Shawl-wearing Dilan tells Govt. to sever ties with Israel
With the Gaza war flaring again, taking a strong position against Israel was Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna dissident Parliamentarian Dilan Perera.
On Wednesday, addressing a public event to mark the United Nations Day of Solidarity with Palestine, he called on the government to sever relations with Israel if it did not stop its massacres in the Gaza Strip.
Pointing to the Palestinian shawl he was wearing at the event, the MP said he would continue to wear the shawl for three days in Parliament. True to his word, he was seen wearing the Palestinian shawl in Parliament.
On Friday, addressing the committee stage debate on the Trade and Industry Ministry vote, he questioned the morality of the government's decision to send 10,000 workers to work in Israeli farms.
“A lot of people asked me why I’m wearing this shawl. Today, thousands of women and children are being killed in Gaza. Hospitals and refugee camps are being bombed. As a country and as a Parliament, I think it’s high time that we looked at our relationship with Israel, at least temporarily,” he told the House. “Why are we sending our workers to Israel when Israelis are killing Palestinian workers there?” queried the MP.
Mr. Perera asked the government to renegotiate the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka and Israel on sending workers to Israel “at least until Israel stops the war.”
The MP noted there is a precedent for Sri Lanka acting against Israeli aggression, pointing out that former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike once severed all ties with Israel. So many countries around the world have done so in recent weeks owing to Israel’s devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip, said the MP. “We should not look at this as a Muslim issue but as a humanitarian issue,” he insisted.
Several other MPs have been wearing Palestinian shawls this week in solidarity with the people of Palestine. They include Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( SLMC) Leader Rauff Hakeem, SLMC MP Ali Zahir Moulana and SJB MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar.
Why are we sending our workers to Israel when Israelis are killing Palestinian workers there?