An ode to Kashmiri policemen, the softest targets of the insurgency
trenches your war is and how much whataboutery you are willing to indulge in. Mercifully, everyone rose in unison to unequivocally condemn what happened to Ayub, recoiling from its chilling ugliness. But there is merit in calling out the strange doublespeak of a Kashmir policy where policemen who are reviled by the secessionists are then expected to protect them.
In 2016, pro-Pakistan Hurriyat representative Syed Ali Shah Geelani specifically named an individual police officer in South Kashmir whom he held responsible for eye injuries caused by the use of pellet-spray guns during clashes with protesters. A terrified family, worried about repercussions to them, then went and sought ‘forgiveness’ from Geelani — who snubbed them and gave no guarantees of safety.
Police officers spoke to me of protesters who are no longer scared of tear gas shells and situations where backed by a crowd of a few hundred people, even women have surrounded the post of an individual officer and snatched his weapon. “They look at us with suspicion, they abuse us, and they loathe us. What can we do? We tolerate it,” said a 34-year-old police officer to me, “Ya pathar, ya gaali —Either a stone or an expletive — that is my life; I am used to it now.” the last 10 years, support among millennials for Israel has declined while tripling for Palestine. For the first time, more people on the American Left (classified as ‘liberal Democrats’) support Palestine than Israel.
Israel also enjoys less support among minority groups in America. According to a 2015 study, Hispanic Americans on average were 10 points less likely to sympathise with Israel over Palestine than non-Hispanic Americans. So, too, are blacks more critical of Israel. A 2014 Pew survey revealed that African Americans were more likely than white Americans to blame Israel for that summer’s conflagration in Gaza and to believe that Israel had used too much force. Blacks, Hispanics, young people and unmarried women together form what American political analysts term ‘the rising electorate’, which is now a majority of American voters. Staunch support for Israel remains the preserve of older, mostly white Protestants, many of whom believe in a strong US-Israel alliance for millenarian, evangelical reasons. As that group ages and others grow, changing public opinion may encourage new policy imperatives in West Asia.
This is not to say that America’s firm backing of Israel is about to end. Indeed, one of the few capitals where Donald Trump enjoys a genuinely warm reception is Tel Aviv. Benjamin Netanyahu sees Trump as a more reliable ally than Barack Obama, who was critical of the Israeli prime minister. Still, under Obama in 2016, the Americans agreed to a new package of military aid for Israel worth nearly $4 billion per year.
But the trend is clear. In the long-run, it may transform America’s ties with Israel, and drive Israel to seek closer friendships elsewhere.