Comments on: What Their Denial Says

By: What Their Denial Says «

What Their Denial Says « — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:20:43 +0000

[...] September 11, 2009 Another post from Kabobfest. I know. I really should get some new stuff. [...]

By: Aysha

Aysha — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:35:31 +0000

I agree about state actors needing to take responsibility for its citizens' welfare. It seems the 3 yr old or so elected SL govt. has been trying to do this, but it seems from reading more and more of these articles, foreign views have been shaped in the face of what I would say is unfair intl. media bias towards discussing the LTTE and the diaspora's fear-mongering of genocide, as opposed to what the national solutions and approaches have been. And a good question actually Sana would be to ask how does the diaspora inform themselves of what is going on in Sri Lanka? How have they informed themselves over the years. An investigation into these sources may tell you a lot about how powerful the LTTE propaganda arm was. In fact, I'd venture to say that it was their most important and sustaining feature, which ensured ideological & financial support, and in its last hours, a hope that the intl. community might be able to persuade the govt. for a ceasefire so that they could recoup, as they have always done during ceasefires in the past, and this is all very well-documented if you look into the issues independently. One commenter in this thread mentioned that we do not see Sudanese or Sri Lankan activists…that's the thing, YOU don't see it, the media that you depend on have their "storylines" which they "follow" and then they keep you "updated on the situation." And once in a while they might feature the story of the "remarkable journey" of some 3rd world activist. I assume it helps their ratings. In any case, I can't say about Sudan, but in SL, civil society yells foul when crazy situations arise. I think in this instance the reason you don't see much domestic activity is because, 1) the media weren't covering it because there was opposition and derision from the duh..opposition party UNP re: the war, and 2) what foreign journalists here are starting to see is what with the "community-wide celebrations", everyone pretty much backed the president and army on this campaign irrespective of ethnicity when the situation came down to the wire. There was massive organisation to provide food aid and necessities to the IDPs coming in by the masses and encouragement for the army's work. Everyone understood the importance of pushing through, all the while repeatedly reminding the govt. to protect the civilians, and you may not see this in your media but the Army upon their honour as they say, had been trying their best to safeguard the civilian population while at the same time juggling the attacks from the LTTE's side. The thing is the situation flipped in a short amount of time from cornering the LTTE to what became the need for a concerted effort to separate the civilians from the cadres as the army realised not only were the cadres on the move, but the whole entire population was herded along with them after the capture of Killinochchi. It's been a complicated process for the army, and I'd say that all the UN estimates on death tolls, are just that, estimates; they are all yet to be verified. So it seems unfair to cry foul without substantial proof, and dangerous too if decisions and opinions are based on what may not be the truth. A friend of mine worked for the govt. and I asked her about how accurate govt. figures usually were, and she said that "more or less" they coincided with official findings at the end of the day, although at times they were known to lower their army casualty numbers to not allow the enemy to understand how successful or not their operations have been, but these figures too come to light at the end of the day obviously among the war dead. Man oh man..good discussion though people. Thank god we're not the ultimate arbitrators of stuff, but seriously I have a pretty niggling understanding these days that man… the people with big hearts at the UN and stuff don't know shit either. Good call by Ban-Ki Moon though to visit SL himself. Guess we'll know a little bit more about how the UN positions or re-positions itself after that.

By: SanaKF

SanaKF — Wed, 20 May 2009 06:20:18 +0000

Hey Aysha, I'm not comparing the Palestinian issue with the Sri Lankan issue – as I said in another comment (above): "Just to clarify – I don't think the situation in Darfur is comparable to the situation in Palestine which in turn is comparable to the situation in Sri Lanka and so forth. I think to actually believe them to be completely similar undermines their severity and creates this one-solution-for-all belief which is, in my humble opinion, of the bullshit persuasion. My point was, rather, what I say at the end – Will put it well in an email he sent me about the propensity within all of us to become morally blinded. That was the point of the piece. " Key words "propensity within all of us to become morally blinded" Additionally, Palestine is not the only country or geographical conflict which falls under my care-radar. I'd like a little more credit than that. If you check out my other recent post, you can see I'm not exactly 'cut and dry' about this situation – or any situation. You can't be cut and dry. Additionally, at the end of the day I put a great burden on state actors in terms of fixing things as they are the (albeit not always..but whatever, we'll take on rousseau's social contract shit) the legitimate apparatus within a country, ruling within certain boundaries and thus I believe they should be more responsible than non-state actors (who deserve a crapload of blame themselves, but I do believe that if a state is going to uphold itself as legitimate then it must take the higher ground in such situations).

By: aysha

aysha — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:54:16 +0000

The thing is you can sit in another country and assess and analyze situations, but it's only when you really get down on the ground and see how the people live all over the island that you realise that you can't be so cut and dried about your statements. Perhaps your eagerness to compare the situation in Sri Lanka and Israel are coloring your views and no doubt you have very strong feelings about Palestine which tip over into this other conflict. Don't be so quick to take sides and holler out how depraved/and or clueless the other side is. Because then you are doing exactly what you criticize the opposing people/govt. of doing. Peace out.

By: SanaKF

SanaKF — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:36:00 +0000

” target=”_blank”>http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/05/srilankans-your-…

By: SanaKF

SanaKF — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:36:00 +0000

” target=”_blank”>http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/05/srilankans-your-…

By: Solomon2

Solomon2 — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:28:24 +0000

It's over. The Tigers have been defeated – more importantly, they have accepted this. Rather than an unaccountable group of totalitarian terrorists subjecting a brutalized population an "ordinary" government has unified the country and relieved the captives. I wish Israel had done the same to Gaza in January. Unfortunately, unlike Sri Lanka, it is still socially and politically acceptable for Arabs to seek totalitarian dominion and the exterminations of "others". Here's hoping the world – and the Arabs themselves – will take a lesson from the sorry island of Columbo and move in the opposite direction.

By: fathima

fathima — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:54:18 +0000

hey sana, thanks for the writeup, but i think it's important to note that by no means do all sri lankan muslims ascribe to aminah's views. the island is home to a staggering array of political opinions. they vary greatly with region, religion, and class. judging by amina's comments, i'm going to guess she hasn't lived in sri lanka's north or east, where the violence is most acute and, ironically enough, the politics more nuanced. people, sinhalese, muslims, and tamils, living elsewhere on the island are prone to the reductivist politics amina expresses here. it's the people who are living in or near the war zones, who have been harmed by violence from both the govt forces and the tigers, who, because they are aware of the daily realities of the conflict, don't buy into the sinhala/tamil binary. "A lot of the Muslims in Sri Lanka claim to be of Arab/Persian heritage and I think that removes them somewhat from the Tamil/Sinhalese tension." do they? i think there's definitely been a history of arab trading with the island, which has led to the construction of an arab-informed history of islam on the island. that said, i don't think many sl muslims actually claim Arab descent, at least not in terms that distance themselves from the war — especially since there have been muslims on the island for centuries. even if they did, by no means does that remove them from the conflict. in fact, sri lankan muslims occupy a strange interstitial space in sri lanka because they are subject to violence from both warring factions and represented by neither.

By: Tomi Laine Clark

Tomi Laine Clark — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:38:41 +0000

I agree with you on both counts. Excellent story, Sana, and it touched on some thoughts I've had myself. Whether the current situation in Israel and Palestine is right or wrong, or what wrongs brought us to where we are, the reality is that you cannot affect any change in the hearts of those we need to change most without showing compassion to their situation. We cannot ask Israeli settlers to leave the West Bank without giving them an alternative, for example. When people are pushed into a corner it is natural to act defensively. But unfortunately, most people who are working to affect change in these areas have been too emotionally involved or too traumatized to retain compassion for the oppressor.

By: Boycott at MSA

Boycott at MSA — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:06:28 +0000

Way to go Kebobfest, however, we have the little problem of fascist stats (Israel/US) murdering at will all over the Middle East. Is it me or the number of fascist occupations are in the rise the in Middle East? —————– I invite you to come to Michigan Student Assembly tonight (Wed 13 May 2009, 3rd floor of the Michigan Union at 6:00 PM) and take a stand against Israel. Demand serious action against the fascist State of Israel. Boycott movement is growing all over the world. Be a serious part of the Boycott Israel movement. Come to Michigan Student Assembly tonight (Wed 13 May 2009, 3rd floor of the Michigan Union at 6:00 PM,) and demand boycott of Israel at all U of M campuses.