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Working People Against Apartheid and Genocide
NEW DELHI, MARCH 7: A group of concerned citizens — Indians for Palestine — highlighted the voices of Indian workers who have been directly impacted by Israel’s attacks on Gaza. This was the second public meeting-press conference they have organized in New Delhi.
There have been many developments on this front, including the refusal of Indian dockworkers to load weaponized cargo from Indian ports. Meanwhile, the Indian government has issued an advisory for Indian nationals in Israel to relocate to safe locations within Israel, following the death of a worker from Kerala in a missile strike in that country.
Among the speakers at the public meeting were Anil Pawar (AITUC), Anjali Attri (AISA), Arka Rajpandit (CITU), Harjit Bhatti (PMSF), Maya John (DU), Shiv Kumar (Manesar General Workers’ Union), Sujata Madhok (DUJ). Arundhati Roy, who was unable to participate in the conference in-person, sent across a message of support.
The meeting began with an introduction from the moderators, Gautam Mody, general secretary, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) and Kavita Srivastava, national president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties.
This was followed by Shiv Kumar, who spoke about the lack of guarantees from the Indian government for the protection of its own workers being sent to Israel and who number in their thousands. Working conditions for Indian workers are deteriorating and when they protest they are subjected to lathi charge and have false cases filed against them, he remarked. He also highlighted the lack of minimum wages and pointed out that Indian workers are forced to go to Israel, not out of choice but out of desperation to escape unemployment and impoverished conditions.
The next speaker, Arka Rajpandit, expressed global solidarity of workers with the people of Gaza and laid out the stark economic conditions prevailing there. He also pointed out that between 2006 and 2022, Gaza’s GDP had plummeted by 27% and, in recent times, according to the ILO, prices of essential commodities have shot up from 300% to over 2000%.
Jamal Juma, coordinator of the ‘Stop the Wall’ campaign; secretariat member of the BDS National Committee, and an executive committee member of the New Unions, also addressed the gathering through video. The life-threatening conditions of over 400,000 Palestinian workers who are now unemployed and who are being subjected to various forms of torture at the hands of the Israeli forces came through in his account. Today, basic infrastructure, from water supply, food storage, hospitals and educational institutions in Gaza has been razed to the ground by Israel.
Maya John, speaking next, laid out the shared history of India and Palestine in terms of their experience as colonized people. This shared history makes it incumbent on the working people of India to defend Palestinian rights. There is a need today for an international solidarity movement that is free from governmental control, she said.
Student leader Anjali Attri highlighted the settler colonial nature of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and spoke of the grave dangers facing Indian workers in Israel. Movements for freedom from oppression across the world, including in India, need to be supported.
Irwin Jim, general secretary, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, extended solidarity through video with those assembled as well as with trade unions and workers standing in support of Palestinians. He said he was speaking on behalf of the unions and federations who are presently gathered at the International Transport Workers’ Federation Conference in Abidjan. He lamented the fact that the International Court of Justice failed to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. “Arrogant imperialism like that of Netanyahu and Biden has no place in the future of society that we are building in the world today,” he stated, ending his message with “Amandla!”, a Xhosa- Zulu word meaning “power!”, which was a popular rallying call in the days of resistance against apartheid in his country.
The targeting of journalists was a huge concern for those gathered at the meeting. Journalist leader Sujata Madhok cited statistics from the latest report of the Committee to Protect Journalists: as of 6th March, 90 Palestinian journalists and media workers were killed, 16 injured, 4 missing and 25 arrested by Israeli forces. The homes and families of journalists have also been directly targeted. She also repeated the solemn appeal from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to the international community, calling for an end to the slaughter and creating conditions for international journalists to enter Gaza and report on the realities there.
In a moving statement, Arundhati Roy highlighted how the Gaza strip has been turned into a concentration camp, with those who aren’t already dead now being starved to death.
The public meeting ended with the observation that the war in Gaza is not just about Palestine, but about the survival of democracy and morality across the world. A reminder was stressed on thus – “democracy can come from people mobilized, who understand that their existence will be threatened outside of a collective, a union. All working people survive by defending their rights to democratic platforms.”
Indians For Palestine (a group of concerned citizens) ?For more information, contact Gautam Mody (7838383758) or Kavita Srivastava (9351562965)
- Text of Press Release in Hindi by Indians For Palestine - MLarch 7, 2024
