Sri Lanka managed to avert a disaster as a result of timely intel surveillance & prevented a likely massacre of Israeli tourists frequenting the Eastern Coast of Arugam Bay for surfing. The sudden targeting of Israeli’s in Sri Lanka had to have a reason beyond the excuses being floated. The actions of Israeli Consulate General have not helped matters & has only aggravated the situation by adding coal to the fire! The Israeli government & intel must locate the masterminds behind the attack as well as take prompt action against its Consulate General.
Questions we want answers for
- Who was planning terror attacks between October 19-24 on Israeli tourists?
- Were these killers the same who underwent training for Easter Sunday?
- Were any of them linked to the Easter Sunday suspects now released & related to Zaharan?
- Did a team from Kattankudy go to Lebanon to meet other terror group leaders in 2023 – were investigations held regarding this or were this team prevented from being arrested by diplomatic intervention
- What about the sudden arrest of 4 ISIS members that emerged during an election in India. The same occurred during the 2019 Indian elections when Easter Sunday attack took place – are these terror suspects emerging within a larger plan for bigger geopolitical objectives? Were these incidents only meant for public drama?
https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-aviation-clears-bomb-scare-on-vistara-amid-threat-to-scores-of-indian-flights-184237/ (Bomb scare ahead of elections)
These answers would certainly take us to the “foreign power” or “mahamolakaru” of probably both Easter Sunday attack & Arugam Bay too.
What is clear & reconfirmed by Sagala Ratnayake, was that Sri Lanka’s intel were already aware of a plot before the new President was elected & were engaged in surveillance of the area.
However, it was the US, based on its own intel to bring the situation into the open by issuing a travel advisory which soon led to the Western missions also issuing travel advisories & asking Israeli’s to leave Arugam Bay. It was later, that the public came to know that India had also informed of an attack on 7 October.
Why would the plotters or masterminds change the narrative?
What is important is that Sri Lanka’s intel was a step ahead & knew about an attack & had taken measures to monitor the situation. Which meant that they were about to intercept those tasked to carry out the attack. It is probably to avoid this outcome that the masterminds plotting the attack quickly changed the narrative and diverted people’s attention.
Had Sri Lanka’s intel apprehended the players tasked to attack the Israeli tourists, the sympathy would have been with the Israeli’s. Instead, the new narrative quickly churned out turned from a terror attack to land grab & illegal religious structures to the point of accusing Israelis of “invasion”.
Plan B worked stupendously.
It was indeed artfully done and escaped the attention of all except those with a penchant for geopolitical games at play.
Moreover, the fuss about illegal religious sites are coming from the very quarters who are invading ancient Buddhist sites & even destroying ancient Buddhist artefacts & those who set up mushrooming religious sites disproportionate to their population ratio.
Who were the masterminds who had studied the landscape long enough to know that Arugam Bay was a frequent & popular destination for Israeli’s for decades and regular flights were bringing scores of Israeli holiday goers, yet it was also in an area predominantly Muslim.
What was the real reason behind a plot to scare off Israeli’s from visiting Arugam Bay for surfing? If Israeli’s had been coming for decades to surf in Arugam Bay, it meant that inspite of the Muslim presence there was absolutely no disharmony between the two. In fact Muslims were benefitting from Israeli tourists & their shops even have Hebrew letters. How did this all suddenly change? Who suddenly changed this coexistence?
Just as the Easter Sunday attacks had prior unheeded warnings, the Arugam Bay terror plot also had tell-tale signs. Firstly, an Israeli tourist was drugged and kidnapped in Trinco in July, a moulana was arrested with a T56 and a blast took place in Kattankudy. Was the terror attack or threat of one, a means to ensure Israeli’s do not visit Arugam Bay in the near future. In terms of geopolitics is it eventually aligned to the gas line that will come across South Asia to Sri Lanka from which it will be distributed.
Confounding matters is the questionable role of the Israeli Consulate General who is a Christian & not a Jew & violating diplomatic protocols by initiating a construction of a synagogue which requires much more than being a Jew to establish one and then obtaining Sri Lankan security protection as a result. There are allegations of promising Israeli citizenship for those who join his synagogue.
No diplomat is appointed to engage in religious conversion or religious promotion. Therefore, the Israeli government must seriously address this issue as it has given rise to unwanted tensions and will result in unwarranted issues to guise the real issue at hand, which is what has taken place. Due to this single action, the entire narrative has been transferred from an attack on the Israeli’s to chiding Israeli’s about land grabs & illegal religious structures. No Sri Lankan is able to differentiate traditional Jews and those who are arousing trouble by construction of illegal religious sites.
These are certainly serious allegations which need to be investigated by both Israeli government & Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s traditional Christians remain pro-Israeli vis a vis their homage to Israel. This is why the Birds of Power Ministry in Batticoloa holds annual processions carrying the Israeli flag as homage for Jerusalem. No sooner the recent incident took place, the same mischief makers were quick to circulate a 2018 procession arousing anti-Israeli sentiment. Even the Ministry is unaware of how or who has suddenly shared this clip. Let us not forget, that the Zion Church in Batticoloa was one of the Easter Sunday targets in 2019. The reason to choose this particular Church has not yet been investigated. Many believe it was a place of comfort for non-Christian abused children & battered women belonging to the faith of the assassins.
Land along the coastal belt was swooped by foreigners during the Premiership of the past President in 2002 who allowed foreigners to buy land along the coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Large tracts of land were bought by foreigners at that time. Some lands have since been sold. However, if land has been acquired illegally by any foreign national now, the associated authorities must take prompt action. Administrative hiccups cannot result in diplomatic tensions.
As for religious sites. We are well aware how even Sri Lankans are putting up illegal religious worship centres, turning garages, restaurants and homes into prayer centres & then making a scene when authorities take action. The law is that any religious new site must have the concurrence of all religions and in particular the approval of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana vis a vis Article 9. The municipality must be held accountable if any religious sites are put up illegally without proper procedure being followed.
Israelis have been travelling to Arugam Bay for decades to surf. There have been no incidents of any tensions between Israeli’s & Muslims who are predominate in the area. If at all, Muslims would have reaped from tourism in the area. This is an undeniable fact.
However, the present incident has given unwanted publicity & raised unwanted tensions & has facilitated the twist in the narrative away from a terror attack on Israeli tourists to Israeli’s building religious worship centres & grabbing land, extending the narrative to a state of “invasion” by Israel.
This shows that the narrative has a political objective and has been planned well.
Israel needs to look at both narratives & take appropriate action.
Sri Lankan authorities were quick to monitor & were about to arrest those involved. Before they could do so, the masterminds quickly got unrelated men arrested & changed the narrative, diverting people’s attention away from the masterminds.
It is for Israel to investigate the real masterminds that plotted to actually kill Israeli’s & thereafter changed narrative to create tensions between Israeli’s & Muslims in Sri Lanka and even the general public in Sri Lanka. The issue is also likely to destroy Sri Lanka’s thriving tourism industry but most of all prevent Israeli’s from coming to Sri Lanka in particular the Eastern Coast for surfing.
Arugam Bay cannot be removed as a tourist destination simply by using a fake narrative.
Shenali D Waduge