COLOMBO, 30 July — The Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga reiterated Sri Lanka’s solidarity with the Palestinian struggle when she met the visiting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Qorei, at the president’s house here last week.
Qorei also met senior politicians including the Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament, Anura Bandaranaike. Since the time of late Premier S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka supported the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people and it will continue to support the Palestinian cause, Chandrika said.
Highways Minister and leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Muslim Federation Al-Haj Abdul Hameed Muhammad Fowzie told the visiting speaker that the Muslim population in Sri Lanka will continue to support the Palestinian struggle. Fisheries Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and president of the Committee for Solidarity with Palestinian people said that Israel should implement the UN resolutions on Palestine in the interest of world peace.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem said that despite the Sri Lanka government’s decision to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, SLMC will continue to support the Palestinian cause and their continuous struggle against the Zionist state.
The Palestinians, who are systematically deprived of their lands, dispossessed of properties, homes destroyed, their economic opportunities restricted, cultural rights denied, are continuing to wage an unequal but heroic struggle against oppression, injustice and aggression.
The Palestinian speaker who was here to explain Palestine’s position and gain continued support for the Palestinians’ cause told Arab News that following continuous Israeli aggression more than 6,000 have been killed, more than 25,000 injured, more than 30,000 uprooted from their homes and over 3,000 houses demolished. He said that the word peace has no meaning for the Israelis.
Analyzing the history of the present Israeli premier, Qorei said Ariel Sharon’s hands are wet with blood for he continues a policy of open violence and aggression despite all the calls for peace in the Middle East. The Secretary-General of the Sri Lanka Muslim Media, Alliance Hussain Farouk, said that all peace-loving countries, particularly the Arab nations, should unite and render their fullest cooperation for the Palestinian struggle to establish a peaceful society in the Mideast and liberate Jerusalem from the Zionist clutches.
