By Rajan Narayan

AT the end of the Second World War the United States and its allies carved out a separate nation for the Jews. The Jews are a rich enterprising community which controls a large part of the American and European economies. Like the Marwadi and Gujarati communities in India, they are also ruthless moneylenders. The image of the Jewish character was epitomised by William Shakespeare in his character of Shylock in the play “The Merchant of Venice.” Shylock demands his pound of flesh.
It is perhaps envy which sparked the holocaust in Germany. There is no forgiving the mass murder of the Jews and the backlash was to create a safe sanctuary for the persecuted Jews. England carved out Israel for the Jews out of the land belonging to Muslim Palestinians.
The Gaza strip is a buffer zone between Israel and Palestine and Israel has been encroaching on Palestinian land bit by bit and into Gaza. There have been frequent attacks on the Palestinians settled in Gaza since expansion has been the thrust of Israel which is a most aggressive state armed with the most up-to-date war equipment, technology.
There is no doubt that Hamas is a radical Palestinian terrorist organisation. But its invasion of Israel is retaliation for atrocities committed by Israel turns it the equivalent of Taliban in Afghanistan. Every Israeli youth has to serve in the Israeli defence forces for two years once they reach 21 years of age.
We in Goa have seen the aggressiveness of Israelis in the behaviour of charter tourists. Drugs escape from harsh military training. Israel has retaliated against the Hamas attack. Ready for ground attack served evacuation orders to the one million residents of Gaza. This could lead to mass migration. Not much space for Gaza civilian residents. There is a demand for an independent Palestine from the likes of Israel. This is strongly opposed even by the Sheikhs of the Gulf. The Sheikhs do not want a democratic Palestine state.
It is only Iraq and Iran which are backing Hamas. Israel has the right to defend itself but no right to target civilians. The United States is the biggest supplier of arms to Israel given the fact that wealthy Jews in America fund bloodthirsty Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli PM has declared that he will destroy Hamas.
Historically, India has supported Palestine. Even former BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee justified the demand for a separate Palestine. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has supported Israel because of lots of Israelis of Indian origin residing there. When Israel was formed, many Jews from India migrated. Also, popular religious tourist destination are in the Holy Land of Jerusalem and tourism from India is constant, over a thousand Indian tourists have to be evacuated. More are trapped in the current war zone.
There is fear that the war may spread. Though Israel has the support of the US, other major powers like China and Russia are against hyper-aggression by Israel. If the Arab world unites Israel will be under greater threat. Most countries don’t like Israel because of its superiority complex. Few can stand its arrogance.
But Israel is a model state. It has the highest farm productivity. It uses very advanced technology, labour costs are due to community farming. Citizens live in kibbutz which are like dormitories. There are mutual support systems since armed clashes are frequent which provide much-needed security. Judaism is the world’s oldest religion. It precedes Christianity. Moses is reported to have founded the religion and there are references to him both in the Bible and Quran. Moses referred to himself as a prophet who brought God’s message to the people. At the core of Judaism are the Ten Commandments.
The Jews were prosecuted throughout history and took refuge in many countries including India, Kerala and Maharashtra have the largest Jewish population. Their place of worship is called synagogues and there are many beautiful synagogues in the big Indian cities and down south India.