Tale of Gaza Strip: Prime Minister Modi Versus Media

Many of us might not have noticed news of the removal of an Indian doctor from the Royal Bahrain Hospital. The doctor had posted tweets to support Israel’s action in Palestine. Hospital authorities found these tweets offensive to their society. Sunil Rao, the doctor, has been in the country for ten years now. He belongs to Andhra Pradesh. Though Rao has acknowledged his folly, apologized for his ‘insensitivity’ and realized that ‘as a doctor, all lives matter’. Rao’s case is not an isolated one. He represents views held by many Indians. Here, the question is whether Indians should mobilize themselves in support of Israel. It is strange that the government and its supporters hold completely contradictory views on it.

“Spoke to the President of the Palestinian Authority, H.E. Mahmoud Abbas. I conveyed my condolences at the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. We will continue to send humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India’s long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue,” Modi tweeted on X.

“Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and prayers for speedy recovery of those injured,” he had tweeted soon after the incident.

The views held by the BJP and the RSS supporters are quite different. Doctor Rao is the only one among them. Social media platforms are full of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian remarks. None less than a person like Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP’s IT cell, has been reposting tweets from the Israel Defense Forces. He is the brain behind the BJP’s campaigns on social media. It pushes us to doubt the intentions of Prime Minister Modi. Any conviction might not have inspired his U-turn on the issue. Rather, it was a diplomatic compulsion. Here, we see the double-speak by the BJP, a characteristic of the party. The cadres are fighting an imaginary war against so-called Muslim fundamentalism by siding with Israel, and the government is standing beside the Palestinians to champion the cause of humanity.

The contradiction is not limited to the government and the party cadres. This could be seen in the stance of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath, too. He has taken action against those who are supposed to be supporters of Hamas. He has asked the police to take action against those who are coming out in support of Hamas. He has banned demonstrations and other forms of expression in support of the Palestinian cause. The police have made arrests as well. Is it ridiculous to refer to support for Palestine as support for Hamas? The right-wing social media enthusiasts have also taken charge, attacking every post in support of the Gaza people.

It makes for an interesting reading of the current age of post-truth when we take a look at what Indian media is doing. Most of the channels that have not bothered to send their reporters to Manipur have stationed their reporters at the Gaza border. This is another reason that none of the Indian reporters have entered Gaza. All of them are staying far away from the battle zone and are content with showing visuals of places that may have some remote connections to the war. However, the language of their reporting gives a hint of what they intended to say. They are trying to create anti-Muslim hysteria back home. They have owned up to the Israeli war cry and repeated the rhetoric of the Israeli right-wing government. They are reporting as if they are covering a crackdown on terrorists at the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir.

If the Indian media is displaying its usual crudity, the US media is doing the sophisticated job of serving the establishment of the country. The European media is certainly trying to balance the interests of both Israel and Palestine. Unlike Indian media, they are at the actual site and reporting from the ground. They are also showing real concern about the misery Gazans are subjected to following the blockade of the Strip.

However, an interesting parallel could be the stories of the Hamas attack on Israel and the air strike on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. The coverage of the two incidents shows how similar human tragedies could affect you differently. The pro-Israel media is painstakingly trying to prove that the attack on the hospital was in fact a failed attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization that is active in Gaza. It is against Hamas. Leading newspapers in the USA support the Israel Defense Force's theory that a failed rocket attack led to this catastrophe. A leading newspaper has carried a story on the statements of intelligence forces. The BBC, in its review of the air strike on Al Ahli Hospital, has also nearly supported the view. The tale of two incidents shows how the media has emerged as the greatest influencer of our time! The tale only attempts to downplay the hatred and vengeance with which Israeli forces have attacked and blockaded the Gaza Strip.

It may be relevant to quote the letter of students at Columbia University.

"The weight of responsibility for the war and casualties undeniably lies with the Israeli extremist government and other Western governments, including the US government, which fund and staunchly support Israeli aggression, apartheid, and settler-colonization. The issue of why this occurred now is not about timing. This is about root causes and a fundamental issue with the Israeli occupation and the deprivation of human rights, including the lack of respect for the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to self-determination,” says the letter.