By Ron Ridenour –
Ron Ridenour
Orwell couldn’t have done it better: Sri Lanka’s genocidal government, client of genocidal Israel, exchanges honors with genocidal victim State of Palestine
The government of Palestine presented Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the “Star of Palestine” the highest award of the State of Palestine, on January 6.
“The relations between Sri Lanka and the State of Palestine are exceptional and we remain committed to extending our fullest support to the State of Palestine and the friendly people of Palestine,” President Rajapaksa said during the conferment ceremony.
“President Rajapaksa, on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka, conferred the ‘Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana’ awards on former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and current President Mahmoud Abbas,” during his current trip to Palestine, Israel and Jordan. So reported the Sri Lankan news agency.
This is not satire albeit double speak.
The Sinhalese chauvinist Sri Lanka government practices genocide against Tamils, as confirmed by the Permanent Peoples Tribunal, which held hearings in Berman, Germany, December 7-10, 2013.
The Zionist State practices genocide against the Palestinians, as many nations acknowledge and so determined by the War Crimes Tribunal in Kuala Lumpur, November 26, 2013.
The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal (KLWCT) found former Israeli army general Amos Yaron and the state of Israel guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide stemming from the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982.
“While it’s constantly mindful of its stature as merely a tribunal of conscience with no real power or enforcement, this tribunal finds that witnesses in this case are entitled ex justitia to the payment or reparations by the two convicted parties,” said KLWCT president Tan Sri Lamin Mohd Yunus.
Lamin hoped that armed with the tribunal’s findings, the witnesses who were also the victims in the case, would, in the near future, find a state or an international judicial entity able and willing to exercise jurisdiction to enforce the tribunal’s verdict against the two convicted parties.
Now that Rajapaksa has declared eternal friendship with Palestine perhaps he would offer his government to bring the tribunal’s wishes before the world court or, even better, he could try Israel for war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians.
The duplicity of Sri Lanka foreign relations is beyond Orwellian. The governments of USA/UK and other European states, Australia, Israel, India on the one hand, and on the other hand China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan gave or sold weaponry in the multi-millions of dollars to Sri Lankan governments over decades, and aided in many other ways the defeat of the Tamils’ guerrilla movement, including the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
Since the end of the long civil war, May 2009, western states slightly criticize Sri Lanka for possible human rights abuses. Consequently, the revolutionary/progressive governments of Cuba and its ALBA alliance with Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and three other small Caribbean states, as well as China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, all praise Sri Lanka and view only the Tamil guerrilla movement as terrorist. Complicating the hypocrisy is the fact that the US is Sri Lanka’s number one trading partner, and the EU is second.
No government supported the liberation of Tamils from well documented repression and oppression, including inequalities in access to education and jobs, discrimination against their language and religions, all by law.
The important economic and military role that Israel has played for Sri Lanka against the Tamils hardly comes into the spotlight when the Sri Lanka-Tamil conflict is discussed. Nor is this pointed out when Cuba and the other ALBA governments praise Sri Lanka, ignore Tamils, while they praise Palestine and condemn Israel.
“Israel has been a faithful supplier to Sri Lanka” serving the military, commerce and politics, as maintained by the Swedish book “Arms Trade with Sri Lanka: global business, local costs”, put out by the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and the Swedish Sri Lanka Committee ( Read here )
The study provides hard-to-find figures on what countries provided what armaments to Sri Lanka. Most of the weaponry that the LTTE acquired came from capturing enemy arms and some were bought on the black market. Sri Lanka bought its weapons from a score of governments, spending between 7 and 17% of their budgets on the military during the war. (See my article, “Sri Lanka War Crimes-Genocide with West Complicity: an analysis”
The most decisive sales and donations in the latter years of war came from Israel (and China). A vast number of combat aircraft (16 Kfir jets plus nine others) and many of the ships (especially six Super Dvora and 38 Shaldag fast patrol craft) used by Sri Lanka came from Israel. It also supplied seven unmanned vehicles, 16 anti-ship mines, communication and surveillance equipment, and great quantities of ammunition; plus pilots and Mossad intelligence and counter-intelligence agents.
Makhdoom Babar, editor-in-chief of the pro-Sri Lanka government Daily Mail reported that Israel uses Sri Lanka waters to test their missiles.
A 2009 SIPRI report, “International Arms Transfers”, shows that between 2000 and 2007, Sri Lanka acquired “several large warships from India, Israel and the USA”. The Swedish-based international arms conflict monitor reported that Israel has been a major and effective arms supplier.
In the 1980s, Israeli experts advised Sri Lanka to create border villages and arm Sinhala civilians as home guards. This is what the US also did in parts of Southeast Asia during its genocidal war in the 1960s-70s.
Zionist Israel’s aid was so useful to Sri Lanka that it sent its chief-of-staff, Donald Perera, to Israel as its ambassador after the military victory. The widest read Zionist daily in Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth, ran a lengthy interview with the new ambassador:
He spoke proudly as a war commander of having “a great relationship with your military industries and with Israel Aerospace industries.” “For years Israel has aided our war on terror through the exchange of information and the sale of military technology and equipment.”
General Perera spoke of Israel as “a country I consider a partner in the war against terror,” thus labeling Palestinians’ liberation struggle for their homeland and the simple right to exist as terrorism. This is precisely how he and the Sinhalese chauvinist governments view the Tamils struggle for liberation, simply as terrorism.
War criminal par excellence, Perera supported Israel’s illegal and bloodthirsty attack on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship on May 31, 2010, during which it murdered nine solidarity activists. He said, “I can understand that Israel had to protect itself,”—against unarmed civilians bearing material necessities for an occupied, besieged people? ( page 19 )
There are no two peoples better suited to be fast allies than these victims of genocide: Palestinians and Sri Lankan Tamils. When they figure that out, the two nations-in-the-making could confer upon Mahinda Rajapaksa the Orwellian award for double speak.
lal / January 7, 2014
Does RR consider the terrorist LTTE that killed thousands of innocent women and children by their terrorist actions as a saintly organisation? What has this fellow got against the innocent victims of LTTE? Why does he endorse LTTE terror actions? Who supported and supplied arms to LTTE murders?I fully support the actions of the Sri lankan govt against LTTE’s racist, murderous campaign. Done efficiently, end of subject. RR is free to go after genocidal western nations who have committed crimes against Africans, Arabs, Indians, first nation people in the Americas, Jewish people, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Will you, Hypocrite par excellence?
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Thiru / January 7, 2014
Please don’t blurt out unrelated matters here. Did genocide take place in Sri Lanka? That is the question: Yes, yes and yes without doubt.
Asoka the patron of Buddhism committed genocide of Kalinga people more than 2 millenniums ago, are you going to bring him here too?
Tamils say and other independent organizations say genocide of Tamils did occur in Sri Lanka, and is continuing in different forms.
This is a serious matter to be investigated, stop.
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Mikhael / January 7, 2014
I’d love to hear these ‘independent organizations’ you mention are. Is it some loony lefty tribunal? Or the UN? Go on.
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Abhaya / January 8, 2014
yes moron the LTTE created most of the genocite .
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ravivararo / January 8, 2014
yes moron the LTTE committed geno-cite and you Hela racists committed genocide.
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lal / January 8, 2014
Replying to Thiru.
Did genocide occur in Sri Lanka? Yes, when 90,000 Muslims were forcefully driven out by Tamils. The aim was to create a mono lingual Tamil entity. Thats is genocide. Sinhalese were driven out of NP. That is genocide. Tamils in Sri Lanka have a long history of being agents of genocide. The RR fellow raises issues in Palestine and elsewhere,but not Tamil racism towards Sinhala and Muslims. It is a reminder to LTTE agents to post the pay check.
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ravivararo / January 7, 2014
RR is free to go first SRilanka who has committed crimes against her own citizen and then he will go those countries mentioned by you.
you, hela modaya/moron racist, need not advice him. he has conscience than you having no heartlike anything.
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Ajith / January 7, 2014
Lal,
There is no one endorses killing of innocent victims whether it is committed by Sinhala racists governments or Sinhala thugs or LTTE. You should ask yourself who supplied arms to LTTE? Initially it is your Sinhala forces. Then it is your friendly nation India, then Palestine gave arm and training, then President Premadasa, and then Mahinda Rajapakse. Who game arms, ammunition, chemical weapons and cluster bombs to your military to kill over 200,000 innocent Tamils? Still you are digging the mass graves of those people killed by Your state, your military? You Sinhalese started massacre of civilians long before LTTE. No wonder why you are supporting genocide of Tamils because you are a Sinhala racist. You supported killing of Tamils in 1958, 1977, 1983 and thereafter. Still you support the attack on churches, mosques and Temples.
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lal / January 8, 2014
Reply to Ajith,
Who did the killing of innocent Sinhala women and children? Tamil terrorits, with the full backing of Tamil diaspora. Don’t bring others like Indians, Palestinians and others and accuse them of supplying arms and training. The KILLINGS were done by TAMILS. Tamils have to take the resposibility for KILLINGS.
The government has restored law and order and has no case to answer. ENJOY THE PEACE!
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ravivararo / January 8, 2014
No peace unless you hela modays RIP
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Punakku recycler / January 8, 2014
Keep dreaming, you sad terrorist.
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Amarasiri / January 8, 2014
Dear Ron Ridenour,
The roots of these two “Genocides” go back to religion and to the God Delusion. Religion is the Opium of the masses.
The Jews claim, according to their scripture, the Old testament, God gave them the Land of Palestine that was populated by earlier people, and therefor they have the right to kill and expel them. Ironically, a similar argument was used by the Nazis to commit genocide against the Jews and the Eastern Europeans. It is the same genocide. Read the Old testament. The fundamental Christians buy this argument, and they support the Genocidal Jews.
In the case of Sinhala Buddhists, the racist Monk Mahanma of Mahawansa Notoriety twisted Sri Lanka History, to call it he Land of the Sinhala a Buddhists, the “Dhamma Depaya”, Faith Island, and the Tamil were excluded. However, Buddhism is not a violent but are hardly any Tamil Buddhists is Sri Lanka.
Have you ever wondered why, in Sri Lanka, there are hardly any Tamil Buddhists, whereas in India, there are a few percent Buddhists in every State? Absence of a Racist Monk Mahanama? Is it because the Tamils wanted a Choice of Hindu Gods?
Is it genocide or Ethnic Cleansing
The God Delusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FiHRVb_uE0
The Root of All Evil?, later retitled The God Delusion, is a television documentary written and presented by Richard Dawkins in which he argues that humanity would be better off without religion or belief in God.
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Percy Jilmart / January 7, 2014
@lal
If you read Ron Ridenours article carefully you would see that most of the weaponry that the LTTE acquired came from capturing enemy arms and some were bought on the black market. Of course before they killed Rajiv Gandhi India used to supply arms to them as well.
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M.Sivananthan / January 8, 2014
Did you read Victor Ostrowsky’s “By Way of Deception”?
LTTE was trained by Jews. Israelis swindled the world bank loans to Sri lanka under the Jayawardene regime and trained the LTTE as well.
In 1987 I witnessed how the LTTE was using brand new UZI rifles against the pro-Indian TELO.
During the UNP rule only LTTE was able to over run many SL army camps. Since the election of Chandrika, LTTE was unable to over run anything because UNP government supplied weapons to LTTE indirectly!
When IPKF arrived LTTE joined UNP publicly. How was that? Rajiv gandhi was killed after some years.
So, blame UNP first before India.
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lal / January 8, 2014
Ron fellow can say what he likes in return for a check. Most of the weapons were paid for by Tamil diaspora and smuggled in by LTTE owned ships. Who killed innocent civilians? Scumbag Tamils did the killing. The Ron fellow is shifting the blame but Tamils and supporters of Tamil racists are resposible for the killing. Now, Sri Lanka military has given them the thrashing they deserved. Grow up and get used to the ground reality. There is peace now. Move on, Enjoy the Peace.
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Percy Jilmart / January 7, 2014
@lal
Now the main arms procurer of the LTTE is with the MARA regime living a luxury life along with other top LTTE men like Karuna, Pillayan, George Master, Daya Master and Thamilini to name just a few. Most of the podiyan LTTE chaps have either been released after rehabilitation or are still in custody.
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Abhaya / January 8, 2014
oh dear all your money for no reason ?
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fred / January 7, 2014
I don’t get it. The heading to the article reads, Victims Of Genocide: Palestinians And Sri Lankan Tamils. Then, RR starts off with ostensibly an attack on Mahinda Rajapakse for getting cosy with the Palestinians, but from then on RR goes on the attack on Israel. The man seems to have lost it – big time.
One thing with these old socialists – for years they have been predicting the collapse of capitalism and while accusing western countries of being reactionary, the socialists themselves have remained prisoners of a doctrine that was no longer relevant to a changed world. RR seems to have been caught in that same time trap.
Consider his statement’ The Sinhalese chauvinist Sri Lanka government practices genocide against Tamils’. This is classic socialist prose, cliché ridden and repetitive. Words like ‘chauvinist’ and ‘genocide’ are typical of the socialist lexicon. Remember how in the days of the so-called Cold War, they would talk about ‘capitalist hyenas’ and ‘their running dogs’? But that was a long time ago. It is time for RR to wake up. And, maybe, stop writing.
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Rajan / January 7, 2014
Writes article about genocide in Sri Lanka. Conveniently leaves out the crimes committed by the LTTE for over 26 years. This so called ‘journalist’ won’t be happy until our country is dependent on the US or some other western nation putting our hands out for aid. He can’t stand the fact that we’re gradually getting on our feet again after 26 years. Perhaps he should stick to the tabloids or some loony lefty uni newspaper that would actually have readers believe that he has Sri Lanka’s best interests at heart like all of us. If he does, I’d love to read his articles during the 26 years of war about Tamil oppression while the terrorist LTTE were bombing innocent civilians of all ethnic groups. My bad the ‘armed resistance LTTE’.
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Ward / January 7, 2014
What do you call the way Tamils have been treated by successive governments from 1948 till today?
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Thondamanaru / January 7, 2014
Oh !! just ignore this Joker… another Kumar david.
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P. Selvaratnam / January 7, 2014
THank you, Ron.
Palestinians, please don’t let Sri Lanka fool you
Prof Priyan Dias addresses LLRC, 07 October 2010:
‘’If we do not feel guilty for the Northern military uprising we cannot go anywhere in the future as a country.’’
K.Godage(former Sri Lankan diplomat) addresses LLRC, 15 September 2010:
‘’ …. We have persistently discriminated against the Tamil people from 1956…. The Tamils have undergone, and are undergoing immense hardship. We need to reach out to them.”
Bernard Gunatileke(former Sri Lankan Sinhalese diplomat) to LLRC, 11 August 2010:
‘‘The most important factor, which we have failed to attend, is meaningful devolution of political power to the periphery from the centre. There must also be involvement of the minorities in the political activities in the centre.’’
Mr. Mangala Moonasinghe to LLRC, 17 August 2010: ‘’…so, who started terrorism – it was we – and then gradually naturally the youth, Tamil youth, went into terrorism in the north. … So terrorism did not come on its own. We created them sir, we created them.’’
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Punakku recycler / January 7, 2014
Ah Mr. Ridenour! Another lost white soul who has found an easy way of meeting his mortgage payments by writing to a fringe Sri Lankan website populated mostly by wealthy latte-sipping douchebags from Colombo 7 and overseas who live on a completely different planet from regular Sri Lanka.
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RajasH / January 7, 2014
…A 2009 SIPRI report, “International Arms Transfers”, shows that between 2000 and 2007, Sri Lanka acquired “several large warships from India, Israel and the USA”. The Swedish-based international arms conflict monitor reported that Israel has been a major and effective arms supplier…
…The governments of USA/UK and other European states, Australia, Israel, India on the one hand, and on the other hand China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan gave or sold weaponry in the multi-millions of dollars to Sri Lankan governments over decades, and aided in many other ways the defeat of the Tamils’ guerrilla movement, including the LTTE …
…The most decisive sales and donations in the latter years of war came from Israel (and China). A vast number of combat aircraft (16 Kfir jets plus nine others) and many of the ships (especially six Super Dvora and 38 Shaldag fast patrol craft) used by Sri Lanka came from Israel. It also supplied seven unmanned vehicles, 16 anti-ship mines, communication and surveillance equipment, and great quantities of ammunition; plus pilots and Mossad intelligence and counter-intelligence agents…
..Makhdoom Babar, editor-in-chief of the pro-Sri Lanka government Daily Mail reported that Israel uses Sri Lanka waters to test their missiles…
….A 2009 SIPRI report, “International Arms Transfers”, shows that between 2000 and 2007, Sri Lanka acquired “several large warships from India, Israel and the USA”. The Swedish-based international arms conflict monitor reported that Israel has been a major and effective arms supplier…..
whereas …Most of the weaponry that the LTTE acquired came from capturing enemy arms and some were bought on the black market. Sri Lanka bought its weapons from a score of governments, spending between 7 and 17% of their budgets on the military during the war. (See my article, “Sri Lanka War Crimes-Genocide with West Complicity: an analysis”…
The entire world against a rag tag baby faced LTTE fighters
This demonstartes what genius the LTTE fighters are …using their own ingenuity to wage a liberation struggle that could only be crushed with the help of the entire world
Now it’s pay back time to the entire world…what the Sri Lankan government promised ..an acceptable solution for the Tamils
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No Fire Zone / January 7, 2014
@Punakku recycler
Ruki WD, a very punakku sounding nom de plume. :)
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Punakku recycler / January 8, 2014
How would you like me to send my autograph to you? :)
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No Fire Zone / January 8, 2014
@Punakku recycler
By email would be nice. Mail to nofirezone@gmail.com ;)
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Ward / January 7, 2014
Ron
If Palestinians are behaving in a bizarre way towards Sri Lankan President by honouring him with ”Star of Palestine”, it must be the work of PR firms employed by Sri Lanka:
’This report from Corporate Europe Observatory presents 15 recent examples of governments using lobby consultancies to influence the EU institutions, including Belarus, Botswana, Ethiopia, Jersey, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka. …. Bell Pottinger has since 2005 lobbied the EU institutions on behalf of Sri Lanka, whose government is accused of systematic human rights violations‘’ – Lobbying for governments in Brussels, 27 May 2010, http://corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/2010/05/lobbying-governments-brussels
‘’The report comes to the conclusion that there are significant shortcomings in this area and that Sri Lanka is in breach of its GSP+ commitments’’ – Commission statement on Sri Lanka GSP+ report – Brussels, 19 October 2009, http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/october/tradoc_145141.pdf
Instead of improving the human rights practice to meet GSP+ conditions, the government sent an inter-religious group to Europe to secure GSP+ concessions: http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2009/11/05/inter-religious-group-tour-win-gsp-sri-lanka
Sri Lanka ‘pays PR firm £3m to boost post-war image’, 22 October 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11606899
”The conduct of Sri Lanka’s diplomacy in the United States has raised some serious questions. This is after three public relations cum lobbying firms publicly acknowledged they received government funds, channelled through the Embassy for work which is normally the task of the Embassy …….” – Diplomats told to go beyond cocktails and play crucial role, 8 July 2012, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120708/columns/diplomats-told-to-go-beyond-cocktails-and-play-crucial-role-5424.html
Major initiative to kiss and make up with Uncle Sam, 7 April 2013, http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130407/columns/major-initiative-to-kiss-and-make-up-with-uncle-sam-40164.html
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Leon / January 7, 2014
Thank you Ron for pointing out Rajapakse’s double speak. He is a master at it.
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Fathima Fukushima / January 8, 2014
Terrorists deserve no nation!
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M.Sivananthan / January 8, 2014
Are there any similarities between LTTE and Palestine? Nothing.
Palestine is invaded by Jews. But the LTTE tried to over run 70% of the population. Tamils always compare them to Jews.
LTTE was a western mercenary force and trained by Israel. Tamils were killed by LTTE is not a matter to this white fool!
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RajasH / January 8, 2014
the similarity is btween Palestine People and Tamils of Sri Lanka.
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M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
Check your brain!
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Rajash / January 10, 2014
I did …sound as ever. Unfortunately you can’t do the same…as you have no brains.
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RajasH / January 8, 2014
“Star of Palestine” is as good as “Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana”
basically you scratch my back and I scratch yours act taking place here.
LTTE also have conferred various honours on their carders , but these guys not cowards but fearles fighters who have engineered and executed daring attacks
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Rajan / January 8, 2014
*executed daring attacks against innocent women and children of all ethnic groups. And yes against Tamils too.
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M.Sivananthan / January 9, 2014
hhaha
That is why LTTE was running from Maavilaaru to Mulli Vaykkal and herding people for their protection. LTTE goons cried they showed white flags and black flags.
Prabhakaran and his gang were best at killing un armed people. When SL army spear headed the attacks LTTE goons buried weapons and surrendered.
Tiger became rat after the SLFP capture the power.
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mahulchandran or Mal C Spencer / January 8, 2014
CT Editorial Chief & Staff to note and pursue on the two e-mails already forwarded (for which I have not receive any acknowledgement as yet) as one suspects that there may be a much larger corporate conspiracy and coup d’état against many Big & small Govt’s that may be unravelled should the guide lines provided in the forwarded e-mails.
I am here-in copying whatever is possible from the two emails that were forwarded to me in Oct 2007 that may have relevance even now; where even the UNO and its subsidiary and ancillary organisations too may registered with the US Securitas & Exchange Commission.
Subject: Exposing Corporatizing of Our Commonwealth
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 07:47:36 +1000
If we can’t help ourselves, why should anyone else?
You’re spot on pursuing the corportaizing the COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA thing.
To get the money for the project, front up to your local Federal Member of Parliament and demand a GRANT.
I think it’s about time we put some money together and ask for the copy of this file or maybe for all the files regarding “COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (0000805157)”
Let’s work together on this –PLEASE ! (see attached Photo)
george
….and here is something to keep you busy for a while
http://netctr.com/books.html
—————————————————————————————————————————–
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Dear Pedro,
Do you think John Howard will reply?
Do you think the media will inform the People of Australia of your excellent letter?
Yours sincerely,
John Wilson.
—– Original Message —–
From: “Alfaros”
To:
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 10:35 AM
Subject: COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA — CORPORATION
> John ,
>
> I have attached a copy of a Letter Faxed to MP John HOWARD today, in
> relation to The Commonwealth Of Australia being Registered as a
> Corporation in the USA.
>
> Regards
> Pedro
/