42 mahatma gandhi and the jewish national homethrough an Islamic prism. His belief that Palestine was an integral part
of Jazirat al- Arab and his invocation of the injunction of the Prophet bear
this out. It would be unfair and even incorrect to accuse him of compro-
mising on truth for the sake of enlisting the support of the Indian Mus-
lims. Nevertheless, the attitude of the Muslim population toward Pales-
tine undoubtedly infl uenced his thinking. Gandhi was the leader of a
nationalist movement, not a sectarian struggle, and thus could not aff ord
to ignore the sentiments of a large segment of the Indian population. The
absence of a signifi cant Jewish presence in India also precluded the need
for him to seek a compromise between Jewish and Muslim positions on
Palestine.
Thus the views of Mahatma Gandhi toward the demand for a Jewish
national home in Palestine were not unequivocal and consistent, as they
are often presented. On issues such as Jewish violence in Palestine, the
need for Arab consent for the realization of the Jewish demands, and
Zionist- imperialist connections, he was fairly consistent. On other issues,
the picture is more complex. His emphasis on nonviolence was neither
universal nor proportionate. During the Khilafat days, he endorsed Is-
lamic sanctions over Palestine but gradually recognized the “prior claims”
of the Jews over the same territories. He saw religion as a means of
promoting Hindu- Muslim unity in India and thus looked at Palestine
through an Islamic prism. Though opposed to religion- based states, both
in Palestine and in the Indian subcontinent, he did not reject outright
Jewish claims in Palestine. Despite the widespread publicity given to his
1938 statement, as partition became inevitable in India, he began to see
the events in Palestine diff erently. Softening his position, he began to
hope that the Zionists could abandon their close links with the British
and seek an accommodation with the Arabs. Given the overwhelming
odds facing the Zionist leadership, neither was possible.
For their part, the Zionist interest in Gandhi was too little, too late.
They sought his endorsement without off ering any reciprocal po liti cal
support for his nationalist struggle. The Zionists were to be partly blamed
for “the image of Jews as alien to Asia,” because “they avoided an identifi -
cation with anticolonial nationalist movements.”^74 Perhaps this was not
possible in light of their need for British support in Palestine. The pro-
British Zionist stance had an adverse impact not only on the Mahatma but
also upon the Indian nationalist movement. Thus his sympathetic views
toward Jewish claims to Palestine, especially after 1938, simply went un-
noticed and unrecognized.