Christian priests and bishops in the state with pro-Israel views are expected to be invited to speak at the event.
An Israeli soldier runs past a burning vehicle after a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021. (Supplied)
In a fresh twist to Kerala’s current political polarisation over the Israel-Palestine conflict, the state unit of the BJP plans to conduct a big rally in the northern city of Kozhikode on 2 December to show solidarity with Israel and condemn the terrorist designs of Hamas.
Christian priests and bishops in the state with pro-Israel views are expected to be invited to speak at the event.
It will reportedly be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the Mudalakulam Maidan in the city.
The rally, dubbed an “anti-terror meet”, would also be addressed by Kerala BJP president K Surendran and several national leaders of the party.
In Kerala, one of the first ports of call for Jews centuries ago, the contemporary Israel-Palestine conflict is viewed more as a communal binary.
Both the LDF and the UDF have supported the Palestinian cause and reached out to Muslims in the state, who make up a quarter of Kerala’s population.
Contacted by South First, the BJP’s Kozhikode district president VK Sajeevan said participants of the meeting would express solidarity with Israel’s determination to battle terror and pay tribute to those slain in the Hamas attack on 7 October.
According to him, Israel was only acting in self-defence, and no one could condemn it for striving to rescue individuals who had become victims of religious terrorism.
Sajeevan described Kerala’s LDF and UDF as forces that encourage Islamic terror, and stated that the BJP was forced to hold such a solidarity gathering due to police unwillingness to initiate proceedings against people who invited a Hamas representative to speak over the internet at a Palsetine-solidarity meet in Malappauram.
He stated that the Hamas leader used the occasion to call for the killing of Jews and people of other religions who supported Israel’s cause.
He also said that the gathering would be a show of strength against all those who wanted to treat Hamas as a human rights organisation.
Asked about the Christian leaders who would attend the event, Sajeevan said consultations had just begun, and that the names would be finalised very soon.
A number of Christian priests in Kerala have expressed reservations about the LDF and UDF defending the Palestinians, which the BJP equates with defending Hamas.
Deepika, the Catholic Church’s mouthpiece, has produced two editorials in the last two weeks denouncing the state’s so-called secularists for what it said was mindless justification of Hamas’ terror crimes.
In the case of the BJP, it would be a new opportunity to reach out to the state’s Christians, who had previously expressed qualms over the party’s alleged role in the Manipur riots against Christians.
In Kozhikode, which has a substantial Muslim community, there have been a number of rallies in recent weeks expressing solidarity with Israel.
The CPI(M) and the IUML staged massive protests condemning the atrocities committed against Palestine as a genocide attempt. There will be a massive Congress rally on 23 November. That was why the BJP chose Kozhikode as the place to respond to those who opposed Israel.
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