President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Israel By Latheef Farook

Why island’s Muslims, not Muslim politicians, are concerned?

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s two day visit to Israel, during his current tour to the region which included Jordan and the Israeli occupied West Bank, remains the greatest achievement for Israel which has been aggressively trying to enter the country through backdoors only to be sent out from front doors since mid 1950s.

It is an added victory to Israel because President Rajapakse has also been the president of Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine People for almost three decades.

As a country which thrives on others’ misery Israel, which trained Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE fighters at the same time in the same area, managed to enter the country during the government’s war against the LTTE. Since then Israel penetrated several spheres including the mainstream media effectively blocking any publicity highlighting its true face and its unprecedented crime and sufferings inflicted on Palestinians.

In its drive to entrench its presence in the island which, in the past, has been a steadfast supporter of Palestinians struggle for freedom against Israeli occupation and oppression, President Rajapaksa’s visit is certainly the culmination.

The visit also speaks for the political bankruptcy of the island’s Muslim politicians who failed to voice their concern. Today the Island’s Muslim community remains sandwiched between globally aggressive   Israel and a totally ineffective and shameless Muslim politicians.

However the Muslim community has its own concern about this fast growing relation between Sri Lanka and Israel. The reason being with the Israeli presence comes its deadly secret service Mossad whose main target worldwide remains Islam and Muslims. They lavishly throw money, recruit local agents and set communities against Muslims

For example long before the handful of racist elements began their ongoing anti Muslim campaign many knowledgeable Muslims feared that Israeli presence may create problems between the Sinhalese and Muslim communities.

Their fear proved right judging from the current wave of overall attacks on the island’s Muslim community.

Most politicians, journalists and others who are now hobnobbing with the Zionists do not know who these Zionists are and what is their background is -which is only akin to German Nazis.

Around 1860s the world Zionist leaders met in the Swiss city of Basle and decided to   kick out Palestinians from their homes and lands and set up their Jewish state in Palestine which was then under Turkey’s Ottoman rule.

They manipulated and toppled Turkey during World War 1 and brought Palestine under British mandate. With the blessings of the British they massacred Palestinians and drove them   into refugee camps where they still languish. Later they manipulated   US, UK, France and Russia to exploit the United Nations, in violation of its own principles, to establish the state of Israel in the robbed Palestinian lands in violation of all established norms.

Since then Israel waged numerous wars, grabbed Palestinian and Arab lands and turned Middle East into a killing field.  Israel has committed 63 massacres of Palestinians since 1930s and the UN remains ineffective and helpless in the face of Israeli crimes. The UN could not even implement its own report, Goldstone, which accused Israel of war crimes.

Israel did not stop there. Now they wanted to divide Middle East into small entities to ensure its supremacy in the region. This is what US and Europe too wanted.

The result is the  US,UK and European wars against Muslim countries under the guise of fighting a so called war on terrorism .One  after the other Muslim countries were invaded and   destroyed besides killing millions of innocent Muslims and driving out many more millions into refugee camps.

Speaking about Jews the founding father of United States Benjamin Franklin said; 

"If you do not exclude them, in less than 200 years our descendants will be working in the fields to furnish them substance, while they will be in the counting houses rubbing their hands. I warn you, gentlemen, if you do not exclude the Jews for all time, your children will curse you in your graves. Jews, gentlemen, are Asiatics, let them be born where they will or how many generations they are away from Asia, they will never be otherwise. Their ideas do not conform to an American's, and will not even though they live among us ten generations. A leopard cannot change its spots. Jews are Asiatics, are a menace to this country if permitted entrance, and should be excluded by this Constitutional Convention."

Today this is proved prophetic as Jewish lobbies rule the US which blindly supports Israel. The situation is such   that no American poitician can speak a word about Israel’s endless crimes against humanity and survive in politics. So much so, according to reports, even President Barack Obama was carefully screened and chosen for the job by the Chicago based Jewish billionaire.

Unlike other countries Israel is here not to help or establish better relations with Sri Lankan. They are least bothered about that. They are here as part of their agenda to establish their global domination.

It is also matter of time  they start their killing spree to silence any dissent .They   will not only pit communities against each other but will also pickup black sheep from the Muslim community, especially politicians,  to split and cause trouble within the community.

Under such circumstance the question is whether a small country like Sri Lanka can afford to get involved with the Zionists. In fact long before racist elements raised their heads I wrote an article around 2009 expressing concern on Israeli presence here. Here I reproduce this article which   traces the history of Sri Lankan-Israeli ties and also justifies the Muslim community’s fear.

Here is the article;

Growing ties with Israel- Why Muslims are concerned

The Zionist Jewish entity of Israel which has been sneaking into the country only to be expelled time and again, found a foothold in the island now.  The island’s growing ties with Israel have become cause for serious concern among many especially within the discriminated and discarded Muslim community which fears that this may spell disaster for them.

This fear emanates from Israel’s long record of hostility towards Muslims and its crucial role in the United States led western global campaign demonising Islam and Muslims under the guise of fighting a so called war on terrorism. It becomes still worse because a small minority of   nationalists who, openly call for the expulsion of Tamils and Muslims from the island, are now in influential positions while Muslims parliamentarian remain subdued and ineffective under a political system which provides for a democratically elected dictatorship with absolute power and no accountability.

In the recent past ministers, top officials and private sector officials, tourists and many others started visiting Israel while Israel’s so called entrepreneurs began investing in many sectors indicating the flourishing relations facilitated by the globalisation and open economy.

Israel sought to establish closer ties with Sri Lanka as early as 1950s. Answering a question on foreign affairs late prime Minister Mr S.W.R.D.Banadaranike said in the parliament on 14 August 1958 that” on assuming office Israel continued to pressurise to send an Israeli diplomatic representative as agreed by the previous  government. Well, I said,” Yes you may do so” Then the question of appointing our representative to Israel arose and I have just laid by for further consideration.”

It was during Prime Minister W Dahanayake’s period a non resident ambassador was appointed to Israel in 1958, but he was recalled by Prime Minister Mrs Srimavo Bandaranaike. The Sri Lankan Ambassador to Rome looked after the Israeli affairs during the UNP government between 1965 and 1970.

Deception- an   Israeli tool

During this period the Israeli Charge d Affairs in Colombo was a hyper active person. For example it was just after the June 1967 Israeli aggression on neighbouring Arab countries and I just stared my journalistic career with the now defunct Independent Newspapers which thrived on fanning communalism. I had` seen the Israeli envoy visit this office frequently and spend long hours with Mr D.B.Dhanapala who was in charge of the editorial .They were often joined by Mr Sepala Gunasena, the Owner and Managing Director.

During these visits he never failed to meet Dr Gamini Wijewardene, the Editor of English language daily SUN and Mr David Karunaratne the Editor of Sinhala daily DAWASA. It so happened that often the day after the Israeli envoy’s meeting with Dr Karunaratne, Dawasa used to carry cartoons ridiculing Islam and Muslims using derogatory words such as  “thambiya”. In trying to please the Jews they were least bothered about insulting   of Muslims – citizens of this country.

Once Mr Dhanapala asked me whether I would like to go abroad. I was thrilled and said “yes” as going abroad was more than a dream in those days. Then came the shock when he told me” get ready to go to Israel”. Shattered within seconds I politely turned down the offer in view of the hostility of Israel towards Muslim, its continuous oppression and brutalisation of Palestinians and the damage caused to Jerusalem, Islam’s third most important holy place.

Few days later our colleague S.H.Yoonos, Sports Editor of Sun, accepted the offer    despite vehement opposition from the community and his hastily arranged flight schedule by Air Ceylon was Ratmalana, Bombay, Rome and Tel Aviv. He left Ratmalana Airport around 11 am and by 12.30 noon, even before he reached Bombay,  proof copy of following day  SUN’s first page carrying a despatch supposed to have been filed by Yunoos from Tel Aviv stating that the Muslims in Israel were very happy under Israel, was on the table of Dr Wijewardene.

We were all shocked only to realise what the Israeli envoy was up to and what he was capable of. Such a fraud was unimaginable in those days when honesty and integrity were integral part of the island’s   intellectual community.

This utterly false and deliberately misleading story was not written by Yunoos but   by the Israeli legation in Colombo without his knowledge. Few days later when I  politely asked  Dr Gamini Wijewardene “  how could Yunoos write such a story  an hour and half after he left the island  the always cheerful  Dr Wijewardene   said with a smile“ ask LOKKA”-meaning Dhanapala. 

So much for the Israel’s well established and longstanding policy of exploiting the media to mislead the public. Judging from the number of distorted stories in the local dailies these days one cannot help but suspect that they had successfully penetrated the media   trying to portray a rosy picture of Israel hiding their never ending crime records while never missing a chance to demonise Palestinians.

During the 1970 general elections expelling the Israeli mission in Colombo was a pledge by the United Front which attracted sizable Muslims votes.  Fulfilling her promise Mrs Srimavo Bandaranaike closed down the Israeli mission in Colombo despite threats of economic boycott .It was during her time in the mid 1970s the Palestine Liberation Organisation opened its representative office which was elevated to full embassy status in 1982. The island’s fiercely independent and dignified policy and the overall attitude towards Israel was such that in 1979, Sri Lankan Cricket Team refused to play its match against Israel in the 15 nation qualifying competition in the 2nd Prudential World Cricket Competition in England.

Then came the disastrous July 1983 anti Tamil riots when the government had to deal with the rising  Tamil militancy in the north .With both the United States and Britain failed to help President Jayewardene turned to other countries. Israel which always thrives on others misery grabbed the opportunity to help leading to the establishment of an Israeli Interest Section in the United States Embassy in Colombo with David Matna, later reported belonging to Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, appointed as resident head.  

Muslims opposed the move. Leading a delegation respected senior Muslim politician and Chairman of UNP Dr M.C.M. Kaleel met President Jayewardene to express Muslim concerns. But dismissing them President Jayewardene stated “well, I will go even to devil to get help. If the Muslims wanted they can remain in the government, otherwise they can leave”. Muslim parliamentarians were placed in an embarrassing and helpless situation and Foreign Minister A.C.S.Hameed had to defend   the move. This was one of the reasons why the frustrated Muslims, especially those in the east, turned to Sri Lanka Muslim Congress for a forum of their own to raise their voice, though it later ended up as a disaster. Under these growing ties Israeli President Chaim Herzog paid an official visit to Sri Lanka in 1986.

It was proved time and again that Israelis have no special feelings for Sri Lanka which they consider “as an undeveloped and uncivilised country with monkeylike people who are not long out of the trees and should not expect much” as disclosed in the book “By Way of Deception; The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer” by Victor Ostrovsky and Claire Hoy.

Insulting Sri Lankans further in page 128 the author of this book stated as follows;

“Next I was assigned to the high ranking officers who were looking for radar equipment. I was told to take them to manufacturer in Ashdod named Alta that could do the work. But when he saw their specifications, the Alta representative said,” They’re just going through the motions. They are not going to buy our radar”

“Why? I said.

“These specs were not written for these monkeys (referring to Sri Lankans) the man said.” They were written by a British radar manufacturer called Deca, so these guys already know what they’re going to buy. Give them a banana and send them home. You’re wasting your time.

“Okay, but how about a brochure or something to make them happy?”

The conversation was going on in Hebrew while we all sat together eating cookies and drinking coffee and tea. The Alta rep said he didn’t mind giving them a lecture to make it look as if they weren’t brushed off,” but if we are going to do that, let’s have some fun.”

With that he went into another office for a set of big transparencies of a large vacuum –cleaner system that is used to clean harbours after oil spills. He had a series of colourful schematic drawings. Everything was written in Hebrew, but he lectured in English on this “high capability radar equipment”. I found it difficult not to laugh. He laid it on so thick, claiming this radar could locate a guy swimming in the water and practically tell his shoe size, his name and address and his blood type. When he’d finished, the Sri Lankans thanked him said they were surprised at this technological advancement, but that it wouldn’t fit their ships. We knew about their ships. We built them.

This book came out with startling revelations of Sri Lanka’s secret relations with Israel and in view of their seriousness President Ranasinghe Premadasa appointed a presidential commission of inquiry into allegations. Among those who gave evidence was eminent journalist Mervyn de Silva. He stated as follows:

“Considering the post independence record of Sri Lanka, one of the most singular achievements of the Sri Lankan political leadership has been the more or less bi-partisan approach it has adopted on problems of vital national interest in the sphere of foreign policy. However that the question of diplomatic relations with Israel has been an exception to this rule and that the post 1978 periods marks a change with the past in the realm of foreign policy”.

“He said that he was of the opinion that the opening of the Israeli Interest Section in Colombo was an unwise step in the face of formal protests and warnings by the leader of the Opposition and the ruling party’s Muslim members led by Dr M.C.M.Kaleel.There was widening discontent since that time in the Muslim community which had remained up to that time the least politicised of Sri Lanka’s three main communities. It was wrong to have assumed that Israel’s national interests coincided with Sri Lanka’s national interests, and more particularly with Sinhalese interests, and that it was wrong again to have assumed that the Israelis would be satisfied with the unique but humble status of an “interest section”, that they would serve our interests faithfully and then politely leave when we ask them to go away. Mervyn de Silva went on to say that the elementary fact of Israel’s foreign policy is that the national interest of Israel is the ultimate test and that the Israelis pursue this with cold blooded calculation, and that it was Israel’s “Dream of Asia” and its desire to establish a diplomatic base in India to fill the vacuum between Israel and Burma, which constituted their main objective. To serve that purpose, Israel accepted the American idea to become an interests section within the US Embassy. The irony is that the U.S. did not want to give us direct help in order not to antagonise India, while India found yet another reason to be hostile to Sri Lankan and its foreign policy”.

Finally President Ranasinghe Premadasa closed down the Israeli Interest Section in Colombo on 20 April 1990 and discontinued diplomatic relations with Israel.

Once again Secret talks between Israel and Sri Lanka began in 1996 when the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was hospitalized in New Delhi for a kidney operation and the Israeli ambassador in New Delhi, accompanied by the then Indian Ambassador in Colombo Sivashankar Menon who was earlier the Indian ambassador in Israel before coming to Sri Lanka and currently Foreign secretary in India, visited Mr. Kadirgamar in the hospital. According informed sources the Israeli ambassador had visited Mr. Kadirgamar frequently in the hospital and these secret contacts led to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries in June 2000.

Thus even when there were no formal ties, there was still activity in the military sphere with military delegations visiting Israel and purchasing arms. These ties continue to date and early this year W.M.Seneviratne from theForeign Service was appointed as the island’s ambassador to Israel.

The often raised question is what is the guarantee that the Israelis will not use the nationalists and extremists to whip up hostility against Muslims? This is the reason why the Muslims fear the Israeli presence may harm the existing ties within the communities and further complicate the ethnic conflict. Already there were widespread speculations that Israel played a crucial role in aggravating the split between the Tamils and Muslims who lived in peace and harmony in the East.

It was under such circumstance Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona visited Israel with a formal greeting from President Mahinda Rajapakse to Israeli President Shimon Peres, known for his Qana massacre of more than one hundred innocent civilians in the United Nations compound.

During his four day visit Dr. Kohona also visited ‘Yad Vashem’ the holocaust memorial. But it was sad that Dr Kohona didn’t find time to visit villages such as Deir Yassin and Kafr Qassim in the outskirts of Jerusalem where Nobel Prize winning Jewish terrorist Menachem Begin massacred Palestinians men, women, children and the aged. He even ripped open a pregnant Palestinian woman’s stomach and shot at the foetus. Perhaps the lives of Palestinian victims’ of Jewish terrorism are not that precious as those of Jews’?

Then came the first high profile visit of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, accompanied by a team which included his secretary Mahinda Bandusena who was the island’s  former ambassador to Israel, in March 2008 where he, perhaps to please the Israelis, accused Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon of training Tamil youths .He also said that the Tamil youths learnt the art of suicide bombing from some Palestinian groups, an accusation yet to be proved.

But what was conspicuously absent in Mr. Wickremanayake’s speech was the role played by Israel in training both Tamil youths and the Sri Lankan government forces.  In this regard once again I like to quote from the book By Way of Deception –The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer” page 67 and 68;

“ The Israelis also trained elite forces, for both sides-( Tamil militants and the government forces) without either side knowing about the other and helped Sri Lanka cheat the World Bank and other investors out of millions of dollars to pay for all the arms they were buying from them”

In pages 129 and 130 the same book   stated;

“ Yosy was also looking after a group being trained by the Israelis. But they weren’t supposed to meet my people. They were Tamils, bitter enemies of my Sinhalese group”

The Tamils were training at the commando naval base. learning penetration techniques, mining landings, communications and how to sabotage ships similar to the Devora. There were about 28 men in each group, so it was decided that Yosy should take the Tamils to Haifa that night while I took the Sinhalese to Tel Aviv, thus avoiding any chance encounters.

The real problem started about two weeks into the courses, when both the Tamils and Sinhalese-unknown to each other, of course were training at Kfar Sirkin. It is a fairly large base, but even so, on one occasion the two groups passed within a few yards of each other while they were out jogging. After their basic training routine at Kfar Sirkin, the Sinhalese were taken to the naval base to be taught essentially how to deal with all the techniques the Israelis had just taught Tamils. It was pretty hectic. We had to dream up punishments or night training exercises just to keep them busy, so that both groups wouldn’t be in Tel Aviv at the same time. The actions of this one man (Amy) could have jeopardized the political situation in Israel if these groups had met.

According to local reports Prime Minister Wickremanayake had also noted that Sri Lanka and Israel share a lot of commonalities and both nations have been at the receiving end of terror attacks. It is difficult to understand how could there be commonalities between Sri Lanka, with a recorded history of more than 2500 years and a civilization based on religious traditions and an agricultural society which produced some of the finest tank building engineering skills, with sixty year old Israel established in the lands robbed by means of violence and terrorism from Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Mr. Wickremanayake during his meeting that it was forbidden to give in to terrorism. The question is how the Zionist Jews, god fathers of terrorism, could speak about fighting terrorism. Palestinians who lost their homes, their lands, their families, their human rights, ignored by the United Nations and betrayed and abandoned by the Arab dictators, have been struggling to regain all what they lost. Can we call them terrorists?

Ever since the West planted Israel in the heart of Muslim world, Israel remains the only source of political instability and misery in the region. Since its establishment Israel, served as the outpost of the Western colonial powers. In 1955 Israel joined Britain and France to invade Egypt. In June 1967 Israel attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan and captured Sinai, Gaza strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.  Jewish lobbies which rule the US played a crucial role in the US invasion of Iraq. Israel failed to abide by United Nations resolutions so far no measure was taken for its failure to implement UN resolution, because no UN secretary general wanted to lose his job. 

Israel maintains a tight grip over the Palestinian territories where building Jewish-only settlements with American money continues in full swing. Their killing spree continues unabated using American supplied F 16 fighter jets, Apache helicopter gunships, tanks, armored bulldozers and ground troops. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert slaughtered 120 Palestinians, including a two day old baby, within a week, since 27 February 2008. 

What we failed to understand is that despite the comings and goings of Israel the island’s devastating ethnic war, created by the short sighted policies of political parties which only looked at the next general elections and not the next generations, continue to ravage the country. Once again their failure to solve the ethnic issues brought in, not only Israel, but all sorts of regional and international players to the island turning the island to a devastating playground certainly not to the benefit of the country.