Telling the truth isn’t really popular in the halls of power in Colombo: Sri Lanka’s government on Monday acknowledged for the first time civilian casualties occurred in the final phase of its 26—year civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels but calls those deaths unavoidable. A Defence Ministry report said “it was impossible” to avoid civilian…
Showing all posts tagged Sri Lanka
Australian cricket team should not visit Sri Lanka
When a country such as Sri Lanka proudly flaunts its human rights abuses against the Tamils and refuses to investigate war crimes, the world has a responsibility to act. The Australian cricket team is soon to travel to the country and voices are growing that such a trip should be cancelled, to send a strong…
Why cultural boycott is legitimate weapon in face of repression
What weapons for an occupied people? A population facing repression? Cultural, academic and economic boycotts are important tools and must be utilised. I argued this in a recent essay in Overland in relation to Sri Lanka and Palestine. This post on Mondoweiss shows that the debate is global and opponents of boycotts have fewer arguments…
Of course politics and sports mix over Colombo’s crimes
Good piece in the Guardian on why the sporting community need to take a strong stand against a regime, Sri Lanka, that murders civilians with impunity. It’s just not cricket, sports fans: Disgrace. What a tediously familiar word; stripped of significance by its overuse, shorn of force by its frequent repetition. Read it again. Roll…
Killing fields of Sri Lanka
Here is the devastating Channel 4 in Britain documentary on the brutal civil war in Sri Lanka. Assisted by China, Israel, India and the US, Colombo murdered over 40,000 Tamil civilians. We will not forget. And we will demand accountability:
Calls for Colombo to face war crimes trial grows
From Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times: Will the Sri Lankan government be able to shrug off the persistent allegations that war crimes were committed, in its successful assault on the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in 2009? I have always assumed that the answer to that question was – probably Yes. But now I’m beginning to…
Praising Sri Lanka for murdering countless Tamils
Oh what a glorious war. After killing up to 40,000 Tamils civilians during the end of the country’s civil war, Colombo recently organised a conference to show the world the wonderful techniques used to silence, intimidate and destroy Tamil hopes for a homeland. Naturally, many other countries were keen to hear such wise words, including…
Some question and answers about responsibility of writers
Following my essay in the latest edition of literary journal Overland on cultural boycotts, politics, Palestine and Sri Lanka, the magazine interviewed me on various matters: Passionate and outspoken about Israel/Palestine, among other things, Antony Loewenstein is a freelance independent journalist based in Sydney. Author of My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution, he is…
On literary boycotts, Palestine, Sri Lanka and the politics of dissent
My following essay appears in the latest edition of literary journal Overland (a shorter version is published on ABC online): ”˜For thirty years the country [Sri Lanka] went through a kind of hell and endured untold economic and cultural deprivation. Now, with things looking up, we need all the friendly input we can get from…
Sri Lanka is a heart of darkness where murder is encouraged
Today’s Guardian editorial is a powerful indictment against any government, journalist or official who views Colombo as a model when fighting “terrorism”. The UN is also complicit. The take-away message is that murdering civilians during wars (something many nations are very good at, including the US, Israel, Congo and a host of others) must be…