Traveling Genocide
I will not be silent. When Sri Lankan soldiers murdered seventy thousand Tamil civilians in the Vanni during the last months of the last Eelam War, there were cries…
Peace and Conflict
AI and the Erosion of Humanity: Lessons from Israel’s Wars
Washington Post The ongoing conflict in Gaza has become a chilling showcase for the perils of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in warfare. Israel’s deployment of AI-powered systems to generate target lists and guide…
Out of Yaffa
He has never visited Yaffa, home of his grandfather, just forty miles away across No Man’s land and the border fence. He has not seen the Wailing Wall, stepped on the…
A Bloody Turn
You say we are all traumatized by this genocide, that we are responsible as well, that we cannot hide under books or pillows from drones, fighter jets and two thousand pound bombs….
Waiting for a Democratic Opposition
The point had been made often enough. Without a Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency, there wouldn’t have been an Anura Kumara Dissanayake presidency. For the NPP/JVP to go from 3 percent to 42 percent…
US Imperialism Drives Middle East War
(Lenin) (General Alexander Haig, American Secretary of State) It is little over one year since Hamas fired those deadly rockets on Israel as mark of its violent struggle to liberate Gaza from…
Naming the Dead and Disappeared as an Act of Memorialisation
Naming the names of the dead is an important act of memorialisation; for those they leave behind, it is their names that contain their essence. Palestinians in Gaza are writing the names…
Will the President and the NPP Take Courageous Steps Towards Reconciliation?
Maatram Sri Lanka’s history is deeply scarred by ethnic tensions and addressing these divisions is crucial for the nation’s future. The National People’s Power (NPP) and its leader, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake,…
Gaza as a Moral Compass – and a Strategic Blunder
The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has pledged solidarity with Gaza and Palestine. In this the National People’s Power (NPP) party differs little from other political outfits in the country, which…
Building on Hope, Gaining Trust: Challenges for a New Government
Elections can be times of hope, offering the possibility of a fresh start, yet also bring deep divisions to the surface. Sri Lanka is one of several countries where in 2024 voters…
Global Israel Poses Global Threat
Global Israel is a name coined by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe in his latest book and it refers to “a coalition that includes most governments, mainstream media and some parts of…
Gaza, First Death Anniversary
International Words cannot bring back the dead. But they can heal the wounded my teacher said. I went to the house; found its absence baffling and bitter like smoke disappearing…
The Challenges in Ensuring Free, Fair and Peaceful Elections
Incidents of election violence escalated significantly in September, culminating in a murder and a potential second incident. Ninety six violations were recorded on September 15 alone. Arson, assault, threats and the misuse…
Presidential Candidates Ignore the Scourge of Enforced Disappearances
None of the three leading presidential candidates have directly addressed the issue of enforced disappearances despite the fact that Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people reported to the…
Truth, Reconciliation and Interim Secretariat
A recent UN Human Rights Council session raising grave concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka, including a report by High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, was the focus of a…