An Israeli commentator taking part in a discussion on an Indian news show on Wednesday targeted the host over the green, red, and black garment she was wearing, claiming that it demonstrated a ‘pro-Palestine bias’.
The bizarre exchange took place when Frederic Landau, a business consultant in Tel Aviv who was previously a “strategic advisor to several politicians and a senior advisor to the Minister of Interior in Israel,” according to his LinkedIn profile, was questioned on the bombing of the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
“With all due respect to the green, the red and the black that you have purposely put on this evening, blue and white will always prevail,” Landau told Shreya Dhoundial, the executive editor of the Mirror Now, leaving her speechless for a few seconds.
He was referring to the Palestinian flag, which is green, red, black, and white.
Dhoundial, reacting to Landau’s outburst, urged the guest “not to divide colors” on the basis of religion. “The garment I am wearing is a saree,” she told Landau, adding that it was passed down to her from her late grandmother. “She did not know what the Israel-Hamas conflict was [about] and the saree in no way signifies any support for any side.”
“What has happened in Gaza, the bombing of a hospital, 500 people dead, it’s simply criminal. What I am wearing is simply my grandmother’s saree. It signifies nothing else,” Dhoundial said.
Landau, who was introduced as a ‘commander’ by the Mirror Now, replied: “Save it for another occasion.”
“Frederic, I will not let you choose what I wear, and I will not let you choose what I say,” the host replied. “I will say what I have to say. And I will speak the truth the way I see it. Truth, of course, has many versions. There is one version coming from Israel and there’s another version coming from Gaza.”
Dhoundial took to X (formerly Twitter) following the exchange to say she was “at a loss for words.”
Commenting on her post, X user Vinayak Bhushan Sharma noted the coincidence of the host’s saree being “just like the flag of a guest’s enemy.” In response, Dhoundial said that she could not burn the garment “just because someone has a problem with the colors.”
Amid the controversy, an old post by Dhoundial wearing what seems to be a similar saree surfaced on social media. “My grandmother would have been thrilled to see her saree make a debut on national TV,” she posted on August 15, 2021, on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day, attaching a picture of herself in the traditional Indian garment.
Israelis and Palestinians have blamed each other for the hospital bombing, which killed at least 500 people and injured hundreds more in the besieged territory. Hours after the bombing, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims and prayed for the “speedy recovery” of those who were injured in the attack on the hospital.
Modi announced on Thursday that he had held a telephone call with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Modi expressed his condolences at the loss of civilian lives in the hospital bombing, and stated that India will continue to send humanitarian assistance to Gaza. “Shared our deep concern at the terrorism, violence and deteriorating security situation in the region. Reiterated India’s long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue,” he wrote on X.