COLOMBO: Sri Lankan civil society groups protested on Friday to demand special screenings of Israelis arriving in the country after a soldier accused of war crimes in Gaza was spotted in Colombo.
A video of the soldier boasting about the killing of a Palestinian civilian was posted by the Hind Rajab Foundation on Wednesday with an appeal to Sri Lankan authorities to arrest him, as the organization identified the man as staying in the country’s capital.
The Belgian-based NGO, which pursues legal action against Israeli military personnel involved in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza over the past 14 months, has named the man as Gal Ferenbook, a member of an Israeli military infantry brigade.
The video, which the foundation said was posted by Ferenbook on his Instagram account on Aug. 9, showed him inside an armored vehicle in Gaza, looking at the remains of a dead person.
A second individual’s voice, speaking in Hebrew, mocked the situation and referred to Ferenbook as “our terminator,” while the soldier boasted about his involvement in the killing.
While Israeli TV Channel 12 reported on Thursday night that Ferenbook had fled Sri Lanka following the arrest request, his presence in the country has raised concerns about the arrival of other Israeli nationals.
“We are protesting against Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people and request that the Sri Lankan government stop Israeli soldiers from entering Sri Lanka to spend their holidays here,” said Swasthika Arulingam, human rights lawyer and leader of the People’s Struggle Movement, which co-organized Friday’s protest.
“Sri Lanka is a member of the UN, and it has an obligation to support the Palestinians and oppose Israeli atrocities at all costs.”
Arulingam told Arab News that there were fears over the impact of the presence of Israelis in the country on local communities.
“War criminals, particularly Israeli war criminals, when they come to Sri Lanka to have fun, they probably will be creating chaos in this country as well,” she said.
The fear was echoed by the National Unity Alliance, which called on the Sri Lankan government on Friday to introduce special immigration checks.
In a petition to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the party referred to the presence of Ferenbook in Colombo as raising “significant concerns for the security and well-being of Sri Lankan nationals.”
It also warned that allowing individuals accused of war crimes to to enter or remain within Sri Lankan borders could have “grave implications” on the country’s image and would undermine its commitment to justice and human rights.
“The government must monitor the Israelis who are coming ... the government must have a list of these war criminals who are coming into the country. They must be stopped at the airport itself, at the entrance ... We must take them into custody and then deport them immediately without allowing them to go into the country,” Azath Salley, NUA leader and former governor of the Western Province, told Arab News.
“We’ll monitor it, and we’ll ensure that we'll bring everybody together to protest against these criminals coming into the country.”
