THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Menahem Pal, an Israeli with roots in Ernakulam’s North Paravoor, compares the ongoing Israel-Gaza war to the “Jallianwala Bagh massacre” which saw British troops firing on unarmed people gathered for a political meeting. The 69-year-old, who retired as chief agronomist with the Israeli government in 2018, has lost two close relatives, aged 22 and 23, in the ongoing conflict. Menahem, who lives in Hadera, nearly 40km from Tel Aviv, told TNIE that the current situation in the commercial capital of Israel is ‘very grim’.
Menahem, who has a BSc from Vellayani College of Agriculture, Thiruvananthapuram, is worried about the latest war his country is fighting. Speaking about Hamas militants targeting the Supernova Music Festival, which saw over 250 youngsters, mostly teenagers, being massacred and several women being taken hostage, Menahem said it was difficult for authorities to even identify the bodies.
“I’m sad that I’ve had to witness a gory conflict at this age. The threat from Hamas has always been there. We are used to seeing rockets being fired at civilians areas. The Iron Dome interceptors successfully destroy incoming rockets. But this war reminds me of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre that left 1,500 innocent people dead. It’s innocent people, including children and youth, who have perished in this war,” says a doleful Menahem.
Born to Solomon Pallivathukkal, former railway station master of Ernakulam South, and Rahel, in Chendamangalam, South Paravoor, Menahem says the best part of his life was spent in Kerala. In chaste Malayalam, Menahem says he misses his friends from his Vellayani days in the early 1970s. After he returned to Israel to do his master’s in agriculture, he settled there. By then five of his siblings also returned to Israel.
Even as Menahem went down memory lane, his turbulent mind slipped back to the war. “One of my sisters lives in Ashdod, 20km from the Gaza Strip, which has borne the brunt of Israeli air strikes. I’m worried for her safety. This war was avoidable. Usually Israeli intelligence detects the movement of Hamas. This time, however, they failed. The truth will eventually come out. I hope that peace will prevail all over the world,” says Menahem, a widower.
He has two sons who live in Israel. Menahem, who last visited Kerala in 2022, loves watching Malayalam flicks on Netflix. Even now, he never forgets to celebrate state festivals. And during Onam, flowers from his lush garden find a place in the floral carpet he prepares in front of his home.