COLOMBO :
A group of social activists and a few citizens have sent a letter to Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment urging him to reconsider the MOU signed with Israel..Full text of the letter :
Dear Minister Herath,
We write to you with deep disappointment, anger, and shame as signatories representing Left movements, progressive organisations, and people committed to justice and international solidarity in Sri Lanka.
The NPP Government’s recent actions to expand diplomatic and labour ties with the State of Israel—at a time when it is actively engaged in the genocidal eradication of the Palestinian people—represents a profound moral and political failure. By facilitating the deployment of Sri Lankan labour to Israel, and to territories it occupies illegally, the Sri Lankan state is no longer a neutral observer, but a complicit participant in sustaining a genocidal and apartheid system.
The signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 22nd December 2025, by Deputy Minister, Arun Hemachandra is inexcusable. Especially given that prior to coming into power, the Deputy Minister was a vocal and visible supporter of the rights of the Palestinian people. His recent visit to the region, during which he reportedly refused even to meet representatives of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, marks an indefensible 180-degree reversal in both NPP and JVP party positions on Palestine. This reversal is a clear betrayal of human values, leftist principles, and the trust of the people who gave this Government a two-thirds majority mandate.
With a two-thirds mandate, this government was entrusted not merely with administrative authority, but with moral leadership. Instead, it has chosen to sacrifice a principled foreign policy stance, something invaluable in the international diplomatic landscape, for readily available economic incentives. In doing so, the government has sold what cannot be bought back: credibility, conscience, and historical legacy.
At a time when the Global North continues to demonstrate blatant indifference to the destruction, displacement, and suffering it inflicts upon the peoples of the Global South, the urgent need of the hour is Global South solidarity—a people’s solidarity rooted in shared histories of colonialism, resistance, and struggle. Sri Lanka should be strengthening this solidarity, not undermining it.
We remind you that in the 1950s, Sri Lanka stood at the very centre of such a principled international movement. That legacy of non-alignment, moral clarity, and solidarity with oppressed peoples continues to benefit our country diplomatically to this day. Yet, the short-sighted decisions of the current NPP/JVP Government, through shortsighted diplomacy
has squandered this inheritance, preventing Sri Lanka from occupying a similar position of respect and leadership moving forward.
We urge you, and by extension, the NPP Government, to reconsider this dangerous trajectory. The forces that are conducting this genocide in Palestine do not look at our country and our people any differently, and the compromise we make for the demands of “Justice” and “Freedom” for the people of Palestine is the compromise they will demand we make of ourselves.
Yours sincerely,
The undersigned signatories of Left movements, progressive organisations, and concerned citizens of Sri Lanka.
