3. The Congress Party and the Yishuv
Founded in 1885, the Indian National Congress not only led
India’s struggle for in de pen dence but also showed an active interest in
various international developments. The problems faced by Indian la-
borers in diff erent parts of the world dominated its external interests. It
empathized with other national- liberation movements in their fi ght
against imperialism and colonialism. This inevitably drew the INC to
the Middle East, a major arena of anti- imperialist struggle since the early
twentieth century. In practical terms, it meant the Indian nationalists
would get entangled in the struggle for a Jewish national home in Pal-
estine. The Congress Party’s positions become pertinent also because it
dominated the Indian polity for over a century and for nearly half a cen-
tury enjoyed a po liti cal monopoly in free India. For many Indians and
foreigners alike, the Congress Party was synonymous with India’s strug-
gle for freedom.
Why were the Indian nationalists drawn into the Middle East? How
did they view the Jewish aspirations in Palestine? Did they understand
and empathize with the Jewish longing for statehood? Was the Congress
Party’s stance driven by ideology or the result of domestic compulsions?
Can one trace the roots of India’s Israel policy to the Congress Party and
If some twenty years ago Zionists would have tried to come into contact with Jawa-
harlal Nehru, when he studied in Cambridge, we would not see him today taking
up such an attitude of lack of understanding towards our cause.
—Immanuel Olsvanger