Before he took the stage at the second edition of Manorama Hortus in Kochi, Palestine Ambassador to India Abdullah Abu Shawesh wrapped the keffiyeh, the telling symbol of Palestine’s resistance, around his neck.

As he made his way to the steps, he halted and helped journalist and media entrepreneur Sashikumar spread the headscarf and wear it the same way as he did. Together, they set the tone with a powerful gesture of solidarity for the discussion on the topic ‘Gaza and the architecture of injustice: Diplomacy, memory and the fight for dignity’.

Sashikumar began by talking about creating memories. “I come from a campaign in Kerala, where meetings were organised in public squares. People gathered to recite names of children who were killed in Gaza, 2500 names were read out in each district. Memory is important. We have to redeem children by remembering them,” Sashikumar said.

Shawesh sat attentively. When he was told about the October 7 deadly Hamas attack on Israel, he responded with another date -- November 2, 1917, when the Balfour declaration was made by Britain with an aim of establishing a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. “It sowed the seed for all the misery Palestinians face today. Even four days ago, two families were wiped out in Israel,” Shawesh said.

He went on to blast the Western media for being complicit in the projection of war. “We endure two types of war; the physical one which involves so many deaths, other war is the media war. To cite an example, the war tunnel was utterly removed and how come you justify killing of people in the name of tunnels,” he said.

“Media highlight when 251 Israelis are taken hostage. Does anyone know how many Palestinians perish in Israeli prisons. Nobody knows,” he added.

He delved into the history of India to say how the struggle for freedom was driven by two schools of thought -- the Gandhian way and the one mooted by Bhagat Singh. Sashikumar asked him what Hamas was thinking when they launched the attack on Israel. Briefly, he said, Hamas miscalculated and then spelt out injustices one after another.

“When we signed the Oslo accords, we accepted to build our state in 22 per cent of historical land. We had title deeds for 94 per cent of this land. Israel now deals with our property in the name of absentee property law. We accepted everything for the sake of building the state,” he said.

Shawesh replied with a sense of resignation about Trump’s 20 point Gaza peace plan.

“We have our legitimate concerns, still we endorse it. May be at least that way no more child gets killed. No more amputations without anaesthesia. Gaza had zero painkillers for months. Is the peace plan going to stop the carnage? Absolutely not,” he said.

Will Hamas disarm? Sashikumar probed further.

“What does that mean? It’s an ambiguous warning. It is like we have an army with chemical and nuclear weapons. As Palestine national authority, we stand for one law. The one who refuses to demilitarise Hamas is Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu,” he said, calling him ‘fugitive from justice’. “Anyone committing war crime should be held accountable,” Shawesh said, calling for an investigation into the October 7 attack by the Hamas.