SL’s peace-religious groups Showing a lion heart for battered Palestine

Palestine Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr Dr. Zuhair M.H. Zaid gets emotional when referring to the brutalities his people back in Palestine are subject to at the moment

A group of peace-loving citizens and a collective of multi-religious leaders took the initiative recently to meet Palestine Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr. Zuhair M.H. Zaid to show solidarity with the citizens of Palestine who are under attack by Israel 
Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana

The recent escalation of the conflict in October 2023, seemed unprecedented, but it was in the making when 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip have been living in the biggest open prison and deprived of their rights
- Sister Rasika Pieris, Sisters of the Holy Family

We have brothers, sisters and friends from all religions. We need your voices, we need your support. You can see how many people are being killed. Everything is under attack; children, women
-  Dr. Zuhair M.H. Zaid - Palestine Ambassador to Sri Lanka 

It aches to see how warships, fighter jets and weapons of mass destruction are sent and deployed by the West so quickly to support this aggressor
- Shreen Abdul Saroor - 
Sri Lankan Peace and Women’s Rights Activist 

• A peace loving group and a collective of multi-religious leaders rooted here in Sri Lanka state that they are aware of the 75 years of occupation of the state of Palestinian by Israel and the systematic and well-planned annihilation of the former’s rich culture 
• These groups extend their solidarity and sympathy to the large number of civilians killed in Gaza and for the battered citizens who are screaming for the war to stop
• They also maintain that they are appalled to hear Labour Minister Manusha Nanayakkara revealing the government’s plans to employ 1000 Sri Lankans in Israel farms 

Brother Lionel Peiris, an Anglican Franciscan, stepped into the Embassy of Palestine in Sri Lanka by stating, “Now we are in Palestine.” He was a member of a group of peace-loving citizens who together with a collective of multi-religious leaders that gathered at the Church of Ceylon, Bauddaloka Mawatha in Colombo on October 23. The members of this group and the religious leaders then walked from the Church of Ceylon to the Embassy of Palestine in Sri Lanka to meet the Palestine Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr. Zuhair M.H. Zaid to express their solidarity with the citizens of Palestine. These groups threw their weight behind the battered and bruised citizens of Palestine at a time when the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) in an act of looking the other way has announced plans of sending labour forces to be employed in farms in Israel. 

Sri Lankan Peace and Women’s Rights Activist Shreen Abdul Saroor who was also representing the group of peace-loving citizens said that they organised this meeting bringing together multi community, multi religious leaders and civil society actors to show solidarity with Palestine and express their condolences to the victims of the ongoing war. Palestinian’s struggle with Israel isn’t based on religion, but on territory.
 Expressing the opinion of her group Shreen said “that it’s important to recognise the 75 years of occupation of the state of Palestine by Israel and the systematic and well-planned annihilation of their rich culture, many centuries old history, land, resources and their very existence in their own homeland. It aches to see how warships, fighter jets and weapons of mass destruction are sent and deployed by the West so quickly to support this aggressor”.
Sister Rasika Pieris, who belongs to the Sisters of the Holy Family, shared her thoughts with this writer about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

“The recent escalation of the conflict in October 2023, seemed unprecedented, but it was in the making when 2.3 million people in the Gaza strip have been living in the biggest open prison and deprived of their rights. The conflict between Israel and Palestine reflects a longstanding struggle in the territory, since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Land remains always a contested territory in the region. With the declaration of war on the Hamas-controlled enclave of Gaza, the Israeli government continues to bomb Gaza and attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and announced total blockade, which deprives the Palestinians the basic supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity. It’s reported that over 5,000 people have been killed in the past two weeks (Figures taken from Time as at October 24). There is an urgency to stop the further escalation of violence in the region and people across the spectrum have called for an immediate ceasefire,” Sister Pieris shared her knowledge about this war adding her disappointment. 
Also she expressed her solidarity with the people who are suffering from this war. 
“Hence, we would like to extend our solidarity and sympathy to the large number of civilians killed in Gaza who are screaming for the war to stop. One of Palestine’s acclaimed poets, Mahmoud Darwish claimed: “Death doesn’t hurt the dead, it only hurts the living.” 
Sister Pieris went on to state, “Turning this into merely a humanitarian crisis, would not address the root causes of the conflict. People of Gaza more than food, water or other humanitarian assistance need an end to the senseless violence, bloodshed and destruction in order to live in peace and with dignity as a nation. The conflict has polarised nations there by taking the side of either Israel or Palestine. Though many countries have called for a halt on bombing, Israel continues causing destruction and violence against the Palestinians. There have been instances reported of expansion of settler colonialism while Palestinians flee their land”.
Sister Pieris recalled her memories about the war which Sri Lankans had faced.
“Being Sri Lankans, we have experienced the agony of the armed conflict that existed close to three decades; therefore we resonate with the people who suffer from violent conflicts. All the wars take a toll on the people. People from all walks of life would like to exercise their rights irrespective of differences and are yearning for peace, justice and freedom,” Sister Pieris said while recalling the worst of the island’s bloody civil war.

When referring to the Sri Lankan-Palestine ties, Palestine Liberation Organization opened up its first embassy in Colombo in 1975; hence it marked the beginning of Sri Lankan - Palestine relationships. 
Palestine Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr. Zuhair M.H. Zaid thanked those who expressed their solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“We have brothers, sisters and friends from all religions. We need your voices, we need your support. You can see how many people are being killed. Everything is under attack; children, women. This homeland we share together,” said a sensitive Dr Zaid.
Brother Pieris shared his views with the writer by stating that peace comes when there is justice. 
Sharoor shared more thoughts with this writer and said how disappointed she was with the Sri Lankan Labour Minister, Manusha Nanayakkara. 
“It was appalling to hear last week how Labour Minister Manusha Nanayakkara stated that about 1000 Sri Lankans will be sent to Israel to work in their farms. First of all he should know the history of these agricultural lands, the occupation and especially the systematic capture of Palestine’s fertile land and how Israel deployed Palestinian farmers in their own land to work for them. Now due to security reasons, Israel is throwing them out and replacing them with foreign labour. It shows that our labour minister wants to support this and hold our citizens hostage in this ongoing war. 

“It’s also interesting to note that when all other countries are concerned about their citizens trapped in the war zone and evacuating them, only our country wants to send in our poor labour force to bring in dollars. This tells us about our government’s one sided position in this war and their disregard to protect their own citizens,” added Shreen.