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The perils of having God on your side: 1967 Israel and modern Sri Lanka compared
In hindsight, Sri Lanka’s recently-ended civil war against the LTTE was typical of other ethnic-civil conflicts: slow burning and brutal, with a horrendous toll on civilian life. The primary difference in the Sri Lankan case is the shocking speed at which the war suddenly ended. After a quarter-century of intermittent strife, the January capture of the Tamil administrative capital Kilinochchi by government forces signaled a turning point that reduced the rebel Tamil Tigers from perhaps the most effective paramilitary force in the world to oblivion in five short months.
Complete victory over a bitter and formidable enemy with such frightening swiftness is rare in modern war. With total and abrupt victory often comes an overwhelming sense of righteousness. In conflicts with preexisting religious and ethnic tensions, this phenomenon becomes even more pronounced. Victory becomes not the consequence of battlefield decisions, turns of fate or tactical blunders, but a divine entitlement, a prophecy fulfilled. The most unnerving consequence is the threat it poses to Tamil interests and democracy itself in the new Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka would do well to learn from Israel’s mistakes following the Six Day War in 1967. Israel’s destruction of three separate armies in rapid succession was such a shock to the country’s leadership, that postwar planning became an ad hoc orgy of territorial annexation inspired more by reckless exhilaration than reasoned analysis. A new ‘cult of victory’ permeated Israeli thinking, drawing on military success and ancient biblical tenets to create a narrative that made Isarel’s new possessions an inalienable gift from God. The concept of ‘Greater Israel’ a geo-religious entity encompassing Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank gained a new currency in Israeli consciousness. This imperative, and its many disastrous results has become a millstone on Israeli foreign policy to the present day, dragging down any hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Post-war Sri Lankan attitudes share similar flaws with the Israeli case. Similar to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, the religious divide between Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils had already created a visceral ‘us-versus-them’ mentality that allowed the conflict to be seen in black and white terms. The totality of the Sri Lankan state’s lightning victory has given the government an almost mythical status in the eyes of many Sri Lankans. Approval ratings for President Rajpaksa have skyrocketed to ‘cult of personality’ proportions - a trend that was equally apparent with the Tigers’ now deceased leader Vulpillai Prabhakaran. Images of the victorious President are posted everywhere, with some citizens demanding that he be installed as president for life, and others suggesting a god-like status. No doubt some of this is emotional release, but the overall trend is unmistakable. Under such conditions, Sri Lanka’s already uncertain democratic future is at stake. If President Rajpaksa is an infallible and deserves to rule in perpetuity, where does that leave the opposition? Tamils now confront a Sinhalese majority that sees their defeat as the immaculate conclusion of an almost religious crusade. Critical Sinhalese on the other hand, are faced with hysterical support for the present Sri Lankan regime. Such sentiment can do little but encourage the continuation of Sri Lanka’s purported ‘white van’ culture, that has seen opposition figures of any stripe bundled away in nondescript vehicles by the state security apparatus.
It falls to countries like Canada to help Sri Lanka rebuild, while at the same time encouraging the development of a democratic society. Sri Lanka is a recipient of foreign aid from a number of countries and donors would do well to tie their assistance to benchmarks on greater opportunities for Tamils, as well as other human rights tenets like freedom of the press for all Sri Lankans.
But it remains to be seen whether the international community can be bothered at all. As pictures of ragged, bloodied Tamils fade from our collective consciousness, so too will the imperative, to discuss, to address the issue of Tamil-Sinhalese identity politics and human rights in Sri Lanka. The emerging narrative of President Rajpaksa’s infallibility threatens to quash any meaningful progression to a more open, equal society. The end of conflict means some Sri Lankans can rightly be thankful, but the perverse direction the country’s politics seem to be taking gives pause for thought. As was the case with the Israeli Defence Force’s triumph victory 42 years ago, this may only be the beginning: in winning the peace, I fear that all Sri Lankans, Tamil and Sinhalese, may have lost something far more important.
