The people of Gaza have been imprisoned in the strip for a long time. The people of West Bank have a wall, which is interfering with their normal freedom of movement and conditions of life, says Congress leader
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Even when mainstream politicians in the country have been unable to say anything beyond declaring their support to Israel in its ongoing conflict with Hamas, Congress leader and its Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor has come out strongly in favour of the Palestinians.
Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the Palestine-Israel conflict, Tharoor said, “While we understood the Prime Minister standing up for Israel showing solidarity at this time of great grief and this horror that has been visited upon them.
“At the same time, we felt that his statement was incomplete. Because I felt that, we needed to remember that there is a larger issue at stake here and a reason behind all of this, which is that there is a dehumanizing occupation continuing in many places. The people of Gaza have been imprisoned in the strip for a long time. The people of West Bank have a wall, which is interfering with their normal freedom of movement and conditions of life. It really was impossible to accept any justification for what Hamas did. I certainly join in the condemnation of the terrorist act.”
Defending the rights of the Palestinians, Tharoor also said, “It has been a difficult situation for the people of Palestine since settlement buildings and the construction of new houses for Jewish settlers in several occupied territories has continued unabated for many years. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) gave up the way of gun and chose the way of peace and dialogue, and the world was heading towards a two-state solution. That has essentially been completely stagnant. For the last two and a half decades, there has been no progress on that.”
