Gaza Genocide and Sri Lanka’s Dilemma
“… if the American government decided to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine they are committing the American people to the use of force in that area, since only by force can a Jewish state in Palestine be established or maintained”(King-Krane Commission of 1919 set out by President Woodrow Wilson).
How prophetic had been this observation by the commissioners?
Words fail to capture the scale and depth of human misery, death and destruction Israel has unleashed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. Around 8% of Gaza’s population is said to have been already killed and starved to death over the last 22 months and that number is set to increase further. With President Donald Trump’s carte blanche Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to “go with full force and finish the job soon” to annex the entire Palestine for Greater Israel. To complete the annexation IDF has begun flattening all residential buildings in Gaza city to expel its entire population to neighbouring countries or to ghettoize them in a corner and let them die of hunger, thirst and disease. This textbook genocide in front of the cameras is “shame of the century” as Francesca Albanese the UN Special Rapporteur captioned it. It is “shame of humanity” according to Richard Falk a former rapporteur. One can call it the Holocaust of the century. Yet there is no action to stop it from any powers whether from Global North or Global South except words of concern and condemnation.
Global North’s media propaganda and official statements make the world to believe that the genocide is Israel’s legitimate response to “defend itself” against the deadly rockets fired by Hamas in October 2023. But those rockets themselves were a response from Palestinians to The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Israel as Rashid Khalidi has titled his masterpiece. As Khalidi writes, “This war has never been just between Zionism and Israel on one side and the Palestinians on the other, with the latter occasionally supported by Arab and other actors. It has always involved the massive intervention of the greatest powers of the age on the side of the Zionist movement and Israel: Britain until World War II, and the United States and others since then.These powers were never neutral or honest brokers, but have always been, and still are, active participants in this war in support of Israel”.
The current genocide in Gaza and Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank is the continuation of European settler colonialism started five centuries ago. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, which laid the foundation for Zionist colonisation of Palestine, is now nearing to complete that project with full backing of Global North and there is no guarantee that it would stop with Palestine unless Global South unites and counter its expansion. None of the Arab countries in the Middle East are safe from Zionist expansion. Israel’s latest attack on Qatar and Trump’s reaction to it expressed in a couple of words “felt bad” speak volumes about what is in store for Arab countries.
What has Gaza genocide and war in Palestine got to do with Sri Lanka? Centuries before political Zionism was founded by Theodor Herzl in response to Christian Europe’s antisemitism and hatred of Jews or “killers of Christ” Jews, like the Arabs, frequented the shores of Sri Lanka as travellers and merchants. Galle seemed to have been known to the Biblical King Solomon. In the 10th century Abu Zeid al-Hasan, an Arab Muslim traveller, found a great number of Jews in Serendib. In 12th century there were about 3,000 Jews on the island according to one source. They were mostly Sephardic Jews from Muslim Spain. But for some unknown reason Jewish population dwindled over time and in 1911 Denham’s census report counted only eight Jews in the country.
With the creation of Israel in 1948, Sri Lanka-Israel relations had a chequered history. In 1971 Sirimavo Bandaranaike government, in love with Palestine Liberation Organisation and Nonaligned Arab countries, closed the Israeli embassy in Colombo and it was reopened again in 1984 by President J.R. Jayewardene. During his presidency Mossad was closely involved in the Mahaweli River Diversion project and during the Eelam War it was Israel’s fighter jets, battleships and missile systems that played a crucial role in winning the war for the government in 2009. But that war cost the economy dearly. External debt, internal corruption and economic mismanagement combined to drive the economy to the point of bankruptcy by 2023 when the Gaza war broke out. Sri Lankans were queueing to get out of the country in search of greener pastures. This was when employment opportunities in Israel became available.
Before the war around 165,000 Palestinians from Gaza and West Bank found employment in Israel’s construction and agricultural sectors. That number fell to just 15,000 after the rocket attack and Israel was looking for alternative sources to fill those vacancies. It was then that President Ranil Wickremasinghe signed a deal with Israeli government to send 20,000 workers from Sri Lanka. There are at present around 8,000 to 12,000 Sri Lankans said to be employed in Israel. With foreign remittance becoming a lifesaving source to replenish dwindling dollar stock at the national treasury this additional source from Israel is no doubt a blessing. Wickremesinghe may claim that this deal was another of his measures to rescue Sri Lanka’s economy. However, there is another side to this financial nexus which is becoming a headache to the NPP government.
Like foreign remittances sent by expatriate Sri Lankans revenue from tourism is another source to increase foreign balances. Sri Lanka’s natural beauty is an asset left neglected for decades by successive governments. It is now receiving special attention and tourists are flocking in their thousands mainly from India, UK, China, Germany and France. The employment deal with Israel has opened the doors for Israeli tourists to spend their dollars in this country. But are they just tourists? It is the answer to this question that puts Sri Lanka in a sad predicament in the face of Gaza horror.
Historically, with J.R. Jayewardene regime as exception, Sri Lanka had been a strong supporter of Palestine struggle for independence. The current government headed by leaders schooled in anti-colonial and anti-imperial philosophy cannot remain silent on Israel’s colonisation of Palestine. However, given the dire strait of Sri Lanka’s economy, the financial benefits from employment opportunities for locals in Israel and dollars from Israeli tourists seem to have somewhat mellowed Sri Lanka’s historical stand on Palestine. This is an unfortunate situation. For example, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa’s response to criticisms raised against the type of tourists arriving from Israel who overstay their visas and engaging in unlicensed businesses is indication of NPP’s political shortsightedness. According to the minister it is the amount of dollars that count in issuing visas and nothing else. This is worrying because among those tourists there may be war criminals, IDF personnel and even secret agents from Mossad whose dollars are soaked in Palestinian blood. Sri Lanka has no way of knowing this officially. Moreover, the appearance of unlicensed Chabad houses and transformation of Arugam Bay, a Muslim enclave in the Eastern Province, into an exclusive Israeli holiday resort are disturbing signs to intercommunal harmony and peace in this country.
Above all, there are geostrategic implications of Israel’s increasing presence in Sri Lanka given the rising tension in the Indian Ocean among US, China and India. Israel’s presence in India-administered Kashmir should be a warning to Sri Lanka. As a lifelong ally of US with close ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India, Israel could work to damage the friendly relation between Sri Lanka and China. To India China’s presence in Hambantota in particular is an irritant. It is proof of India’s diplomatic failure in its relations with Sri Lanka. The Gaza Genocide and blood-soaked Israeli tourist dollars have created a dilemma to AKD and NPP government.
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