Who is ruling our country - - AKD, Netanyahu or the US?

Australian DJ Tom Monagle filming a walk-through in Arugam Bay, pointed out Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stickers on walls, and Hebrew signboards outnumbering those in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. He wondered aloud whether he was in Tel Aviv or in Lanka

Life in our country has been controversial  since  last month. On  August 22nd, we witnessed our immediate past president (Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe) being handcuffed and bundled away in a prison van. He had to remain in remand custody for two days as the Magistrate’s Court did not sit until Monday, or so we were told.  

Since then, we saw the arrest and detention of  powerful past political figures including former  Members of Parliament, past ministers and high-ranking government  bureaucrats. Many of the arrested, including the past president, were accused of misusing public funds. Hardly had the shock of the past president’s arrest and release subsided, when other  events took a surprising turn. In the distant village of Arugam Bay -- an area known as Lanka’s surfing paradise- - two Israeli tourists beat up a Lankan man and his wife when they protested the motor bike belonging to the Israelis was blocking their path.

The Israelis were arrested, produced before a Magistrate and released the same day. Their passports were impounded and the duo were banned from leaving the country. Complaints have intensified over the years of Israeli disrespect for local norms with concentrations of Israeli tourists to specific areas, their tendency to create exclusive social spaces, including “Israeli only parties” and settling up of Jewish Chabads illegally  in Muslim dominated villages—all this has come under criticism. 

The ‘Sunday Times’ reported that Israeli tourists had also started  illegally running businesses, especially in Arugam Bay. The report added that in June 2023, “a whole bunch of new school people had set up surf schools, photography schools, yoga schools and so on, which are unregulated”. The report added that  in the south “even legitimate Israeli businesses bought down Israeli workers on tourist visas to construct their buildings.”

Australian DJ Tom Monagle filming a walk-through in Arugam Bay, pointed out Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stickers on walls, and Hebrew signboards outnumbering those in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. He wondered aloud whether he was in Tel Aviv or in Lanka. This situation has worsened to a point where today Special Task Force (STF) officials stand guard outside unlawfully established  Chabads and business places. 

This behaviour of Israeli ‘tourists’ is not limited to Sri Lanka alone. ‘Ynet’ an international tourist magazine says many hotels worldwide have an unofficial policy of refusing young Israeli tourists. Words such as ‘shameless, undisciplined, noisy, and demanding’ said to be most common when describing travellers from Jewish state. It was in this situation,  with tensions running high, that  two Israeli nationals  arrested by Pottuvil Police on Friday August 29th for assaulting a hotel owner and his wife in Arugam Bay were released on bail.

Months earlier,  Arugam Bay became embroiled in controversy after locals complained of Israeli tourists harassing tourists from other countries and even local tourists for coming into ‘their areas’.  The obnoxious behaviour of Israeli nationals -- many of whom are members of the Israeli Defence Force led to anti Israel demonstrations island-wide. The rallies demanded an end  to Israeli business activities in Lanka,  its genocidal war in Palestine where Lankans witnessed in real time, the brutal massacres live streamed  of the killing of young children -victims of attacks carried out by the IDF in Gaza, Palestine.

The present National Peoples Power (NPP) government has throughout its political journey been promoters of the Palestinian peoples’ struggle for justice and liberation. So why is our government afraid to crack down on these obnoxious tourists? Could it be that, the US support for  the Netanyahu-led Israeli government, which is scaring our government from taking action against unruly Israeli tourists?

Our government realises any action taken against Israeli tourists could  result in the US imposing travel advisories on the country which will be blindly followed by the countries of Western Europe. This would adversely affect our tourist trade. It could also possibly lead the US to  impose  higher tariffs on our exports? 

This is the reality facing our government. We can arrest a past president without batting an eyelid, but do little to curtail the activities of  Israeli tourists or reduce the  local population’s anger and frustration. The granting of visa-free entry to Israeli tourists is further proof of the government being forced to act against its values and empathy for Palestinians because of our vulnerability to the international debt crisis of the country.