COLOMBO : It is with shock and profound disappointment that the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine (SLCSP) receives the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry’s communique announcing that Sri Lanka has opened a consulate in Haifa in Northern Israel.
At a time when diplomatic dissociation is the expected stance from the Sri Lankan government given the country’s record in promoting global justice and freedom from the colonial yoke, it is appalling to note that the present government is further cementing its ties with Israel, a country accused of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Besides, there is no need for such a consulate in
a small state like Israel, with the distance from Tel Aviv where Sri Lanka has its embassy to Haifa similar to the distance between Colombo and Kandy or Galle.
The opening of the Haifa consulate comes amidst President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s moves to raise
funds to facilitate food aid to the people in the famine-stricken Gaza Strip where more than 32,000
people have been killed by Israeli forces. The government is not unaware that the worsening famine
situation and the humanitarian crisis are due to Israel’s scorched earth military policy in Gaza.
Therefore, as a group that is committed to promoting peace in West Asia, we view the government’s move as rewarding Israel, an international pariah that brazenly violates international law and international humanitarian laws with impunity.
We strongly urge the government to align itself with the right side of history and refrain from actions that hurt not only the feelings of the world peace constituency but also the battered people in occupied Palestine territories.
