{"id":38082,"date":"2012-04-11T10:33:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T10:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=38082"},"modified":"2012-04-22T08:36:30","modified_gmt":"2012-04-22T08:36:30","slug":"the-alternative-1948-just-returned-from-sri-lanka-as-an-israeli-traveller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-alternative-1948-just-returned-from-sri-lanka-as-an-israeli-traveller\/","title":{"rendered":"The Alternative 1948 &#8211; Just Returned From Sri Lanka As An \u2018Israeli traveller\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.timesofisrael.com\/author\/dan-kosky\/\">Dan Kosky<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0&#8211;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38083\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-alternative-1948-just-returned-from-sri-lanka-as-an-israeli-traveller\/dan-kosky\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-38083\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38083\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38083\" title=\"DAN KOSKY\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DAN-KOSKY.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DAN-KOSKY.jpg 140w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DAN-KOSKY-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 140px) 100vw, 140px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-38083\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dan Kosky<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOut of sight, out of mind\u201d or so the saying goes.\u00a0 However, having just returned from Sri Lanka on my first bona fide trip as an \u2018Israeli traveller\u2019, I am beginning to doubt the wisdom of this phrase.\u00a0 The more I discovered about the \u2018pearl of the Indian Ocean\u2019, the more I uncovered uncanny parallels between the respective recent histories of Sri Lanka and Israel.\u00a0 The similarities in their progression from colonial backwater to statehood are striking.\u00a0 And yet today, they are radically different countries, revealing much that we Israelis should be proud of.<\/p>\n<p>While leading lights of the early Zionist movement harked back to the ancient Hasmonean kingdoms for inspiration, Sri Lankans too can point to a proud ancient monarchy, with Sinhalese kingdoms dating as far back as the 6<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century BCE.\u00a0 Just as the dream of Jewish independence lay dormant for centuries, falling prey to foreign ambitions, Sri Lankan self-rule was slowly eroded away by the Portugese, Dutch and then the British.\u00a0 Eventually, with the help of political pressure augmented by armed action, both Israel and Sri Lanka emerged from the shadows of the British Empire.\u00a0 Providing something of a mirror image of each other, both declared independence in 1948.<\/p>\n<p>In building their respective nation-states, the parallels endured.\u00a0 The nascent Israeli legal system\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mfa.gov.il\/MFA\/Government\/Branches+of+Government\/Judicial\/Development+of+the+Law+in+Israel-+The+First+50+Yea.htm\">retained<\/a>\u00a0much of British civil and common law.\u00a0 Similarly, Britain has left a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lankalegal.com\/legal_system.htm\">clear footprint<\/a>\u00a0on Sri Lanka\u2019s criminal justice system.\u00a0 Like Israel, Sri Lankan society meshed together a complex and often tense ethnic mix.\u00a0 Both countries have suffered more than their fair share of territorial disputes and related violence.\u00a0 The bloody Sri Lankan\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War\">civil war<\/a>, which ended in 2009 claimed up to 100,000 lives.\u00a0 To the horror of the Sri Lankan government,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.channel4.com\/news\/un-human-rights-council-urges-sri-lankan-accountability\">last month<\/a>, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) urged the prosecution of officials and commanders accused of abuses during the conflict.\u00a0 Coincidentally, the vote came during the same week that Israel, equally incredulous at the UNHCR albeit for different reasons,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-middle-east-17510668\">severed ties<\/a>\u00a0with the body.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite these peculiar comparisons, the two countries are today marked by considerable differences.\u00a0 As such, Sri Lanka offers a glimpse of what Israel could have turned out to be, a kind of alter ego if you will.\u00a0 Economically, Israel has taken full advantage of its human capital, developing and selling countless world class technologies as the famed \u2018start up nation\u2019.\u00a0 A far cry from cutting edge innovation, Sri Lanka\u2019s top industries are still rooted in the country\u2019s natural resources.\u00a0 Tea (an industry which owes its success to British imperial initiative) and rubber remain the two most lucrative exports.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tradingeconomics.com\/israel\/gdp\">Israeli GDP<\/a>\u00a0stands at over four times its Sri Lankan\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tradingeconomics.com\/sri-lanka\/gdp\">equivalent<\/a>.\u00a0 The gap is just as wide when it comes to infrastructure.\u00a0 Israelis may lament the slow development of big projects such as the Jerusalem light rail, but these schemes are in themselves simply a world away from Sri Lanka.\u00a0 Anything other than a single lane road is a rarity on the island, while the Sri Lankan rail system appears to be almost unchanged since the days of the British who built it.\u00a0 Power cuts are still not uncommon in some parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most significant distinction though is the stark contrast in personal and political freedoms.\u00a0 Virulent criticism of the government on the grounds of both policy and personality is almost an Israeli national pastime.\u00a0 It is undoubtedly, a positive sign of a healthy and robust democracy.\u00a0 Meanwhile images of President Mahinda Rajapaksa ominously adorn every other street corner in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 A series of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2011\/05\/19\/the-reckoning-press-freedom-in-sri-lanka\/\">disappearances<\/a>, arrests and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eurasiareview.com\/24032012-sri-lanka-claims-of-government-orchestrated-threats-against-exile-journalists\/\">general intimidation<\/a>\u00a0of journalists unsympathetic towards his government have helped ensure that public opposition and media criticism of Rajapaksa is almost unheard of.\u00a0 Watchdog organization\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.rsf.org\/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html\">Reporters Without Borders<\/a>\u00a0ranks Sri Lanka 162 out of 179 countries on their press freedom index.\u00a0 Rajapaksa has bolstered his grip on power by appointing family members to key positions.\u00a0 One brother is the current Minister of Defense, another is the Minister of Economic Development, while the third and eldest is the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. \u00a0All cards have been carefully and calculatingly dealt it Rajapaksa\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n<p>While none of this of course negates the natural beauty of Sri Lanka or the friendliness of its people, it is a sobering contrast to what we casually take for granted in Israel.\u00a0 Many Israelis, myself included are often quick to bemoan the state of affairs in our country.\u00a0 While we should always strive to build a better society, it is important not lose sight or appreciation of what has been achieved.\u00a0 The truth is that despite its many imperfections, Israel is a prosperous, thoroughly modern and free society.\u00a0 Perhaps it shouldn\u2019t require a journey of thousands of miles to act as a reminder and to realize that 1948 could have been the dawn of a very different country.<\/p>\n<p>THE TIMES OF ISRAEL<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":38083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[2511,2509,1741,2510],"class_list":["post-38082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editorial","tag-comparative-study-on-sri-lanka-and-israel","tag-israel-and-sri-lanka","tag-rajapaksa-brothers","tag-rsf-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Alternative 1948 - Just Returned From Sri Lanka As An \u2018Israeli traveller\u2019 - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta 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