Holding together many truths: An Indian Jewish woman's perspective on Israel and Gaza

As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, I offer a particular perspective as an Indian Jew of Arab cultural descent. My ancestor Shalome Obadiah Ha Cohen from Syria was the first Jewish settler in Calcutta in 1796. As he prospered greatly, other Jews from West Asia came to India and then on to the Far East to make their fortunes. During the 200 years that they were in India and across what I call Jewish Asia, which stretched from Baghdad to Shanghai, they became Anglicised and their identity transformed from Judaeo Arabic to Judaeo-British. After Independence, unsure of…