Azad Essa’s new book uncovers Israel and India’s joint history, as well as the affinities between the toxic ideologies ungirding their national projects.
It’s been one year since India revoked Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status, leaving the territory in a complex system of lockdowns, internet outages and rampant human rights abuses.
COVID-19 internet memes are helping make the previously unrelatable phenomenon of the Kashmir or Gaza lockdowns understandable to a new generation experiencing the isolation of social distancing for the first time. Aarushi Patel says they may carry a political meaning too.
India’s treatment of Kashmir is eerily similar to Israel’s treatment of Palestine, and those that are fighting for Palestinian rights have taken notice.
Even though these differences exist between the histories of India and Israel, Kashmiris have expressed solidarity with Palestine because of a sense of resonance with their own experiences. While effective United Nations interventions are needed for Kashmiris and Palestinians, their resistance against these settler/(post) colonial projects continue.