mahatma gandhi and the jewish national home 43
The Mahatma’s po liti cal career spanned over three de cades. Yet none
of the leading fi gures in the Zionist movement had met Gandhi in per-
son or established po liti cal contacts. His Jewish friends during his South
African period had no po liti cal or Zionist agenda, although the same
cannot be said about other emissaries who were sent to India in the mid-
1930 to solicit his support. However, the Zionist emissary who was sent
dismissed him as a “simpleton and sham saint.” Above all, while de-
manding his support, the Zionist leadership was unable to reciprocate. It
was not able to share or empathize with the Mahatma’s struggle against
British imperialism.
This asymmetrical situation became even more lopsided as the Indian
National Congress formulated its policy toward the problem in Palestine.
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