Squaring the Circle: Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home

Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Communism & Socialism, Democracy
Cover of the book Squaring the Circle: Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home by Professor P R Kumaraswamy, KW Publishers
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Author: Professor P R Kumaraswamy ISBN: 9789387324077
Publisher: KW Publishers Publication: October 15, 2017
Imprint: KW Publishers Language: English
Author: Professor P R Kumaraswamy
ISBN: 9789387324077
Publisher: KW Publishers
Publication: October 15, 2017
Imprint: KW Publishers
Language: English

When it comes to Jews, Jewish nationalism and their aspirations in Palestine, even Mahatma Gandhi was not infallible. His abiding empathy for the Jews was negated by his limited understanding of Judaism and Jewish history. His perception of the Palestine issue and his support for the Arabs was rooted in the domestic Indian context. The conventional understanding that Gandhi was ‘consistently’ opposed to Zionism and the Jewish aspirations for a national home in Palestine does not correspond with his later remarks. While demanding Jewish nonviolence both against Hitler and in Palestine, Mahatma was prepared to understand, the ‘excesses’ of the Arabs who were facing ‘overwhelming odds.’ His position on the domestic situation largely influenced his stand viz-à-viz Palestine and hence his demand for Jews to abandon their collaboration with imperialism and follow the path of negotiation should be read within the Indian context. So long as India pursued a recognition-without-relations policy toward Israel, one could rest on Gandhi’s shoulders and adopt a selfrighteous attitude. However, can one rely on the Gandhian paradigm to explain India’s new-found bonhomie toward Israel without sounding selective, hypocritical or both?

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When it comes to Jews, Jewish nationalism and their aspirations in Palestine, even Mahatma Gandhi was not infallible. His abiding empathy for the Jews was negated by his limited understanding of Judaism and Jewish history. His perception of the Palestine issue and his support for the Arabs was rooted in the domestic Indian context. The conventional understanding that Gandhi was ‘consistently’ opposed to Zionism and the Jewish aspirations for a national home in Palestine does not correspond with his later remarks. While demanding Jewish nonviolence both against Hitler and in Palestine, Mahatma was prepared to understand, the ‘excesses’ of the Arabs who were facing ‘overwhelming odds.’ His position on the domestic situation largely influenced his stand viz-à-viz Palestine and hence his demand for Jews to abandon their collaboration with imperialism and follow the path of negotiation should be read within the Indian context. So long as India pursued a recognition-without-relations policy toward Israel, one could rest on Gandhi’s shoulders and adopt a selfrighteous attitude. However, can one rely on the Gandhian paradigm to explain India’s new-found bonhomie toward Israel without sounding selective, hypocritical or both?

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