Kozhikode: The latest episode of the Israel-Palestine war has divided the left parties globally, which had extended their unwavering support to the latter throughout history.

The problem lies with a lack of clarity on how to condemn the attack by Hamas on Israel, which triggered the present war last week.

In Kerala too, a group of comrades seems to be confused about what ideological position they should take. The latest episode being CPM central committee member and former minister KK Shailaja’s Facebook post on October 10, in which she first condemned the attack by “Hamas terrorists” and then said “no one can hide the fact that similar attacks on Palestine have been taking place since 1948, perpetrated by Israel and imperialist forces.”

Shailaja’s statement raised several eyebrows as she chose to first condemn the attacks by Hamas and also that she termed them terrorists. While her supporters point out that she only reiterated the party's position on the matter, others slam her for her “balancing act.”

A CPM politburo statement issued on October 8, stated: “The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) strongly condemns these attacks and counter attacks between Hamas and the Israeli forces around the Gaza Strip of Palestine. The most right-wing Netanyahu government in Israel has been indiscriminately occupying Palestine lands and establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. So far this year, prior to this conflict, 248 Palestinian lives have been lost including 40 children.”

What escalated the discussion within CPM workers was another Facebook post by party state secretariat member M Swaraj on October 12 which said “no matter what Hamas did, we should stand with Palestine.” Swaraj supporters quickly identified it as a reply to Shaijala and many have already copy pasted this statement on her Facebook post.

Shailaja then came up with a justification on Thursday, saying the Left has always supported Palestine but no one can neglect the “cruelty of Hamas on war prisoners and commoners.” It seems that she has not understood the criticism of her comrades.

On October 10, CPM politburo member MA Baby wrote on Facebook that Hamas’ attack was unfortunate, but it was not a justification for the bombing by Israel, backed by western countries.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan skipped the question regarding his colleagues’ comments. He said he had to first discuss the matter with Shailaja before commenting on it. He did not answer the direct question whether Hamas is a terrorist organisation or not.

CPM state secretary MV Govindan, however, on Deshabhimani wrote that the party does not justify the attack of the 'Islamic organisation', Hamas. He also noted that Hamas does not recognize Israel or accept the two-nation solution. But he also stated that the Hamas attack was not the sole reason for the war.

There are also several Left influencers on social media and even CPM members who opine that Hamas attacks should be condemned just like the ones by Israel. However, they all agree that the two-nation solution is the permanent answer to the issue and that Palestine has been subjected to unjustified attacks for several decades by Israel. The only contention is the trigger for the present war and the organisation, Hamas.

Global trend

This conundrum of comrades is not exclusive to Kerala. 

The stance of France's biggest left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI) created a major rift on the left in the country.

Home to both Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim minority communities, France is no stranger to robust debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with past wars in Gaza triggering mass protests, mostly in solidarity with Palestinians.

LFI's initial statement termed the Hamas attack an "armed offensive… in the context of the intensification of Israel's occupation policy."

The Socialists, a major Left party that led the government till 2017, said they were suspending their cooperation with LFI on the drafting of budget proposals for 2024 over the Hamas row.

LFI’s stance contrasted with that of Britain's main opposition Labour party, whose centrist Keir Starmer called the Hamas assault a "terrorist attack". Labour Party was accused of nurturing anti-Semitism during the era of former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But the pro-Palestine stance was echoed by other radical left-wing parties, including Spain's left-wing Podemos, which blamed the violence in Israel and Gaza on "occupation and apartheid" and Ireland's nationalist Sinn Fein party, whose former leader Gerry Adams shared a picture on X of a huge Palestinian flag on a hill overlooking Belfast.

(With AFP inputs)