Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday morning 12 Tammuz, flew by helicopter from Jerusalem to Haifa. Prime Minister Netanyahu showed his Indian counterpart Israel’s narrow waist and explained the area to him.
In Haifa, the two leaders visited the British military cemetery in which Indian soldiers from World War I are buried. They laid flowers on the soldiers’ memorial and unveiled a plaque in memory of the Indian soldiers who fell in the battle to liberate Haifa.
Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote in the guestbook, “In memory of the brave soldiers of India who helped liberate our land. In deepest respect, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel.”
Indian Prime Minister Modi wrote in the guestbook, “I am deeply honored to stand here today to salute the valiant Indian soldiers, who laid down their lives for the liberation of Haifa in the First World War. The exceptional bravery and supreme sacrifice of Major Shakur Dayat Singh, the ‘hero of Haifa’, and his men will be remembered forever and continue to inspire generations to come. Next year, the century of the Battle of Haifa will present another opportunity to mark this enduring bond between India and Israel. Jai Hindi.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon, GPO)
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It isn’t so clear the we are better off as a result of the British Empire defeating and destroying the Ottoman Empire. For starters, British fear of Jewish refugees moving to Palestine was a major factor in British disinclination to assist Jews fleeing the holocaust, even to the point of sending some back to German lines knowing they would be killed (and remember that back then Britain wasn’t an island off the coast of Europe -it was a global Empire) Furthermore, the highly annoying “fanatical” Islamic movement had its origins in the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate. As long as Jews didn’t want full political rights, the Ottomans were fairly benign. Had the British failed in their conquest of Palestine, we would probably be better off .