Sri Lanka has fallen prey to Zionist forces of Israel and by way has given leeway for extremist Tamil forces to rise and the Western powers to undermine the war victory, former diplomat Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has stated at a meeting held in solidarity with the Palestenian people of Gaza.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
Dr. Jayatilleka addressing the meeting held on Tuesday, had stated that the recent media release issued by the foreign ministry on the Israel- Palestine conflict is exemplary of the Rajapaksa regime’s mistaken stance on the situation in Gaza.
“The statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry contains major flaws; it does not mention Palestine or Palestinians, there is no condemnation of the bombings carried out by Israel or of its illegal occupation of Palestine, it does not offer solidarity for an independent Palestine and neither is it mentioned anywhere that the two nations should strive to live peacefully,” Dr. Jayatilleke said pointing out at a recent External Affairs Ministry media statement issued on July 15 – describing it as a reflection of the ‘lack of a policy, empathy, backbone or a brain’ on part of the Sri Lankan government.
He said that today Sri Lanka is attempting to follow and imitate Israel and pointed out that is a flawed move quoting a statement made by his father Mervyn De Silva before the Mossad Commission appointed by former President Premadasa in which he had warned that the Sinhala majority should never believe that Israel would side with them because the Zionists have always identified themselves with the LTTE struggle.
Dr. Jayatilleka said this fact is further proven by the contents of a book – ‘By way of Deception’ written by one of the youngest spies that worked for Mossad Victor Ostrovsky in which he has revealed that while offering training to the Sri Lankan forces, the actual training was provided by the Mossad to the LTTE.
According to Dr. Jayatilleka, a group of top government officials including Government Minister Champika Ranawaka had visited Israel during 2008 – 2009 and had met with the Post Conflict Homeland Security force, whose advice thereafter had been offered to Sri Lanka which the said Sri Lankan officials had accepted.
“It was that Israeli model that was implemented in the North following the war. This is the factor that is once again fueling Tamil Eelam extremist forces in the diaspora groups and Tamil Nadu,” he stated.
He said it was the stance he took during a debate on the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008 – 2009 that resulted in him being removed from his position in Geneva, after being questioned by Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his comments at the UNHRC.
“Afterwards, the broadest alliance in defense of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the UN which I worked hard to build, systematically deteriorated. It was this self-inflicted weakness by Sri Lanka’s own state officials that was exploited by the Tamil Diaspora lobbies, to launch the UN International Inquiry,” he added.
Dr. Jayatilleka has gone on to state that although the Sri Lankan army managed to maintain a distinct difference in their operations during the war in comparison to the operatives of the Israeli forces today, the short sighted actions of some government officials has undermined those efforts and instead has played right into the hands of the Western forces that seek to intervene in Sri Lanka.
He said it is such policies that are reflected through statements that are made by individuals such as BBS General Secretary Galagoda Atte Gnanasara when he says that if Rauff Hakeem turns Maligawatte into a Gaza they are ready to turn into an Israel.
“What is he implying through such a statement? That they would bomb Maligawatte and kill innocent women and children?,” he questioned.
He said the Ministries of Defense and External Affairs have turned occupied territories of Israel and its virulent influence in Sri Lanka’s domestic policies is well reflected today through the
– post war reconciliation with the Tamil majority north of the island
– the diplomatic isolation of Sri Lanka and its encirclement in the global arena
– the surge of anti-Muslim elements in the country.
Ansar / July 24, 2014
Welcome Aboard Dr.
This is what all have been telling you all these days and months through these columns that MR IS NEVER A GOOD BET AT ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
He, his family and all his cronies and advisors are a bunch of ill conceived personalities, who toe the line of MR regardless of the consequences of those actions to the country.
No one has the bone to call the spade a spade. Thank God that you have come to your senses at least belatedly. Hats off to you if you had said what you have claim to have told in one of your interviews in contradiction to MR philosophy.
Why don’t you make yourself abundantly clear that your line of thinking does not befit the thoughts of MR philosophy instead of sometimes vacillating on your standpoint.
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Thiru / July 24, 2014
Ansar,
Sri Lanka is a hot spot in South Asia: We have Mara the king, Israelis, Pakistanis, Chinese, BBS attacking Muslims, Gota the Mass murderer, Security forces accused of massive war crimes, Police not enforcing the law, UNHRC conducting a war crimes investigation, ISIS may enter the fray if attack on Muslims continues, thieves and criminals in the parliament, state condoned rapists, both in the security forces and outside having a field day, poverty of the masses, while Tamils are being persecuted like slaves and their lands grabbed with impunity.
This hot pot keeps boiling, while India says: Foreigners don’t interfere in Sri Lanka – let them do what they want – we will pick up the pieces.
Truly a Mad Hatters tea party going on Sri Lanka.
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Flycatcher / July 24, 2014
Thiru – It’s people like Subramanian Swami betraying the Tamils in Srilanka. When he opens his mouth he spreads venom. Subramanian Swami is so much better than a dobhi when its comes to clean dirty Rajapaksas.
This loonyswamy has proposed that India award Bharath Rathna to loony Rajapaksa. Modi regime nothing different to the Congress regime.
So your enemies within.
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Thiru / July 24, 2014
Subramaniam swamy is a Bhramin who hates Tamils, whether Indian or Sri Lankan. He is on the same boat as a dozen Conservative MPS from the UK who get handsome rewards from Sri Lanka and speak for it in their parliaments.
Swamy is in this business for decades now, he is an old hat at that. It’s a way of making a living.
I wonder how many Indian leaders are in Mara’s pockets!
Remember recently a BHP MP’s house was burgled and the police recovered from the thieves a huge horde of wealth and don’t know how the MP acquired the fortune! Income tax is after him.
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Javi / July 24, 2014
“Subramaniam swamy is a Bhramin who hates Tamils,”
He got the TWA syndrome at IIT Delhi (teacher of maths upto 4th semester our good old A’level std)
He married snake skin peeling like sun worshiping lass ;)
The moon lost its magic- poya pre poya mulagathanni.
Running with the Hare and Hunting with the Hound.( He exposed Sonia as the face of farce and 2 billion with also a news empire and Menika G.)
Fatso vp followers were slime balls. Down with your flag up with chaddi wallas.
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ema / July 26, 2014
once again, Dayan exposed himself as anti-tamil, sinhala chauvunist diplomat. good to see your true colors… thanks….
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Javi / July 24, 2014
Oil under pressure, under pressure, No no not with Israel around and China with the Argentinians.
Israel has developed from an agrarian state run along collectivist lines into a hi-tech economy in the past 60 years.
On Aug. 15, 2005, the withdrawal of some 8,000 Israeli settlers from Gaza began. The Israeli evacuation involved 21 Gaza settlements A private group of American philanthropists purchased 800 acres of greenhouses from the departing settlers and donated them to the Palestinians, preserving an important source of jobs and revenue in an area with 40% unemployment.
In Oct., Israel and Hamas reached a deal in which Gilad Shalit, a 25-five year old Israeli soldier who had been held in Gaza since Hamas militants kidnapped him during a cross-border raid in 2006, was released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians who have spent years in Israeli jails.
Never Trust fundamentalist in Truce- double speak.History DJ from Ottoman Empire treachery, Roman Empire truces / .
Hamas leaders praised the kidnapping and killing of the three teenagers,
_______________________________
24/7/14 -“Israel’s annihilation is the only real cure,” –Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani is trying to improve ties with Western countries, including the United States, in a public relations war with Israel.
_______________________________
Iran Oil(90%) under pressure from US sanctions about to take full effect.
New trade route for lanka purchase oil and gas with no exchange rate losses-
[Substantial cooperation between China and Argentina but also an $11 billion currency swap agreement. This will let the Latin American country pay for Chinese imports with the yuan currency. Chinese investment and trade with Argentina is diverse.
With one of the largest shale oil and gas reserves in the world, and also as one of the largest soy producers, Argentina also has plenty to offer.
“At the start of the 1990s, China exported soy and oil. Now it doesn’t have enough soy and oil to supply its own demand, and is the main importer of soy and oil. So Argentina is the third most important for not only soy, but also soy derivatives, and China is the main client,”
Israel Pump up the music!
We are loving it!!!
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Sama / July 24, 2014
This pingutharaya talks about Palaestenians but not uttering a single word against the barbaric Regime that many in Lanka struggle to get rid of.
That I cant uncerstand. I really cant. Ballige puthas of this kind help nothing to drive away any kind of facists.
Today, is a great day for me – having listened to my great rev. Sobitha Hamuduruwo addressing the need of the hour – which is nothing else but do every effort to get rid of Executive Presidency. There all the right thinking ones have gathered to support the people^s most genuine represetative – Sobitha Thero. When I listen to him, I feel I should be proud of being a lanken- feeling we still have few good ones remained in this country that struggle for a dignified life.
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Davidson Panabokke / July 26, 2014
Only vacillating?
Israel Traps????
From 1948, ….. from D.S.Senanayake onwards, ….. everyone of the leaders had to please the Sinhala extremists to stay in power or come to power, they had to oppress the ethnic minorities, …… there was nothing for Sri Lanka to learn from Israel. Israel probably learnt from the last 67yrs of Sri Lanka ………
The statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry on July 15 reflects exactly what the Sri Lankan govt has been doing in the last 8yrs and what the previous governments did from 1948 onwards.
How can the statement be different?
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Lapatiya / July 24, 2014
Actually I wants to read all Dr. DJ’s articles and hear all Learned Doctors speeches. But the problem is my Doctor. He warned me next time he will not treat me if I get hypertension by reading Dr. DJ’s articles or listen to his speeches.
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Shan / July 24, 2014
then why are you bothered to comment on this article. this shows nothing but you are envy of DJ.
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Native Vedda / July 24, 2014
Shan
Comments are far more interesting from well informed readers than what the war monger and war crime denier writes which amounts to jargon ridden recycled trash.
A writer should uphold higher moral principles than those who regularly comment in these pages.
Dayan, rationality, principled position, and what is write and wrong don’t mutually exclusive and don’t mix.
Lapatiya writes what he thinks right and maintains consistency in his flow of thoughts.
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Dev / July 24, 2014
Native,
Just when I was thinking he had gone quiet….
He says
He said it was the stance he took during a debate on the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008 – 2009 that resulted in him being removed from his position in Geneva, after being questioned by Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his comments at the UNHRC.
Previously he claimed he was removed because he supported the 13A ???
Am I right ? Has Dayan changed his story?
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Native Vedda / July 25, 2014
Dev
Here is the stuff you are looking for, an interview with David Blacker and published in his blogg. Later Ground View reproduced it at Dayan’s request.
Please read it and let me know which position he has taken.
Here is the stuff:
Sri Lanka’s soon-to-be-ex-Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva took time off from his busy schedule of sipping martinis, getting up the American’s noses, and fighting on the Western Front, to have a little chat with us. This is his first interview since the Foreign Ministry announced that he has been recalled from Geneva, effective August 20th.
David Blacker: First off, there seem too be two opinions on your sacking. One, that you were too pushy about the 13th Amendment. Two, that you pissed off the Israelis. Which is it?
Dayan Jayatilleka: It could be either, both or neither. The editorials in The Island and the Daily Mirror on July 20th, indicate that it could have a personal aspect. Let’s unpack the other opinions. If I were ‘pushy’ about the 13th amendment I was only pushing a line that was the official stance of the government of Sri Lanka as contained in two post-war joint statements, of May 21st and 23rd. I was doing so in the English language, trying to convince the international community and the Tamil Diaspora of the sincerity of the Government’s commitment to devolution and a political solution, in a context where there was and is a powerful campaign calling for international intervention of one or other sort on the grounds that the Government will not implement such reforms. I was also waging an ideological struggle against those hard-line fringe elements who were opposed to the 13th amendment and playing into the hands of Sri Lanka’s enemies. I was not instructed to do otherwise.
As for the charge that I should not write to the papers or express my views in the media, I have always done so with the disclaimer that these are strictly my personal views. There are other diplomats who have done the same. The controversial articles in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, by Dimitri Rogozin, Russia’s serving ambassador to NATO in Brussels, and a political appointee, not a professional diplomat. The respected diplomat, Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore was a star speaker in New York’s seminar circuit where he would preface his remarks by saying ‘these are not the views of the permanent representative of Singapore but simply of Mahbubani’. In our own diplomatic history, there is the example of Ambassador Ernest Corea, the former editor of the Daily News who was posted by President Jayawardene to Washington DC, precisely so he could use his journalistic skills.
The Israeli story is old hat. That issue came and went, and I was sent a letter signed by the Secretary to the Foreign Ministry which said that H.E. the President wished me to stay on in my post until May 31st 2010. Furthermore, after I received instructions, I have stayed off the Israeli issue. Therefore, that is probably just an excuse.
DB: For months, there have been ominous warnings of your head being on the block -particularly over the Israeli issue, but these seemed to come to nothing, and you say you were personally assured of your position by The Man himself. So is this sacking in deed a personal vendetta by the Foreign Minister? The Island suggests he feels upstaged by you. What do you have to say about that?
Dayan Jayatilleka: What I have is a letter dated March 26th, signed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which says that H.E. the President has decided that I should stay on until May 2010. This was after the initial controversy involving Israel. Even if some one had a personal vendetta against me, I am not naive enough to think that this sort of decision, in the wake of an earlier unsuccessful effort to remove me and in the aftermath of the successful Special Session of the Human Rights Council, would have been implemented without some semblance of a green light, however fleeting and flickering, from the top political leadership. So it was probably a confluence of factors.
DB: Many people feel you’d make a better Foreign Minister than Rohitha Bogollagama, and he knows it. Do you agree?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Is that meant to be some kind of a compliment?
DB: Maybe. Were you seen as such a threat to the Foreign Minister?
Dayan Jayatilleka: That’s insane. I am neither a cabinet minister nor even a parliamentarian, nor have I displayed any interest in contesting an election. How could I be a threat to any minister?
DB: Oh, come off it. Lakshman Kadirgama himself came in via the National List, and if they can bring Karuna in as a minister, is it such a stretch to consider Sri Lanka’s pointman in Europe as Foreign Minister?
Dayan Jayatilleka: I have never shown interest in entering parliament, or in becoming a member of one of the two major political parties. In any case, given the evolution of Sri Lanka’s political culture, isn’t this speculation irrelevant?
DB: OK, moving along, the more right wing elements in parliament such as the JVP and the JHU are rabidly against the 13th. Has your vocal defense of this amendment lost you influential friends within the GoSL?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Oh dear, you forgot the NFF -though Nandana Goonetilleke is rather more pragmatic on devolution and the ethnic question than his comrade. They and the elements you mention weren’t my friends to lose. What is a little sad is that I seem to have lost the confidence of the President.
DB: The GoSL has resolutely maintained that it is committed to the 13th Amendment, and indeed it’s probable that a lot of India’s support during the war was conditional to this. However, now that the war is over, the JVP and JHU -and the NFF -seem keen to have the 13th removed from the table. Do you think they could be successful, and is this sacking an instrumental step down that road?
Dayan Jayatilleka: I sincerely hope not. If they are successful in such an endeavour, it would automatically mean that the balance of social, political and ideological forces is such that there would be no improved or even equivalent replacement, and that would mean a renewed cycle of ethnic polarisation and conflict, though not in the form of a war. It would also mean greater political space for the Tamil separatists especially in the Diaspora, and international pressure on and erosion of support for Sri Lanka. As for my sacking, I really do not know how the minorities and the international community will interpret my removal, though I have seen some Indian newspaper reports. They know that I have a track record of staunch opposition to Prabhakaran, the LTTE and Tamil separatism, have been a critic of centrifugal ethno-federalism and Western ‘liberal humanitarian’ interventionism, but have also stood for the implementation of the limited autonomy provisions of the Sri Lankan Constitution.
DB: In addition to the right-wing, there has been some celebration in the pro-LTTE circles over your sacking. Isn’t this embarrassing for the President, and would a reinstatement or promotion seem inconceivable at this stage?
Dayan Jayatilleka: I’m not in the least surprised to hear from you that the pro-LTTE circles are celebrating. As for your question, it isn’t my call to answer, but it is clear from the decision that this is not thought to be the case.
“The atrocities committed on the innocent people of Gaza should not be permitted to be obscured, obfuscated by lies, deception, half-truths and selective reordering of facts and chronology.â€
DB: These were your words when addressing the UN Human Rights Council Special Session on Gaza. But they could very well have been used by critics of the GoSL’s anti-LTTE war. Given that the Israelis have remained a staunch ally – if not a friend – to SL over the years, don’t you think your speech was ill-timed?
Dayan Jayatilleka: They have indeed been used by critics of GOSL’s anti-LTTE war, but used unsuccessfully! Had they been successful they would have won the vote at the UNHRC, not lost it so badly. They were unsuccessful because the charge is not credible or accurate, which is why those who have strong views on Gaza and are thoroughly familiar with all its details are among our strongest political and diplomatic supporters.
What is unsaid by my critics is that in every one of my speeches, I have underscored the right of the state of Israel to exist behind secure borders and to combat terrorism. I have opposed the rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel. I have even defended the policy of selective liquidation of terrorist leaders. I was one of the few Third World ambassadors to attend the 60th anniversary celebrations here in Geneva, of the founding of the state of Israel. Furthermore, the only time that I held a position at variance with that of Cuba as Non-Aligned Movement chair here was when I spoke up in support of the abortive effort by the Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories, Emeritus Professor Richard Falk, to re-define his mandate to include the acts of terrorism committed against Israel!
Was my speech ill-timed? Hardly -it was within traditional pro-Palestinian GoSL -and SLFP, I might add -policy. Furthermore, I had, in the speech, pre-emptively demarcated the contrast between the wars in Sri Lanka and Israel/Gaza; I had already made the case for the battle I knew was to come, because I knew -and advocated -that we would have to go in for a military endgame, and that there would be a international campaign against us.
Israel has been a source of sales of military equipment to us. So too have they to many others, who spoke and voted against Israel in the Gaza special session at the UN HRC.
DB: Sri Lanka has often been compared to Israel of late whenever a hardline stance against terrorism is discussed. You, however, in your speeches, have often gone to great lengths to distance the two conflicts. Why?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Some try to divert attention from Gaza by pointing the finger at Sri Lanka. We must not allow ourselves to be used as a red herring. Sri Lanka has never invaded any other country and occupied the lands of others. We are not in violation of any UN Security Council resolutions. Ours is a strictly internal conflict. Under international law, Israel and Sri Lanka are two very different cases. It is also because I have successfully argued this at the UN HRC that while there is a UN HRC mandated probe headed by Justice Richard Goldstone currently holding public hearings in Gaza, there isn’t one gearing to go to Sri Lanka, which was the aim of the Special session!
DB: Was there really a single moment when world opinion turned against the LTTE? Was it really the aftermath of 9/11 or the killing of Lakshaman Kadirgama? Or was it more a collection of trickles that became a river?
Dayan Jayatilleka: No, there wasn’t a single moment. World opinion didn’t turn against the LTTE to the point that it would have opposed the evacuation option for the Tiger leadership that some seemed to have had in mind following a so-called humanitarian pause, but it had turned to the extent that there was indifference to the fate of the Tigers as distinct from the Tamils, and that those who wanted such an “honorable exit” couldn’t mainstream it. It was really a cumulative affair -one had to remind audiences of the litany of Tiger crimes and the track record of repeatedly sabotaging chances for a negotiated settlement. If you want a turning point, it was the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, which pretty much ensured that a Sonia-led Congress administration would not save the Tigers nor join the West in pressurizing to stop the final offensive. If India had been on the other side of this, we would have been in a fix.
DB: What’s your view of the IDP camps? Do you think they are the necessary evil that the GoSL claims they are?
Dayan Jayatilleka: When an 18-person Task force was set up to manage the IDPs, it was originally pan-Sinhala. There was not a single Tamil to handle the fate of a purely Tamil populace of IDPs! Later, two Tamils were inducted, but not at the very top. There should be someone in charge who can speak to the IDPs in their own language and is sensitive to their predicament as a member of the same community -someone who would be motivated at least because these are his potential constituents. This would fast-track things. The sole Tamil Minister in the Cabinet, Douglas Devananda, should be co-chair of the Task Force set up for the IDPs and the North.
DB: The LTTE’s aggression – the boycotting of elections, the throwing out of the EU members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission – created a lot of sympathy for the GoSL overseas. This sympathy possibly was justified with the victory against the LTTE. Is the GoSL in danger of squandering this goodwill over the IDP camps issue in a similar way that the Bush administration did by invading Iraq, creating Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Any administration and any society, would do well to be mindful of the lessons of History, which is that one can win a war but lose the peace and that winning the war is different from a successful and sustainable occupation of the ground which requires the winning of hearts and minds. The Six Day War was one of the most stellar military victories of the 20th century, but look at the endless quagmire that has resulted from the policies of occupation. I have long advocated the Chechen solution -an all-out, combined arms war to destroy the terrorist militia, followed by the implementation of some form of autonomy and self-governance for the area and stabilization through the rule of an elected local ally. Our military victory has to be politically conserved and socially stabilised. That’s what my advocacy of the 13th amendment is about. As for the IDP camps, I think I made clear that our Tamil partner, Minister Devananda, Minister of Social Services, should be mandated to co-manage the problem.
DB: While INGOs and certain groups within international bodies such as the UN have been heavily critical of the GoSL, during the war and since, the latter have managed to keep the head of the UN and most heads of state more or less onside. Given this, don’t you think that the GoSL’s siege mentality over certain issues such as the IDPs is an overreaction – and even bordering on paranoia?
Dayan Jayatilleka: The world has given us six months, which is the period of time within which we said we hoped to re-settle the bulk of the IDPs, though that was, as the president said, a target rather than a pledge. We will be evaluated by how much progress we have made towards that target. Conditions are better than made out in the Western media, but I guess the real moral test is whether we would like our grandmothers, mothers or kid cousins to be in these same conditions. Even from a counter-insurgency point of view, having large numbers in camps for a prolonged period is counterproductive.
DB: The loss of Lakshman Kadirgamar was a great blow to the GoSL’s fight against pro-LTTE international opinion. However, do you think that the GoSL would have been able to conduct the war in a similar manner had Kadirgamar been the Foreign Minister?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Kadirgamar would not have interfered in the conduct of the war. What he would have done was to provide, on the international front, a diplomatic and policy leadership parallel to and as good as the defence and military leadership was this time around.
DB: Velupillai Prabakharans’s death remains shrouded in mystery. Do you agree with the GoSL’s version of events – in effect, that he was ambushed by chance and killed, or do you have your own theory?
Dayan Jayatilleka: No theory of my own. The man is dead, that’s for sure and that’s all that counts. I lost just too many friends and acquaintances because of that predator. Kethesh, Neelan, Lakshman Kadir, Pathmanabha, Ossie Abeygoonesekara, Premadasa. I’ve been for too many funerals and know more dead people than live ones because of that man.
DB: While your use of blogging and other online media has made you one of the most accessible members of the Sri Lankan administration – at least to the IT generation – it has been counterbalanced by your often archaic ‘60s revolutionary stance – quoting Lenin and Castro for example in your writings. Deep inside, do you see yourself as a Commie hippy?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Ok, I’m a modernist, not a post-modernist, but Che is never archaic, anymore than Jimi Hendrix is or will be. And hey, check out Slavoj Zizek, the trendiest of philosophers in Europe today. He’s hardly archaic and he uses Marx and Lenin extensively. Commie hippy I don’t know, but I dig Lenin and Leonard Cohen. Lenin, not as Commie ideologue but as political thinker, Mao as philosopher, but I’m heavily into Nietzsche as well, at least after my parents died within 18 months of each other and I found myself a middle-aged orphan. I am more a Social Democrat or on the liberal-progressive wing of the US Democrats than a Commie, but I used to be one and a dedicated revolutionary too. So then, an ex-Commie who is a big fan of Barack Obama and one who predicted his victory and the dawn of an Obama Age, in print, while he was still behind in the primaries. Plenty ex-revo Commies who are pro-Obama, in nationalist, progressive and leftwing Latin American governments today – most of whom voted with Sri Lanka at the UN HRC special session -but unfortunately not a mix or profile you find in Sri Lanka!
DB: It’s rumored that you wear a Che T-shirt around the house, and that your ringtone is La Marseillaise. True?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Nope, I have a Che T-shirt, a gift from Havana, but I hardly get the right occasion to wear it and my phone has a standard nondescript ring tone. If I had a moment to change my ring tone it would be either to blues guitar prodigy Derek Trucks’ So Close, So far Away or Richie Havens’ Hands of Time. Around the house I do have, let’s see, an op-art Che poster (also a gift from Havana), a Sri Lankan woodcut of Christ with a crown of thorns, both books by Barack Obama, a picture of my parents with Indira Gandhi, one of me at age seven with my dad at the second Non-Aligned Movement conference in Cairo, CDs of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Waits and John Maclaughlin, and a small stack of DVDs of Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Lou Reed, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Carlos Santana, all in concert. I also stay up late to watch BBC 2 re-runs of my favorite TV series The Wire -It used to be The Sopranos, Millennium and NYPD Blue, and in the 1980s, Miami Vice.
So what’s next ? Some of your more vocal critics have suggested you be made ambassador to Havana. What do you see in your immediate future?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Our current ambassador to Havana, Ms Tamara Kunanayakam, is a literate, multi-lingual, well educated intellectual and researcher whose views on foreign and domestic policy I share. She is perhaps the most intelligent of our DPLs and is doing an excellent job in Havana.
DB: OK, OK, I get it. So, before I let you go, who do you think is hotter -Arundhati Roy or MIA?
Dayan Jayatilleka: Man that is easily the easiest question I have been asked in quite a while. Arundhati Roy, for sure, though her political writing has declined from a superb initial critique of the Iraq war to an all points of the compass loony left nihilism.
[Editors note: This interview was first published on David Blacker’s blog. It is reproduced on Groundviews with his permission and at the request of Amb. Jayatilleka.]
http://groundviews.org/2009/07/24/out-in-the-wilderness-%E2%80%94-dayan-jayatilleka-on-13th-amendment-and-getting-sacked-by-boggles/
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Leelagemalli / July 24, 2014
DJ would take another few decades to grasph the reality.
He would never utter a single word against any kind of culprits LIKE Rajapakshes. How can he ? Even if he was found pants down in late 80ties, he has not learnt a lession. Those days, he was top official to promote the agendas of Premadasa senior. BUt today, he does the same, unofficially though for MR. Reasons we the academics would NEVER see. These should be written in his genetics, though his father Mervin the silva has left a legacy as a top level journalist.
Anyway, Katussas of DJ kind are plenty in MR world but few that add comment onto this page
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Kabi / July 24, 2014
At least Israel has given some warnings to civilians before attacks. Israel has not acted like Srilankan Governemnet Forces asking everyone to go to narrow patch of land and Carpet bombing using multi barrels.
By saying so I’m not justifying Israel!
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Kabi / July 24, 2014
DJ has forgotten that the KFIR Fighter jets used by Srilankan Airforce to bomb Tamils made in/by Israel!
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Javi / July 24, 2014
Poor-A-Kabi; “By the way when did I become Pakistani Terrorist?”
{His name is Mahumu K Code Name is kaha(bi-la).
He belongs to Lashkar-e-Jhangwi. Islamism; Islamic fundamentalism;
Pan-Islamism; Wahhabi Islam} – Over and Out..
Islamic Rendition Center like in Thailand the need of the hour in Lanka.
Israel pump up the music Lanka needs you!!
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Kabi / July 24, 2014
How about a Rendition Centre for BBS?
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Silva / July 24, 2014
Which world leader but PrezRajapakse went to Israel and Palestine on one trip except UN officials?
Sri Lanka never stops trade links and exhibitions and stalls in Israel while it sends condolence to Palestine.
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Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / July 24, 2014
Dayan,
I beg to disagree on your conclusion. The Sri Lankan government has not fallen prey to anyone’s traps. The Sri Lankan government is charting a predetermined course, quite deliberately. It is open minded enough to learn from anyone the methods and tools to achieve its objectives. Sri Lankans are the ones who are entrapped by their government. The destination of this predetermined course will be quite obvious to anyone who has been shocked enough by recent events, and views the current situation in the context of what has been unfolding for six decades or more. We are moving towards an Orwellian dictatorship that will control our every thought and action and manipulate us like delicate clay, in the name of a pernicious nationalism and devilish ideology. However, it will only benefit the pigs who rule us.
This has been evolving for long and has become blatantly ugly and sophisticated now. You are also prone to the Sri Lankan penchant of blaming others for our woes. The fault lies with us- the citizens. We are gullible and lured by tinsel. We expect an El dorado at the end of every rainbow. This is our birth defect. We are paying for this now.
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
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R. Varathan / July 26, 2014
The Israelis have seen through this unprincipled political chameleon – who has been all over the political landscape viz :- Tamil Separatism,
the Left with a slight JVP tinge, the UNP and the SLFP. It is not known if he was ever with Ashroff and the Muslims. Israel has seen through this fake Left-intellectual, who insists he is the only
expert in the country of Latin American politics. When he was in Geneva and exceeded decent diplomatic levels in his anti_israel inclinations Tel Aviv promptly complained to Rajapakse. It was more of a threat – and DJ was removed pronto. What he is doing now – frantically and desperately – is to get back into the tottering Rajapakse caravan.
In fairness to him DJ can write, is well read (with an unbearable load of Gramsci bull) and is a Political Analyst of substance. His greatest asset is the memory of a father – highly respected Sri Lankan journo giant and patriot who was never for sale or seduced. DJ sold out his soul long ago and far too controversial. Resurrection to the degree expected is probably out of the question.
R. Varathan
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Backlash / July 26, 2014
The Rajapakses should always be on the guard in the matter of advise from skewed “experts” like Dayan J – particularly with regard to the complex Israel-Palestinian Question. Dayan carries a grudge against the Israelis and will, predictably, formulate his opinions coloured by his long prejudice. Fortunately, there are men like Minister GLP – well informed of changing Mid-East events so that the regime does not miss the woods for the trees. Like India, the MR Govt can be friendly with both rather than making an enemy of either in the practical world of Realpolitik. Sri Lanka needs both Arab and Israeli friendship.
Backlash
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Senerath Kalupahana / July 24, 2014
Is this our same Dayan jayatilleka or a body double?
Doesn’t matter which I must admit, that this was a great speech.
Hats off Dayan. Finally you are talking, that too in a forum – WOW.
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Zion King / July 24, 2014
Well done Israel.
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Zion King / July 24, 2014
Why did you put a swasthika?
That is disgusting.
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Javi / July 24, 2014
Lying King; you bogus moron.
left (卍) or right (卐).
counterclockwise was Hitler flag; clockwise is Sanskrit original.
The Swastika means “TO BE WELL”
Hindu Boys Head: http://www.flickr.com/photos/80667779@N00/2073060541
The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit svastika (in Devanagari, स्वस्तिक), meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of su- (cognate with Greek ευ-, “eu-“), meaning “good, well” and asti a verbal abstract to the root as “to be”; svasti thus means “well-being”. The suffix -ka forms a diminutive, and svastika might thus be translated literally as “little thing associated with well-being”.
The swastika symbol is one of the oldest symbols on the Earth and can be found in all religions and traditions, on all continents!
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Bensen burner / July 24, 2014
DJ says:‘By way of Deception’ written by one of the youngest spies that worked for Mossad Victor Ostrovsky in which he has revealed that while offering training to the Sri Lankan forces, the actual training was provided by the Mossad to the LTTE”. The irony is that at the outset those who offered training to the Sri Lankan forces were made to believe that they would be training a set of uncivilised barbarians. Bensen
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Ranjith / July 24, 2014
This racist moron has no clue about what he is talking. First of all, he did not see the similarity between the Israel’s occupational war on Palestinians and the Srilanka Genocide war on Tamils. If bombing and massacring innocent Palestinians is war crime, how do you call bombing, shelling and massacring Tamils in hundreds of thousands ? I know what it is, “Humanitarian rescue mission”. This moron himself justified the genocide war on Tamils in 2009. Now he is pretending to distance himself from the War criminals. He has played his role in the Genocide war on Tamils. He can never hide that. When war criminals brought to justice, this moron also will be following them.
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Jim softy / July 25, 2014
Sr Lanka’s Genocidal war on Tamils.
What a joke.
Why Tamils are every where in the world. Are they there to protect Tamil or to fatten the wallet ?
Stupidity has no limits.
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Native Vedda / July 25, 2014
Jim softy
“Stupidity has no limits.”
Yes we know, after reading your comments for years on end.
Keep typing one day you will hit the jackpot.
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sach / July 30, 2014
there is a lot of difference. you need brains to understand.
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Ansar / July 24, 2014
Thiru, Fully endorse your thoughts.
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Aluthkama Sinhala / July 24, 2014
As an affected Sinhalese from Aluthgama I can say Muslims are getting their own Karma.
Muslims have only themselves to blame.
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Siva Sankaran Sarma / July 24, 2014
“As an affected Sinhalese”
“Aluthkama”
LOL.
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Native Vedda / July 25, 2014
Aluthkama Sinhala
“As an affected Sinhalese from Aluthgama I can say Muslims are getting their own Karma.”
How does the Karma work? Please let me have a copy of your look up chart, with all the permutations and combination built into your computation.
What has the Muslims of this island (whose ancestors came from South India) got to do with Palestinians.
Palestinians are closely related to Jews than the Muslims of this island. In a way Jews are killing their own cousins. It is similar to Sinhala/Buddhists killing their Tamil cousins and then celebrating the war victory for years.
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Shantha / July 24, 2014
Israel is losing support in the Western nations. BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions) movements are gaining traction in universities, methodist and presbyterian churches, EU nations are warning their citizens to NOT to business in the illegal settlements (condemned worldwide) and their false cries of anti-Semitism are not having the effect it once had. Therefore they now look to other victims and on naive Asia.
This nation is dangerous and devious. The US being the most powerful nation in the world is on it’s knees, when it comes to Israel. The powerful lobbies there own the Congress, has tremendous influence over the media, think tanks, even universities. The massacre in Gaza was supported by the US, it’s Congress, with the constant refrain that Israel has the right to defend itself. What about the rights of the Palestinian people?
Over 700 Palestinian killed, the majority being civilians, a large proportion of children, and it is they who need an iron dome, to protect themselves from F16, Apache helicopters and precision bombs. Homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches are bombed into smithereens, and the US insists that Israel’s massacre in Gaza is justified.
Sri Lanka will be playing with fire, and it will have deadly consequences, if they choose to bed with Israel.
Our politicians have no principals, and can be easily bought. We were once called monkeys by Israel, so we should have some pride and not be naive enough to be drawn into Israel’s deadly games.
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General Rommel / July 24, 2014
I agree with Dr. Jayatilleka that our policy whether foreign, domestic or military should stand for justice and solidarity with the oppressed. Dr. Dayan’s criticism of the “Zionist terror” around 2009 is what ended his tenure from Geneva. His unfortunate and unceremonious removal was owing to an ex-Shin Bet official who insisted for taking Dr. “D” out even though he had diplomatic immunity. A leak in the diplomatic cable that was intercepted and reported by Al-Jazeera of the heavy handed Israel tactics. It was not a coincident that an alleged war criminal that was in charge of military logistics inside our defense ministry that Dr. Dayan eludes to, was bribed like the ex-soviet arms dealer’s (i.e Viktor Bouth aka Merchant of death) to not encourage arming enemies against the Zionist state materially, words of vitriol. In a way, our own Zionist pawn who is “the enemy within” may have indirectly done a favour to “Dr. D” from further misery or ending in as a corpse had Dr. D continued in his condemnation of Israel. This is no surprise as to how the theocratic and terror regime of Israel tick and how they trap the unwise like our retards in our establishment as Dr. Dayan very correctly points out. One reason that our current defense and political establishment try to emulate the Zionists is the the fallacy that the US may back off from any HR-resolution if we would sleep with the enemy. In this case “the enemy of my enemy is definitely NOT my friend”, my friend. Dr. J and the JVP is correct and brave to have sensed this rat!
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Backlash / July 31, 2014
Fair defence of Dayan by a Desert Fox. It could even be DJ under this
pseudonym. Pray, for the good of the country and your heroes the Rajapakses, do reveal who this evil “enemy within” is before he does further damage to the regime. Or is it that the Israelis proved to the Rajapakse Two (the real Govt of the country) then beyond all doubt, Dayan, the parvenu, was running riot in his new role in Geneva as an “expert” in Middle Eastern affairs. Something which he has absolutely no claim to against established experts of the countries concerned themselves being part of their diplomatic Missions.
Was it because of this DJ was removed before he caused further and bigger trouble.
Backlash
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Mallaiyuran / July 25, 2014
“Dr. Jayatilleka has gone on to state that although the Sri Lankan army managed to maintain a distinct difference in their operations during the war in comparison to the operatives of the Israeli forces today, the short sighted actions of some government officials has undermined those efforts and instead has played right into the hands of the Western forces that seek to intervene in Sri Lanka”
Dayan’s nightmare has become true. His 2009 fraud is coming to light. The Lanka’s greatest gentleman going to be labelled as liar of the century. This investigation is the proceeding to crown our “liar at UNHRC”.
He can not digest that The King could not go to London because of the fear of being arrest for war crimes. Whatever Dayan did in 2009 is gone wasted. King had cancelled another invitation for August too, as per Tamil news. There is a proceeding starting to file a case against Brother Prince in America. If he goes there it is unlikely he return back to Lanka. Now Gnasara can not go anywhere.
King is able to go to Jaffna, but not to London. Dayan explanation is separatist diaspora. I challenge Dayan to campaign with me to remove the 6th amendment. After that, if King goes to Jaffna and he is not given bath with cow dung water, then you start to talk about “the diaspora the separatist”. Until you can not talk about having the 6th amendment removed, they are freedom seekers. Not separatist.
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ela kolla / July 25, 2014
dayan [Edited out] jayathileke’s foolishness has no limits…[Edited out]
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Soundra / July 25, 2014
Dayan
Don’t talk or write without knowing the facts. Where are you coming from? There has never been a Palestinian Race. All Arabs and they have vast tract of land to live on. Israel was a country even before the Arabs dreamt of a country. Read the book of Genesis. If you really want to know. You have forgotten your faith which you were professing at St. Joseph’s in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I too was in the same School and parallel to you.
Why don’t you talk about the HAMAS terrorists’ atrocities against the tiny nation of Israel supported by all the Arabs?
One thing you should know if the whole world turns against Israel God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel will defend them and fight the battle for them. Read Genesis 12:3 what God promised Abraham ” I will bless who bless you and curse those who curses you”. Don’t try to to play GOD
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Know All / July 25, 2014
Soundra,
I am sorry but I don’t believe that the Jews or anyone else for that matter can claim a proprietary and exclusive right to divine protection. God’s promise to Abraham was surely contingent on his people following the law of God. You cannot go against the commandments of God and expect Him to protect you. That simply does not make sense. I am surprised you should interpret Genesis so literally. I, for one, don’t believe that I can resort to all the villainy in the world and expect, on the basis that God has promised ‘divine protection’ to my people, for Him to defend me and fight my battles.
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Diker / July 25, 2014
DJ,
I feel sorry for you trying to placate the Arabs. Are you on their payroll? Did you ever mention the atrocities of HAMAS terrorists? Israel has been warning the Gazan to move out. Read the news that they are treating all the Palestinian civilians who have been injures. HAMA terrorists are using women and children as human shield to escape bombing. Do you know all the top HASAM terror leaders are living in Luxury in Qatar? If you don’t know open your damn eyes and see.
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Upasiri de Silva / July 25, 2014
Dayan Jayatilake speaking for President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he is afraid to open his mouth to support the Palastenians as he supported the PLO for the last two decades. DJ is now using Israel-Palstenian conflict to get a Ambassador post by any means. Palastenians problem was settle in 1980 at the Camp David by the late USA President Ronald Regan with PLO Leader Yassar Arafath and Isarel PM at that time. Camp David accord agreed to construct 10,000 houses to house displaced Palastenians in the Gaza Strip and golan Heights.
But unfortunately Yassar Arafath after returning from USA accused. President Regan and Israel PM for betraying the Palestanians, and told in very choice Arab words what President Regan and Israel PM. Within hours all development work was drop by the UN and the Staff assigned for the Project was recalled from Jordan, where UN Officers were established.
If those houses were constructed today Golan Height and the Gaza Strip should have belong to the Palatenian. Hamas is not in terms with the PLO and if they are not able to see eye to eye, how can any body bring any peace to poor Palastenians, even by Sri Lankans who have very little understanding of the conflict now taking place in the Middle East.
It was true that Mosad trained the LTTE along with the Indian RAW to take revenge for what JRJ did to Mrs Sirimavo. But today Israel is not trying to help LTTE any ot her group as the use by date of LTTE the Diasporahas no value for the Israel. As Gota is not an experience soldierEVEN though he eliminate the LTTE with his brother ( his words) he needs advice from Israel to do anything important.
Dayan may try every thing possible to get back his old Diplomatic post. Good luck DJ.
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Backlash / July 26, 2014
“It was true that Mosad trained the LTTE along with the Indian RAW to take revenge for what JRJ did to Mrs Sirimavo” ??? This is a strange assessment. India never forgave Mrs. B allowing Pakistani planes to
re-fuel at Katunayake during the 1971 IndoPak War – an open suggestion of helping the Pakistani war effort against India. India also did not send any one of significance from Delhi to represent them at Mrs. B’s funeral – a message Sri Lanka and the Bandaranaike family may not have failed to take note of – boasting for decades of a “special Nehru-Bandaranaike relationship”
Backlash
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Native Vedda / July 26, 2014
Backlash
Mosad trained Hindians, LTTE and Sri Lankan Commandos all at the same time, on different sites.
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crazyoldmansl / July 25, 2014
True. We have a resident Israeli agent within our government. HE was the one who demanded that our president insist that there were NO CIVILIAN CASUALTIES and that our troops went to war with GUN IN ONE HAND AND THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER in the other.We all know who that rat is.
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Soundra / July 27, 2014
Know All,
I would further enlighten all you readers to state that Arabs invented a special national identity in the 1960s called Palestinians, specifically for political gain. They bran Jews as invaders and claim the geographic area called Palestine belongs to the Arabs.
The word Palestine not even an Arabic. It was coined by the Romans around 135 AD from the name of a seagoing Aegean people who settled on the coast of Canaan in antiquity- the Philistines. The name was chosen to replace Judea, as sign that Jewish sovereignty has been eradicated following the Jewish revolts against Rome at that time.
In the course of time, the Latin name Philistia wa bastardized into Palistina or Palestine. During the next 2k years, what had been renamed Palestine was never an independent state belonging to any people, nor did a did a Palestinian people distinct from other Arabs appear during 1,300 years of Muslim hegemony in Palestine under Arab and Ottoman rule.
The term Palestinian as a noun was usurped and co-opted by the Arabs in 1960s as a tactic initiated y Yasser Arafat to bran Jews as intruders on someone else’s turf.
Some identity of Jewish nation with Palestine:
The Jerusalem Post was founded in 1932, was called The Palestine Post until 1948
A Jewish Bank called Bank LeumiL’Israel was called Anglo Palestine Bank
Today’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra founded in 1936 by German Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany, was called the “Palestine Symphony Orchestra, composed of some 70 Palestinian Jews.
I have more than this to counter any argument and I would encourage the readers to go through the history and not to be led by half baked philosophies and half truth.
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Soundra / July 27, 2014
Dear Know All,
If you do not know the Bible please do not contribute to this column. If you really want to know the chain of events that’s happening now read book of Isaiah, book of Ezekiel, book of Daniel, book of Ezekiel, book of Isaiah and book of revelation.
If you know it well then you won’t be ignorant to the fact that you write something irrelevant.
I challenge Dayan also who was my Schoolmate to open his eyes and read these books to know what it is to be a true follower of Jesus.He is taking defunct socialist stand which is not worth a penny.
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sach / July 30, 2014
In this gaza conflict channel4 of britian is supporting Israel and cry that israel is losing social media war. Given that the human rights they were crying about are violated and war crimes are committed channel4’s stance is questionable.
is there something for us to take and investigate more about channel4 and israel?
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Yohan Heenatigala / August 11, 2014
Dayan
I really admire your writings and agree with your thoughts and comments most of the time. I totally disagree with your stand against Israel in the current conflict.
There will be no war in the middle east IF AND ONLY IF the Palestinians and other Arab nations accept the fact that ISRAEL IS A NATION and has a right to exist.
What part of it can’t they (and you) understand?
By the way check this link.
http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/August11/115.html#XM2jTc8J4VRSE0IR.99
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blind man / August 15, 2014
Well Dr. Dayan you also bear some responsibility for ignoring the direction the wind was blowing almost immediately after May 19 2009. Your attachment to the ‘war victory’ prevented you from seeing the truth. I believe you are still deluded as you still talk about a war victory and still think that what you earned by way of this ‘victory’ can be salvaged.
The point is there are no victors in a civil war. If at all it is Prabakharan who won because his policies and principles have been beautifully copied by this regime. Come down to earth and stop believing in your own inflated ego. Its pretty late in the day now and we don’t have much time left……
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