Today, the Chabad Houses in Colombo and on Sri Lanka's southern coast have attracted considerable attention amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric. It is noteworthy that Colombo once had an active synagogue, which served as a regular place of worship for British Jewish servicemen World War II
It becomes evident that the emergence of Sri Lanka–Israel relations in the 1980s was fundamentally driven by the realist imperatives of both states: Sri Lanka sought to strengthen its defence sector, while Israel aimed to legitimize its ties with Colombo. Each actor pursued distinct strategic objectives. However, what largely remains unknown is…
Dias promoted civil–military cooperation on an unprecedented scale, facilitating the large-scale settlement of Sinhalese populations in the dry zone as a bulwark against Tamil separatism. In some respects, this approach resembled the Jewish settlement policies in the British Mandate of Palestine, which may have influenced Dias’s thinking.
These myth-based narratives reveal a deeper psychological impulse: the desire to anchor Sinhalese Buddhist identity within a framework of global uniqueness and divine purpose. While Sri Lanka’s diplomatic relations with Israel have fluctuated since independence, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist sentiment continues to exhibit a strong emotional…
Iran’s influence among Shia communities across South Asia represents an additional layer reinforcing its position in the Muslim world—one that has not been decisively weakened by the 12-day conflict. On the contrary, anti-Israel and, in some cases, anti-Western sentiments among South Asian Muslims have intensified, offering Tehran new…
This controversial project of the mid-1980s, inspired by Israeli models, ultimately failed to achieve its intended outcomes. Nevertheless, Israeli involvement left a lasting imprint on the Mahaweli Development Project and agricultural settlements in Sri Lanka. The continuing association between the military and the Mahaweli Development Project…
On the face of it, the misplaced hysteria surrounding the visit made by Sri Lankan journalists to Israel is fuelled by shadowy factors intending to promote a one-sided narrative in which the State of Israel stands as the perennial villain. The beguiling picture planted in Sri Lankan society is portrayed through the moral binaries: good vs evil…
The government in Colombo finds itself in a difficult position, refraining from disclosing its official stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—a well-established policy of the Sri Lankan government for years. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa vociferously campaigned for Palestinian statehood while discreetly seeking military support from…
It is axiomatic that whatever greatness he accomplished would have been highly unlikely if he stayed in the local university system in Sri Lanka, which reached a state of mediocracy after 1956. Gananath Obeyesekere enters the pantheon of Global Sri Lankans such as CG Weeramantry, CF Amerasinghe and Stanly Tambiah whose greatness is still…
From Ananda Meemanage he became Ven. Ananda Mangala, when he donned the yellow robes of a Buddhist monk at the age of 40. Nehru sent him on a private mission to Missamari and Buxaduar to keep track of the fleeing Tibetan refugees. His mission was akin to espionage as the Chinese military buildup was already on and Nehru wanted to have a…
