Author: Francois Gautier
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 29, 2003
Have you ever taken an El Al flight
from Mumbai? The security is drastic: You are asked a hundred questions
by young men and women, Indians, but of Jewish origin, whose parents emigrated
from the first century onwards after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem,
to find refuge in India where they prospered and lived in peace till many
of them went back to Israel in 1948 (indeed, India is probably the only
country in the world where Jews have not been persecuted).
Why did I visit Israel? Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar, the founder of the 144 countries-wide Art of Living movement,
had been invited by the Government of Israel, thanks to the efforts of
Rabbi Cooper and Dr Balitzer from Wisenthal, US-based foundation. All along
our trip Rabbi Cooper and Dr Balitzer proved invaluable. I was tagging
along because I have always believed that India and Israel have to come
together. For 40 years after Independence, India did not have relations
with Israel. Yet, India and Israel have much in common - both can learn
a lot from each other. Like Indians, Israelis are one of those "elected
people of God" - of whom Sri Aurobindo speaks in his book the Hour of God
- who have managed to keep their spirituality alive in spite of oppressions,
invasions and genocides.
Indians and Israelis also share
a serious problem with Muslim fundamentalists. And India could learn a
few lessons from the way Israel handles this problem, however much it is
criticised by the Western media. Unlike India, which since Independence
has chosen to deal with this problem in the Gandhian spirit, that is, by
compromising most of the time with Islamic intransigence (if not giving
in); Israel has showed that toughness first, followed by negotiations,
pays better. Basically, the concept of "land for money" is something that
India could learn from: In 1967, Israel was under threat of getting engulfed
by its fanatical neighbours, so it stole the initiative by crushing them
in a lightning Six-Day War and kept some land which it used later as bargaining
chips with Egypt and Syria.
FACT (Forum Against Continuing Terrorism),
which I launched this year, was taking to Israel an exhibition on Kashmiri
Pandits, one of the biggest genocides of the 20th century at the hands
of Islamic terrorism, to see how it could be put up at different places
in Israel to create public awareness there. Because of the hostility of
Arab countries to Israel, El Al cannot overfly any of them and a journey
which should take four hours takes, instead, seven hours, nearly the same
time as a flight to Europe. We landed in Tel Aviv early in the morning.
Tel Aviv is a modern city on the Mediterranean coast. It is much more relaxed
than Jerusalem, as it is less subject than the capital to suicide attacks.
People there speak several languages, girls look gorgeous and the affable
Indian ambassador, Mr Raminder Jassal, who has done so much to improve
Israeli-relations, hosted for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a gracious meeting with
the Indian community in Israel.
The drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
is short, but the impressions are striking: The landscape is dry, rocky
and arid and one wonders whether this land is worth fighting for. But Jerusalem
is a beautiful city, perched on a hill, all constructed in white stone.
As we arrived, the city was shining against the setting sun of a cool November
evening. The King David Hotel, whe-re we stayed, is probably one of the
most beautiful hotels in West Asia: Old world, stately and entirely furnished
in mahogany. It also has a history of violence, as it once housed British
troops and was bombed by Jewish activists. The rooms offer a view of the
old city of Jerusalem and everything looked so peaceful.
Peaceful? Not really: As soon as
you step out, you can feel fear: Suicide bombers can strike any time, anywhere
and our security would not even allow our car to stop near a bus, for fear
of it being blown up! It is Friday evening and we went to the Wailing Wall
on this most holy Shabbat day. It is an impressive sight: Hundreds of young
men and women, in ancient velvet black coats and funny fur hats, locks
falling one each side, face the wall swaying back and forth while chanting
an age old prayer that their forefathers have repeated for centuries. Sri
Sri too touched the wall reverentially and concentrated for a few minutes:
Two very ancient spiritualities met.
As in Ayodhya, Muslims have placed
their mosque on the most sacred space of the Jews, exactly where their
ancient temple was built. The golden mosque stands there as a perpetual
taunt, as an unending expression of aggression. After the Seven-Day War,
the Israelis control the entire area. But it remains very tense: As a mark
of respect to Islam, we want to meditate in the mosque, but we are facing
the wrong direction and the imam takes objection when he sees the rishi
from India in a dhoti and kurta with long flowing beard and tells our security
men that "Infidels" are not allowed to worship there. Luckily there are
not many faithful at this time and an incident is avoided.
We met a number of dignitaries.
The President of Israel, a soft-spoken gentleman, who is very worried about
the Palestinians suicide bombers - "No religion condones that kind of barbaric
act," he told us; the mayor of Jerusalem, who proudly showed us the magnificent
view of Jerusalem from his office terrace; Mr Shimon Peres, Nobel Prize
winner and Israel's best known face, who preaches tolerance - but even
he condemns the suicide bombers; or the deputy Prime Minister of Israel,
Mr Sherenzki, a well-known dissenter from the erstwhile Soviet Union who
is seen as a hawk by observers, but appears very gentle to us.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talked about
all the marvellous work his volunteers are doing amongst India's poor villages:
Bringing housing, hygiene, human values, and harmony in diversity. He also
speaks about the stress and post-trauma Art of Living courses - a combination
of pranayama, meditation and relaxing techniques - done to great success
in Iraq and Bosnia, and how they could also be taught in Palestine and
Israel. When asked about terrorism, Sri Sri said: "The problem is that
children should be taught a little about each religion, so that they develop
a broader perspective." If the Taliban had known even a little about the
Buddha, he added, they would not have destroyed the Bamian statues.
I was surprised to note that whenever
I mentioned Kashmir, neither of our interlocutors blinked: Kashmir did
not mean anything to them, although it faces more or less the same problem
that Israel does at the hands of the Arabs. Even, Mr Sherenzki, the Deputy
Prime Minister, looked blank. That is when I realised that an exhibition
on Kashmiri Pandits had to come up and we arranged for two venues, one
in Tel Aviv, with the possibility of it coming up also at the Knesset,
the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem. We thus left with a sense that so
much more has to be done so that Indian and Israel, two ancient people
sharing some of the same spiritual, cultural and contemporary problems,
really start understanding each other.