Indian company halts production of Israeli police uniforms over Gaza ‘catastrophe’
Business owner in small coastal town in south of India takes ‘ethical’ stand to cease dealings with Israel over killings of Palestinians in Gaza, reports Shweta Sharma
For over eight years, an apparel manufacturing company in India’s coastal state of Kerala has been taking pride in making uniforms for the Israeli police force. The business in the seaside town of Kannur describes itself as the only company in India that produces military-grade police uniforms for Israel.
However, with the onset of war in Gaza following the 7 October rampage by Hamas, the company has decided to halt further business dealings with Israel on “humanitarian grounds”, even if it means losing business, says Thomas Olickal, the managing director of Maryan Apparel Private Limited.
“We were very happy to make a uniform for this country because it is a very high-tech uniform and we are very proud that the company based in Kerala can make such a beautiful uniform of tough quality for police,” Olickal tells The Independent.
Olickal says they have been in business with the Israeli police force since 2015 and are key suppliers to three units of the force.
“But business will not proceed as usual with Israeli until the conflict comes to an end. The reports, the videos and pictures that are coming from Gaza are very horrible and we are very disturbed by the war,” he says.
“We have made our stand very clear that we will only fulfill the orders we have confirmed before the war began. We will not take any new orders until the war is over.”
There are growing reports of largely spontaneous grassroots boycott campaigns impacting businesses across the Middle East as the Gaza conflict has deteriorated. Some Western companies that are perceived to have taken a pro-Israel stance, or to have financial ties to Israel, are reported to be losing customers in Egypt and Jordan, and to a lesser extent Morocco and Kuwait, according to Reuters.
But there are far fewer examples of businesses with direct dealings with Israel speaking out over the Gaza conflict – and losing out on sales in the process.
Olickal says he already rejected an order worth $250,000 for more than 100,000 pieces of uniform following the near-continuous aerial bombardment of Gaza in response to the Hamas attack.
But he says his losses are nothing in comparison to what the Palestinians have been facing.
“Sometimes we have to take such a tough decision. Only money is not the criteria. Sometimes you have to make decisions based on humanitarian grounds,” he says.
Mumbai-based Olickal, who is a native of Kerala, says the company has conveyed its feelings to their colleagues in Israel.
“We made our policy clear and that we will take a call if there is a peace process or end to bloodshed.”
The Israeli assault was in response to a cross-border attack by hundreds of Hamas gunmen on 7 October that left at least 1,200 people dead and 240 in Hamas custody as hostages.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) then launched an offensive in Gaza, and to a lesser extent the occupied West Bank, that has seen the relentless bombardment of the besieged Strip where more than 2.3 million Palestinians live, including refugee camps, civilian buildings, and some of the last remaining hospitals in Gaza.
Israel’s military offensive has killed 12,700 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank. The enclave has been isolated from the world with crucial supplies of fuel, water, food and medical supplies running short or out with hospitals issuing dire alerts that would mean deaths of premature babies or patients on ventilator supports.
The businessman says he took the decision following the bombing of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in the centre of Gaza City on 17 October. The hospital was sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians as well as had patients when it was bombed. The Israeli army blamed an errant rocket fired by Hamas on the hospital while Palestinian officials said Israeli forces were behind the bombing.
“It is a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. It is horrible and nobody can accept this type of violence,” he says.
“The killing of civilians, especially children and women, is a crime. But at the same time, I condemn the attack of Hamas on Israel because they have also killed civilians.”
His stance on the war and support for the Palestinian is rare in the Hindu-majority country whose prime minister Narendra Modi, like most world leaders, was swift in condemning Hamas’s attack and expressed “solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour”.
The Indian foreign ministry, in a more nuanced stance, reminded the world of India’s historical position – calling for a two-state solution for the war and raising concern over the Palestinian lives.
Following a deal brokered by Qatar with some help from Egypt and the US, an agreement for a four-day ceasefire in Gaza was reached. The ceasefire window was to free 50 women and children from Gaza, followed by the release of 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails. The deal has been extended once already, with 20 more Israeli hostages released over two days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Olickal, whose company has been manufacturing uniforms for the forces of Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and more recently for the US forces in Lebanon, says he is “supporting humanity” rather than taking sides in the confllict.
“My only request to the Israeli forces is to stop killing the common people and restore peace.”
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