While the Congress party has always expressed its solidarity with Palestine, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her daughter and party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have emerged as strong voices for the Palestinian cause amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
A few days after France joined countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia in recognising a Palestinian state, Sonia Gandhi wrote an opinion piece for The Hindu Thursday, in which she slammed the Narendra Modi government’s position with regard to Palestine amid Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza.
Sonia’s stand
In her piece, titled “India’s muted voice, its detachment with Palestine”, the CPP chairperson argued that “India needs to demonstrate leadership on the issue of Palestine, which is now a battle for justice, identity, dignity and human rights”.
Holding that “in the last two years, since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Palestine in October 2023, India has all but relinquished its role”,
Sonia stated that “The brutal and inhumane Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, were followed by an Israeli response that has been nothing less than genocidal. As I have previously raised, more than 55,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed, including 17,000 children.”
She said the Modi government’s response has been characterised by a “profound silence and an abdication of both humanity and morality”.
“Its actions appear to be driven primarily by the personal friendship between the Israeli premier and Mr Modi rather than India’s constitutional values or its strategic interests. This style of personalised diplomacy is never tenable and cannot be the guiding compass of India’s foreign policy,” she alleged.
Priyanka’s position
The Congress has supported the Palestinian aspirations from the beginning, with the Nehru-Gandhi family known for having close ties with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Arafat had treated Indira Gandhi as his sister and wept publicly at her funeral. He also attended the funeral of Rajiv Gandhi, while Sonia Gandhi met Arafat several times after joining politics.
Since the flare-up of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, the Congress has treaded a cautious line over the conflict while expressing its solidarity with Palestinians, mindful of how the ruling BJP projects it. Priyanka has, however, been consistently outspoken in condemning the Israeli government’s aggression and slamming the Modi government for its “silence and inaction”.
Congress insiders say that Sonia-Priyanka duo taking a strong stand on Palestine is more a “moral choice” for them. “Everyone knows that taking a pro-Palestine stand at the current juncture is not going to yield electoral gains and may even result in attacks from the BJP. But the Gandhis have a moral compass that goes beyond electoral wins and gains, and that is very clear on the Palestine issue,” said a senior Congress leader, who is a part of the party’s foreign affairs department.
Congress line
The Israel-Hamas war, triggered by Hamas’ attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, had put the Congress in a bind, which has historically rallied round Palestine. The Congress initially refrained from naming Hamas and using the word “terror” to describe its attacks in Israel, prompting some party leaders like Shashi Tharoor to say at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) held on October 9, 2023, that the CWC resolution should condemn the Hamas’ assault on Israel, name the outfit and use the word terror.
The CWC resolution did not pay heed to Tharoor’s suggestion. However, soon afterwards, seeking to strike a balance, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the “brutal attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel”, adding that the “indiscriminate actions by Israel’s military forces in civilian areas, that includes a siege of the Gaza Strip and bombings in it” were also “unacceptable”.
Weeks after the Hamas’ assault, the Congress joined the Left parties in slamming the Modi government after India abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly on a resolution drafted by Arab states calling for an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas and demanding aid access to the Gaza Strip.
“I am shocked and ashamed that our country has abstained from voting for a ceasefire in Gaza,” Priyanka had said quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s famous line that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.
In an article for The Hindu in October, 2023, Sonia had slammed Israel for its unprecedented military response to the Hamas attack.
In July 2024, Priyanka called the war “barbaric”, asking every country to condemn the Israeli government’s “genocidal actions” and force them to stop it.
While the Gandhis have been vocal, the Congress has also intermittently targeted the Modi government for “not doing enough” on the issue as per India’s historical commitment to the Palestinian cause.
A Congress section however seems to be in favour of taking a more nuanced stance over the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Taking a stand on this issue is not going to yield political results for us as there is a significant section of our people which supports Israel. Among those who back the Palestinian cause are Muslims, who are tilted towards the Congress and other Opposition parties,” said a CWC member. “The past was different. Politics has to be adjusted as per the present and the future.”
In December 2024, Priyanka had carried a bag to Parliament that had “Palestine” emblazoned on it. The BJP had immediately accused her of “appeasement” politics. She followed that up by leading a protest on Parliament premises demanding “justice for Hindus facing atrocities in Bangladesh”.
BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra had then said her gesture was “not a surprise”. “As far as the Gandhi family members are concerned, it is nothing new. Right from Nehru to Priyanka Vadra, members of the Gandhi family roam around with the bag of appeasement… They have never hung the bag of patriotism on their shoulders,” he alleged.
In December 2024, Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, Charge d’affaires of the Palestine Embassy in New Delhi, had called upon Priyanka at her residence to congratulate her on her election victory from Kerala’s Wayanad.
As per a statement issued then by the Palestinian Embassy, Priyanka had said during the meeting that “she had lived the Palestinian cause since childhood and believed in its justice”.
In her latest piece, Sonia has reiterated that India’s consistent “principled position” has been to support a “two-state solution that guarantees Palestine’s right to self-determination while encouraging peaceful coexistence with Israel”.