Two Years of Israeli Genocide and One Year of Sri Lankan Ambivalence

The months of September and October mark the one-year anniversary of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s election to office and the two-year anniversary of the United Statesand European-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, respectively.

- By SHIRAN ILLANPERUMA

On 25 September, Dissanayake addressed the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. To my knowledge, this speech was the first time he has substantially mentioned Palestine in the year since his election. But the speech was nothing special, it was neither an inspiring call to action nor an incisive analysis of the current historical conjuncture.

On Palestine, Dissanayake said, “We are deeply distressed by the ongoing catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. Gaza has been turned into an open prison full of pain and suffering, echoing with the cries of children and the innocent civilians. The United Nations Organisation and all related parties must work towards an immediate ceasefire, enable adequate humanitarian aid to these areas and to ensure the release of hostages of all parties. We recognise the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to their own state.”

What's wrong with this statement? First, to call for a ceasefire and reiterate Sri Lanka’s recognition of a Palestinian state adds nothing above and beyond the existing status quo. Nothing is lost, no risk is taken, by saying this, and nothing is gained, in tangible terms, for the Palestinian cause — it does not move the Overton window or shift the discourse in any meaningful way. Ten western countries have recently announced they would recognise a Palestinian state; of these, five (UK, France, Luxembourg, Australia, and Canada) continue to sell weapons to Israel. The former imperial powers of Europe want to fashion a rump state out of the rubble in Gaza, stripped of any means of self-defence or economic sovereignty — the fact that they want Tony Blair, one of the butchers of Iraq, to run this authority says it all.