As demonstrations in India have been gathering momentum against the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people, workers and youth in Tamil Nadu in South India spoke to WSWS reporters.
Workers and students criticized the Modi government’s support for the bloody Israeli attacks on Palestinians. At the inception of the Palestinian uprising, far-right Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is aligned closely with Washington, declared “We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.”
In several cities including Delhi and Mumbai, pro-Palestinian protests took place despite a crackdown by the Modi government, which has been increasingly suppressing democratic rights.
Smaller demonstrations have taken place in Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu, against Israeli atrocities in Gaza. Similar protests have also taken place in Coimbatore, Patna, Ranchi, and Kolkata.
Anti-Israeli demonstrations in Bengaluru were blocked by the Indian Congress Party-led state government in Karnataka State.
Rakesh, who works in Wheels India which is a supplier for Daimler, said: “Israel dared to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza with the complete support of US imperialism and other capitalist nations.
“I agree that unifying workers and fighting together would be a possible solution to stop this war. So, it is essential to stop the provision of weapons to Israel with the help of dock workers in America and Israel, airport workers of Israel and other countries that helps Israel providing the destroying weapons. Either it is a mobile [phone] or a car, it is comprised of labour of international workers. Therefore, workers in each country could stop the war by stopping the support of their respective governments for this genocidal war on Palestine.
“We workers in our company produce the auto parts to be used in a foreign company such as Daimler. Because Daimler workers are our brothers and sisters, we can unite here and in other countries with them, If our country sends weapons, we can stop it by unifying with the workers of the other country that use that weapon in war. Likewise, if every dock worker and other industrial worker could join together and take up the fight against the war, it can be stopped.
Guhan, working in Indian media, said he sees a similarity between the Zionist Israeli government’s anti-Palestinian attacks and India’s Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) government’s attacks on Muslims and others. He was keen to discuss the historical issues in relation to building the unity between workers of Palestine and Israel.
Kanimozhi, a school teacher, said: “Palestinians fight for their land rights. They enter into war due to the aggression of Israel. So, I cannot see anything wrong in the attack by Palestinians. But, it is not acceptable that Israel wages a brutal and aggressive war on the Palestinians.”
Siva, an employee in the Indian IT industry, said: “If the world powers such as America and other governments including India did not support Israel’s acts, these bloody atrocities would not have erupted.”
An autoworker at Renault Nissan plant at Orgadam said he was misled by the media that the Palestinian Hamas organization is responsible for the initiation of the violence. “Now I know about the historical background of this issue and how Israel was formed and how the Palestinian people have been brutally attacked for decades by Israel, which is the main aggressor.”
“The corporate media here in India is a part of the ongoing effort to incite anti Muslim phobia. It is propagating that Hamas is a terrorist organization and the main enemy there, that is Hamas, needs to be defeated.”
“I agree with the view that the lies promoted by both the media and the current Modi government about the Israel-Palestine conflict need to be defeated through a systematic campaign among workers and common people.”
Subash, who works in the auto company ITW (an America-based supplier to Hyundai), said wars are destroying ordinary people who do not want to be involved in any conflict.
“I understand that when war is waged by Israel in Gaza, the working class of Israel would confront the violation and suppression of their rights and would be forced to support the genocidal war. So, workers of both the states need to fight against the war,” he declared.
Illango, a marketing employee, pointed out that there’s hardly any government supporting Palestine while all the global powers are behind the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. He expressed agreement with the strategy of organizing a mass anti-war movement. He said: “An uprising of Israel’s working class against the Israeli government and the unity of the international working class, such as dock workers blocking the shipment of weapons to Israel, could be the real and powerful action needed to stop the genocidal war on the Palestinians.”
Yuvanesh, an undergraduate student, pointed to the parallel between the communal war waged by successive Sri Lankan governments against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the ongoing Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. “Hamas is called a terrorist group in the same way that the LTTE was called as terrorist movement. How can they be branded [as such] as they are fighting for their land?”
Brindha, a law student from Tamil Nadu’s Dr Ambedkar Law University, said: “The campaign to build an anti-war movement to stop the war is an important one. I came to know what is real about the [Israeli] war and the strategy behind the war from your campaign. The working class must unite in class struggle. The power must be in the hands of the working class to stop the war. Humanity must exist here. The world is for everyone.”
Arthi Priya, a second-year law student, commented: “As Marx said, if workers of the world unite, the war can be stopped. The Israel workers should not support the war.
“I think your perspective for a united state of Arabs and Jews could be a good solution. The US keeps waging war in many countries and also supports the wars it likes. The right-wing BJP is supporting the genocidal war by Israel. There are only two classes, capitalist and working class. The working class should not support this Israeli war.”