LettersIsrael is for cooperation and peace
- Readers discuss Israel’s cooperation with countries, labour force participation in Hong Kong, and how to help older men
The idea of political Zionism was established at the end of the 19th century by a Jewish journalist from the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Theodor Herzl, who witnessed in Paris the conviction for treason of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. The trial was a farce with strong elements of antisemitism against the Jewish captain.
Herzl’s conclusion was simple: the Jewish people had a right and even a duty to define themselves politically and culturally as a nation state in the historic cradle of the Jewish people – which is known now as the state of Israel. A state that will serve as a safe asylum for Jews from all around the world. The holocaust in Europe less than 50 years later was another horrific illustration of that need, till the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 as the only Jewish state in the world.
The headline states: “Today’s India and Israel are like two peas in a pod”.
Well, India and Israel do maintain very friendly relations, but there are many more peas in this specific pod, a pod that consists of countries that desire to cooperate and collaborate across a spectrum of fields to better the lives of their citizens. For example, Israel has 30 agriculture centres of excellence in India serving people whether they are Hindu, Muslim or belong to other religions. The instructors from Israel are Jewish or Muslim: it doesn’t matter, what matters is knowledge sharing.