Letter to President to revoke free visas for Israeli nationals

 President Anura Kumara Disanayake

• Following is a letter written to President Anura Kumara Disanayake by Socialist People’s Forum General Secretary Dharmasiri Lankapeli, demanding that his Government’s policy to issue free visas to Israeli tourists be revoked, given the ongoing genocide in Palestine

Dear President,

Demand to revoke policy of free visas to Israeli tourists

This letter is to demand that you revoke the Government’s recently announced policy of waiving visa fees to Israeli tourists entering Sri Lanka. 

In December 2024, a group of activists including members of the Socialist People’s Forum wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) asking for an explanation as to how Gal Ferenbook, a member of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), alleged to have violated international humanitarian laws in Gaza, was allowed to enter Sri Lanka. To date, the IGP has not acknowledged this letter nor made public any investigations he may have carried out in response. 

Since this incident, activists have publicly demanded that Israelis who enter Sri Lanka are screened because most Israelis are conscripted into the IDF due to Israel’s mandatory military service policy. We urged you to not allow Sri Lanka to become a safe haven for persons who are in active duty in the IDF. 

The IDF and the Israeli Government stands accused of genocide by carrying out indiscriminate bombings and targeted killings of Palestinians in Gaza, the forcible displacement of an entire population and the extermination of the Palestinian people through mass starvation. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that all 2.1 million people in Gaza are food insecure, 900,000 children are going hungry and 70,000 already show signs of malnutrition.

What is even more shocking is that in a recent poll conducted amongst Israeli Jews reported in Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, 82% of respondents reportedly supported the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, while 56% supported expelling Palestinian citizens of Israel. Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with the full backing of the majority of its citizenry. 

In the face of this, the Government you head and which represents us has failed to take any meaningful action to support the Palestinian people being subjected to genocide, even while senior members of your Government lead the Palestine Sri Lanka Friendship Society. You have continued to allow Israeli tourists into Sri Lanka, many of them being members of the IDF and possible war criminals. You have targeted those in non-violent solidarity with Palestine through arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, with you personally signing their Detention Orders. You have continued to send Sri Lankans as workers to Israel to fill the labour shortages created by Israel’s expulsion of Palestinian workers, exposing our people to unsafe working conditions. You have failed to join the many countries across the world taking meaningful action against Israel by breaking diplomatic ties and issuing sanctions. And now you are inviting Israelis to come to our country visa-free to enjoy our land and do business here after participating in genocide against Palestinians. 

This policy by your Government not only shocks the moral conscience of our country but also places our people and our security at risk. We demand that you revoke your policy decision to issue free visas to Israeli tourists. We reiterate the demands of people which were made in December 2024 to not allow any Israeli who is currently serving in the IDF to enter Sri Lankan territory. Finally, we demand that you break ties with Israel and at least now work genuinely towards ending the genocide of Palestinians. 

Dharmasiri Lankapeli,

General Secretary,

Socialist People’s Forum