributing to the establishment of the international rules-based order. What Trump is doing is anathema to that – a total contradiction of British values both at home and abroad. So, my message to the British government and the international community is simple. If you say you believe in international law and a two-state solution, now is the time to act like it.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's plan for Gaza might gift Israel a lasting peace
Soon after his inauguration, President Trump proposed a controversial plan that sent shock waves across the Middle East. He suggested to relocate roughly a million and half Palestinians out of Gaza and into neighbouring countries, while Gaza undergoes comprehensive reconstruction. On the surface, this seems unrealistic. However, the war sparked by Hamas's massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of some 250 people on October 7, 2023, has left Gaza in ruins, which may require a radical solution. Trump's 'out of the box' idea is also a practical way to enhance Israel's security. Temporarily removing civilians could weaken Hamas's grip over Gaza, reduce its recruitment pool, and enable a buffer zone that minimises risks of attacks. Removing civilians from the war-zone would also allow the Israel Defence Forces to conduct targeted operations against terrorists, with fewer civilian casualties. At a time when Hamas is reportedly regaining power, this could be an effective way to weaken it further. The Israeli government has not formally responded. However, the strongest support for this has come from far-right figures, including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who see this as an opportunity to rebuild Jewish settlements in Gaza – a fringe view not reflective of official Israeli policy, nor supported by the majority of Israelis. Hamas, unsurprisingly, has rejected the plan. The terror organisation has suffered heavy losses, its leadership decimated, infrastructure and weapons arsenal largely destroyed, and political control weakened. Despite attempting to project an image of triumph, the sight of a mass Palestinian exodus would damage its narrative and further erode its standing. Trump can also expect pushback from regional leaders. Jordan's King Abdullah expressed concern over the prospect of absorbing a large number of Palestinian refugees for an unknown time period. Jordan is home to more than two million Palestinians who fled during the 1948 and 1967 wars. Some still live in refugee camps, while others have integrated into Jordanian society. Violent clashes between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Jordanian government in the 1970s, mean that King Abdullah may worry about reigniting old tensions, especially if terrorists infiltrate into Jordan among the civilian refugees. Egypt shares some of these concerns, given the close ties between the Muslim Brotherhood – a banned terrorist organisation that has considerable presence in Egypt – and Hamas. Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab host countries would also be wary of appearing to collaborate with Israel and the US in permanently relocating Palestinians out of Gaza. Convincing Arab leaders to accept Palestinians for an unspecified period would be a monumental challenge. Trump would need to provide assurances that the relocation is temporary, that Israel will not use it as an opportunity to establish settlements in Gaza, and that additional security and financial assistance will be offered. Egypt and Jordan's heavy reliance on US aid gives Trump potential leverage. In 2024, Egypt received $1.3 billion in military aid, while Jordan received approximately $1.45 billion in 2023. If determined, Trump could use this dependency to push his plan forward. Trump's bold idea sounds far-fetched. However, providing Palestinian civilians with safe accommodation and access to health care, education and other essential services, while simultaneously weakening Hamas and establishing an alternative, moderate leadership in Gaza, could not only help rebuild Gaza, but lay the foundation for better relations between the sides. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
