Backlash as Hamas leader invited to address major pro-Palestinian protest in India

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A former Hamas leader addressed a pro-Palestinian rally in India’s southern state of Kerala on Friday, triggering a political row over the weekend.

Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas once dubbed by Time magazine the “man who haunts Israel”, virtually joined a rally supporting the Palestinian cause and vowed “to defeat the Zionists”.

On Monday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked for legal action against organisers Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of Islamic organisation Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and dubbed the event “anti-national”. Local media reported that police in Kerala launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to Mr Meshaal addressing the rally virtually.

India abstained from voting for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza recently at the United Nations.

Amid Israel’s operations in Gaza that has killed more than 7,500 Palestinians since 7 October and India’s continued support of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Meshaal’s presence at the rally has ruffled many feathers in the country’s political establishment.

The former Hamas leader said on Friday: “Together, we will defeat Zionists and we will stand united for Gaza, which is fighting for Al Aqsa (mosque). Israel is taking revenge on our residents. Houses are being demolished. They have destroyed more than half of Gaza. They are destroying churches, temples, universities, and even UN institutions.”

Mr Meshaal was one of the founding members of Hamas and served as the chairman of its Politburo in 2017. He played a prominent role in the Hamas leadership for many years.

The BJP claimed that the pro-Palestinian rally in Malappuram showed “the failure of the Pinarayi Vijayan (chief minister) government”.

Kerala BJP chief K Surendran wrote on X: “Hamas leader Khaled Mashel’s (sic) virtual address at the Solidarity event in Malappuram is alarming. Where’s @pinarayivijayan’s Kerala Police? Under the guise of ‘Save Palestine’, they’re glorifying Hamas, a terrorist organisation, and its leaders as ‘warriors’. This is unacceptable!”

Israel recently demanded that India recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

The state president of the Solidarity Youth Movement said there was “no need to see anything unusual” in the virtual participation of Mr Meshaal at the rally.

“He took part in our programme organised to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and to condemn the onslaught by Israel. No need to see anything unusual in that,” Suhaib CT said.

The backlash against the organisers by the BJP did not show any signs of letting up on Monday. BJP senior politician Shehzad Poonawalla said the incident was “very unfortunate”.

He told ANI: “Kerala government is giving a platform to such organisations and their leaders who have a terrorist mindset”. He went on to add that “terrorists are being given platforms… Using Palestine as an excuse, attempts are made to protect Hamas”.

Another BJP politician, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said: “It is a failure of state government. To challenge ‘Hindutva’ here is of grave concern and I urge the state & central government to take it seriously. The people of the country will give an answer to the ‘Ghamandiya’ [arrogant] alliance who are protecting such people.”

Mr Meshaal was born in the West Bank and spent his early years in Jordan and Kuwait, according to the BBC. In 2004, he assumed the role of the political leader in exile for Hamas. He did not reside in Gaza and instead operated from locations in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.

In 1997 while he was head of the group’s military wing, undercover Israeli agents attempted to spray him with poison in the street as he got out of his car.

It was reported that a phone call led him to turn his head just as one agent sprayed the poison, and a bodyguard rushed him away.

India was the only country among the South Asian bloc of countries to abstain from a vote on Friday on a resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza.

There have been a number of pro-Palestinian rallies in several countries across the world, including the UK, the US, Spain, Germany, and Egypt among others. Hundreds of thousands of supporters have marched across the globe for the Palestinian cause and asked for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza where bombs continued to rain down as Israel’s Defence Forces expanded their assault.