Punish terror groups, but spare the civilians

While condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel, the larger issue of Palestinian aspirations including statehood, should not be overlooked

- TS Tirumurti

The Middle East is in turmoil again - this time in Israel and Palestine. The sheer audacity of the attack by Hamas and the fact that it caught Israel by surprise have shocked the world. The Hamas attack has all the hallmarks of a terrorist strike. Nothing can justify such terror. But equally, we should make a clear distinction between these attacks and the larger issue of Palestine and its statehood.

I was India's first Representative to the Palestinian Authority and reached Gaza in 1996 to set up our first mission. This came soon after the famous 1993 Oslo Accords. I lived in Gaza for two years. I was welcomed very warmly since the Palestinians deeply appreciated that I had come to live in their midst in Gaza. Their life was difficult, to say the least. They lived, packed like sardines, in refugee camps in the most densely populated area in the world. Their life was a daily struggle since their livelihood depended on whether the border with Israel was closed or open. And the Israelis could open or close it like a tap. Sometimes I used to wonder what sort of future they looked forward to, especially their children who grew up brutalised by their experience.

Though it was a non-family station (and I was also a vegetarian!), the rapport I had with President Yasser Arafat and others and the friendship I forged with Palestinians (with my knowledge of the Arabic language) helped me to understand their plight.