{"id":243905,"date":"2025-10-19T14:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T08:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=243905"},"modified":"2025-11-03T02:52:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T21:22:58","slug":"life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tisaranee Gunasekara<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo child should be resilient to slaughter, genocide, and massacre. Being resilient is used to justify what is happening before our eyes and later we will call them survivors.\u201d ~ <\/i>Pradeep Samanjeeva, Project Medical Referent, MSF on his experience in Gaza (12.10.2025)<\/p>\n

Has the Gaza Genocide<\/a><\/span> ended or is the ceasefire a mere interregnum? What will happen to the ceasefire once Hamas<\/a><\/span> returns the remains of dead Israeli hostages? If the ceasefire survives beyond that benchmark, will it lead to a basic normalisation of Gazan life, and eventually, a durable political solution? The answers are unknowable. Even so, the ceasefire is welcome because it provides a modicum of relief to a populace that has known nothing other than death, displacement, pain, grief, and loss in the last two years.\"\"<\/p>\n

Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a><\/span> wants war (if not with Palestinians then with some country) in order to avoid incarceration for corruption. Qatar, Hamas\u2019s patron, has received a public apology from Binyamin Netanyahu and the American promise to come to its aid in case of future attacks (in the form of a defence pact). It also gets set up an air force facility in Idaho. Consequently, Qatar is unlikely to protest too much if Israel recommences the Gaza Genocide at some point, on some excuse.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump<\/a><\/span>\u2019s situation is more complicated (quite apart from his yearning for a Nobel Peace Prize). The Republican voters and his own MAGA base, once pro-Israeli\/Netanyahu monoliths, are changing, appalled by the mass killing of children (including babies) in Gaza and America\u2019s own complicity in the carnage.<\/p>\n

Take, for instance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, arch conservative, MAGA firebrand, and Trump fan, who, in October 2023, filed a censure resolution against Democratic congresswoman (and Palestinian American) Rashida Tlaib for her tweets criticising Israel. Today, Congresswoman Greene<\/a><\/span> is an outspoken critic of Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, and wants America to end its backing for the Genocide: \u201cIf America was being bombed day and night because of something horrific our government did, and many innocent Americans and American children were being killed and traumatically injured, and we begged for mercy, but the rest of the world said, \u2018Americans voted for their government so they deserve it\u2026\u2019 And our cities and homes were bombed and turned into rubble. And our infrastructure was destroyed, no farms, no grocery stores, no organised society. And no one helped our injured and hungry children. How would you feel?… I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t want to pay for genocide in a foreign country against a foreign people in a foreign war that I had nothing to do with\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Greene is among a growing number of Republican\/MAGA leaders, pundits, and influencers who are openly criticising Israel for its conduct in Gaza (plus its bombing of Iran), demanding an end to AIPAC influence in American politics, and insisting that Washington stop engaging in\/funding foreign wars and focus on improving American lives in America. The list reads like the Who\u2019s Who of Republican opinion makers \u2013 Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Candace Owens, Dave Smith, and even the recently assassinated Charlie Kirke (newly publicised text messages from Charlie Kirke reveal him being pressured by Jewish American donors to support Israel unconditionally; and how a refusal lost him a donation of $2million).<\/p>\n

This growing anti-Israeli chorus on the American right is reflective of a sea change in American public opinion on Israel\/Palestine. The Economist<\/i> carried an in-depth analysis of this unprecedented development in its 18 September 2025 issue. In her introduction, chief editor <\/span>Zanny Minton Beddos wrote, \u201cOn recent trips to America I have heard far more overt criticism of Israel\u2019s policies and growing concern that public support for Israel among ordinary Americans (and in particular young ones) is eroding fast. Our\u00a0cover looks in detail<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0at whether this is the case. The answer is striking and sobering. Our polling shows the mood is shifting sharply in America, not just among Democrats but also Republicans. If this loss of popular American support continues it will be catastrophic for a small country of 10million people in a hostile neighbourhood. Right now America is all that stands between Israel and pariah status. Optimists will call all of this scaremongering. We believe that view is dangerously complacent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hasbara vs Reality<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Benny\u2019 is an IDF soldier, a sniper deployed for long periods in Gaza. In September 2025, he told Israeli newspaper<\/a><\/span> Haaretz how he killed civilians including children who were trying to get aid in Gaza. \u201cI\u2019ve stopped counting kills. I have no idea how many I\u2019ve killed, a lot. Children.\u201d Another soldier, \u2018Yoni\u2019 recalled, \u201cI saw the bodies of two children maybe 8 or 10 years old, I have no idea. There was lots of blood everywhere\u2026 I knew it was on me, that I did this. I wanted to throw up. After a few minutes the company commander arrived and said coldly, as if he wasn\u2019t a human being, \u2018they entered an extermination zone, it is their fault. This is what war is like.\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hasbara, a Hebrew word meaning explain, is a less morally compromised synonym for propaganda. Its originator was Nahum Sokolow, a Zionist leader, who defined it as \u201ca communication strategy that \u2018seeks to explain actions, whether or not they are justified\u2019\u2026aimed at obtaining and maintaining international support for Israeli policy\u201d (The Jerusalem Post<\/i> \u2013 19.1.2024).<\/p>\n

As American and global support for Israel sinks to a new and all time low due to the Gaza Genocide, Israel is intensifying its Hasbara campaign to portray a war of extermination as a necessary, just, and moral war of defence. For instance, in mid-2025<\/a><\/span>, Israeli foreign ministry organised a fully funded Israeli tour for 16 young MAGA influencers. In September 2025, American journalist and research associate at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Nick Cleveland Stout revealed<\/a><\/span> that Israel is paying $7,000 per post to social media influencers to counter young American\u2019s growing antipathy to Israel.<\/span> Incidentally, 16 seems to have some significance in the Hasbara universe for that is the number of Lankan journalists and You Tubers invited by Israel for a fully-funded study tour of Israel in September 2025.<\/p>\n

But no amount of Hasbara can counter images of dead, injured, or orphaned children; or the sound of 6-year-old Hind Rajab\u2019s voice asking someone to come and save her. So opposition to Israeli actions has grown not only among Americans but also among Jewish Americans. According to a recent Washington Post<\/i> poll, almost 40% of Jewish Americans think that Israel is committing genocide while an overwhelming 60% believe that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Even inside Israel, opponents of the war have grown more vocal, bolder. Famed Israeli orchestral conductor Ilan Volkov spoke out in September during BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall in London. \u201cIn my heart, there\u2019s great pain now every day for months. I come from Israel. I live there. I love it. It\u2019s my home. But what is happening now is atrocious \u2013 I know that many of us feel completely hopeless in front of this. Innocent Palestinians being killed in thousands, displaced again and again, without hospitals, without schools, not knowing when the next meal is. Israeli hostages are kept in inhuman<\/a><\/span> conditions for two years. Political prisoners are languishing in Israeli jails. Israelis \u2013 Jews and Palestinians \u2013 we are not able to stop this alone. I ask you, I beg you to do whatever is in your power to stop this madness. Every little action counts. While governments hesitate and wait, we cannot let this go on for any longer\u2026. Two weeks later, he was arrested at the Gaza border protesting against the Genocide with hundreds of fellow Israelis. The night before, he had participated in a musical protest at Tel Aviv\u2019s Habima Square where several musicians simulated the sound of drones which is an inescapable part of Gazan life<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Western governments are changing their stances on Palestine\/Israel not because they want to but because of the unrelenting pressure from below, from their own peoples. That is why countries like the UK and France took the hitherto unimaginable step of granting Palestine full diplomatic recognition, something they didn\u2019t do even at the height of Oslo Accords. Israel threatened punishment but could do nothing. It would be even less capable of doing anything, if America changes its own stance, at some point.<\/p>\n

Political parties change. For most of its early history, Democratic Party was pro-slavery, identified itself as \u2018white man\u2019s party\u2019 and attacked the Republicans for being \u2018negro-dominated\u2019. Over time, roles became reversed. For decades, the Republican Party was seen as solidly pro-Israeli while the Democratic Party was more middle-ground, more sympathetic to Palestinians. Are those divisions also gradually changing? Not immediately, but in the next presidential election cycle and beyond. Will the change cause a broader realignment, bringing together actors from the right, left, and the middle of the political spectrum on a platform of a new economic order of increased direct taxation, less military spending, and greater focus on ensuring a better, more affordable life for Americans? Is Zohran Mamdani a herald of such a change. After all, anything is possible in societies in a state of flux, when Ms Rachel, a You Tuber and an educator of small children publicly admonish Barak Obama for dehumanising Palestinians. In such times, Netanyahu and Ben Smotrich\u2019s Israel has only one hope \u2013 Hamas.<\/p>\n

Hamas to the rescue?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel is committing ethnic cleaning in Gaza (and the West Bank). It is committing religious cleansing in Jerusalem and Green Line Israel surreptitiously, targeting Christians.<\/p>\n

In 2024, amidst the Genocide, leaders of the three major churches in the Holy Land, the Latin Patriarchate, the Armenian Patriarchate, and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, issued a joint statement<\/a><\/span>, \u201caccusing Israeli authorities of launching a \u2018coordinated attack\u2019 on the Christian presence in the Holy Land by initiating tax proceedings against them\u201d. In 2012, Israel introduced a new law according to which any religious properties not used for strictly religious purposes have to pay property taxes. Synagogues were fully exempted from this law<\/a><\/span>. <\/span>The churches went to court arguing that property tax exemptions granted to synagogues were discriminatory and lost, because of the unofficially official credo of Israel being a Jewish state.<\/p>\n

Since then, Israel has been leveraging property taxes (Arnona) as a way to more land-grabbing. In Jerusalem, authorities<\/a><\/span> are already moving to seize some of the property belonging to the Armenian Patriarchate for non-payment of municipal taxes. <\/span>This August, Israel froze the accounts<\/a><\/span> of the Greek Orthodox Chruch for non-payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the reality of Israel, as a Jewish state.\u00a0This reality makes Israel particularly vulnerable to a secular Palestinian resistance. Which is why Binyamin Netanyahu, the supposed arch enemy of Hamas, came up with a policy called <\/span>Conception<\/i> – using Hamas to divide, discredit, and weaken Palestinians. A key component of this policy was allowing Qatar to fund Hamas to the tune of $million a month. Addressing Likud party Knesset members in March 2019, he said, \u201cWhoever opposes a Palestinian state must approve the delivery of funds to Gaza because maintaining the difference between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.\u201d He repeated<\/a><\/span> this rationale again this year, when confronted with the charge of aiding and abetting Hamas. As retired general Yair Golan pointed out, Netanyahu \u201ccreated a situation in which, so long as the Palestinian Authority was weak, he could create the overall perception that the best thing to do was to annex West Bank. We weakened the very institution that we could have worked with, and strengthened Hamas\u201d (The New Yorker<\/i> \u2013 28.10.2023).<\/p>\n

Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya – Islamic Resistance Movement) rejects Israel\u2019s right to existence and wants to install an Islamic Caliphate in all Palestinian lands. Just as Israeli right wants to install a Jewish state in all current and former Palestinian lands. Netanyahu\u2019s Jewish Greater Israel and Hamas\u2019s Islamic Palestine are the perfect excuses for each other, opponents joined at the hip by their shared extremism.<\/p>\n

So long as the right wing dominates Israeli politics and Palestinian politics is divided between extremist Hamas and venal Palestinian Authority, the chances of the ceasefire resulting in a durable peace are slim. It is precisely to prevent such a possibility that Israel did not include Marwan Barghouti among the released political prisoners. Qatar could have arranged his release through Donald Trump, but the reappearance of the man The Economist<\/i> called Palestine\u2019s Mandela would be undesirable not just to Israel but also to Hamas and to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Some ceasefire is better than none, even with Israel continuing to kill Palestinians on a much lower key as terrorists and Hamas recommencing killing Palestinians as traitors. A real change in the ground is impossible so long as America continues to play by Israel\u2019s rules (which include not allowing a Palestinian alternative to Hamas and the PA to emerge). But as a result of the Genocide, America\u2019s role might undergo a transformation, if not immediately, then in the years ahead. Peace in Israel\/Palestine may not be near, but it might not be the impossibility it was before the Genocide. That is how history moves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":242458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,46,8,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nLife & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-19T08:32:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-02T21:22:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tisaranee Gunasekara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tisaranee Gunasekara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/\",\"name\":\"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-19T08:32:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-02T21:22:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abdfa4662aa4646a0b394bdbe515467c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":719},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abdfa4662aa4646a0b394bdbe515467c\",\"name\":\"Tisaranee Gunasekara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c50a33c9b66e26cf6305bd964e8a9f9929a5907c376b415806ad78c711c998?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c50a33c9b66e26cf6305bd964e8a9f9929a5907c376b415806ad78c711c998?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tisaranee Gunasekara\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/tguna\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2025-10-19T08:32:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-02T21:22:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":719,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tisaranee Gunasekara","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tisaranee Gunasekara","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/","name":"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-19T08:32:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-02T21:22:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abdfa4662aa4646a0b394bdbe515467c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg","width":900,"height":719},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/life-politics-in-the-time-of-genocide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life & Politics In The Time Of Genocide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abdfa4662aa4646a0b394bdbe515467c","name":"Tisaranee Gunasekara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c50a33c9b66e26cf6305bd964e8a9f9929a5907c376b415806ad78c711c998?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86c50a33c9b66e26cf6305bd964e8a9f9929a5907c376b415806ad78c711c998?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Tisaranee Gunasekara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/tguna\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Photo-from-The-Gaza-Facebook-page.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243913,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243905\/revisions\/243913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}