Where does Hindus for Human Rights stand on Palestine?

India is a land of many peoples, born out of a decolonial movement and founded on principles of pluralism. The concept of a Hindu Rashtra stands in direct opposition not only to these political ideals, but to the values of our faith. An ideology that asserts Hindu supremacy does not make Hindus safer, and we need only look to Zionism and Israel to see this is true. Israel was created by the British to absolve Western powers of their antisemitism and without the input of the Palestinian people. From the 1948 Nakba to the current genocide in Gaza, Israel’s survival and identity requires a system of apartheid and dispossession of Palestinians. We see echoes of these policies in India’s persistent marginalization of Adivasis, Dalits, and other oppressed communities. We are firmly opposed to all forms of ethnic or religious nationalism, and we see the direct connections between Zionism and Hindutva as a call to action for all Hindus of conscience to organize for Palestinian liberation and the end of all forms of supremacy—including Hindu nationalism.

Just like we are committed to fighting for a secular, democratic, pluralistic India where all citizens, regardless of faith, are entitled to equal rights and equal justice, we support a liberated future for Palestine where all the land’s inhabitants—Muslims, Christians, Jews, and everyone else—are able to live together as free and equal citizens, from the river to the sea. As Hindus who stand against caste and Hindutva, we take inspiration from our anti-Zionist Jewish siblings who are fighting the forces of hate and far-right nationalism within their own community.

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