Colombia, Sri Lanka – Most days, the Dolci Falasteen restaurant in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, is quiet.
Located on a main road in a busy neighborhood, the restaurant is an escape from the bustling city atmosphere. Traditional Arabic lanterns cast a warm glow in its cozy dining room.
But on a Sunday afternoon, seven weeks after Israel launched its ruthless attack on Gaza, the restaurant specializing in Palestinian cuisine is teeming with young entrepreneurs. They united for a common cause: to raise funds for Palestine.
Aisha Altaf, a 24-year-old entrepreneur who runs a cosmetics company, is behind the fundraiser. The LURE Foundation, which she created recently, offered other businesses the opportunity to set up booths at the fundraiser and donate at least 10 percent of their profits to Gaza. Most sellers donated 100% of their earnings.
“After constantly seeing images of what is happening to people in Gaza, I felt immense guilt for having the most basic things like sleeping on a bed, having water and hot meals,” said Altaf to Tel Aviv Tribune.
“This is most certainly genocide, and anyone who cannot see that is simply choosing to ignore all the facts. »
“We feel helpless”
The LURE Foundation has partnered with the Africa Muslims Agency, a humanitarian organization established in 1987, which will use the money to provide aid to Gaza. So far, they have received more than 2.1 million Sri Lankan rupees ($6,400) in donations and fundraising.
“We plan to provide hot meals to the helpless victims. As winter approaches, we also provide winter jackets to children, especially those who are displaced and sleeping on the streets,” Altaf said.
At the event, 14-year-old Mumina Hilmy, dressed in a black coat with red and green stripes, runs her own stall with the help of her mother. She sells bracelets and key rings that she crocheted in the colors of the Palestinian flag.
“I made them in my free time and recess at school,” Hilmy told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Miquelaa Fernando, 25, who bought a bracelet, said she was happy to support a greater cause.
“We feel helpless when so many larger organizations and governments have done nothing to help other than the ceasefire (in Gaza). Coming here, I felt like this was something I could do to show some form of support,” she said.
For entrepreneurs and visitors, the fundraiser – cosmetics, food, perfume, toys and stationery were on sale – was a symbol of solidarity with Palestine.
Sajida Shabir, a 26-year-old restaurateur, sold homemade meals like chicken rolls, biscuits, chili paste and mayonnaise under her Hungryislander’s Kitchen brand. Her mother and sister were there to support her.
“I have already donated through other platforms. But rather than just giving money, I’m trying to sell. So it makes me feel good,” she said.
Umar Farook, 56, who visited the stands, said he would support Palestine whenever he could.
“Palestinians have the right to live in their own country. The international community must ensure that this happens. Palestine will win,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s position on the conflict
When Sri Lanka was under British rule, the then Chief Justice Sir Alexander Johnston proposed establishing a Jewish colony on the island, then known as Ceylon. But the proposal did not come to fruition, according to a 2021 paper by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, an Israeli think tank.
Since its independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established relations with Israel and Palestine and called for a two-state solution.
For three decades, Sri Lanka, a majority Buddhist nation, was at war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group that fought for a separate state for Tamils in the north and east of the country. .
Uditha Devapriya, an international relations analyst, said Sinhalese nationalist groups who believe Sri Lanka is the chosen land for Buddhists sympathize with similar notions Zionism has of Israel as the promised land for Jews .
But the groups, which have opposed international calls to investigate alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, say Western powers have double standards, allowing Israel to get away with massacres in Gaza. .
“Now Sinhalese nationalists are using the tragedy in the Gaza Strip to show the hypocrisy of Western powers,” Devapriya, chief international relations analyst at Colombo-based think tank Factum, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“This is an ideal opportunity for them to reflect on how the West treated Sri Lanka during the war while showing favorable treatment of Israel.”
For several years, countries like the United States, which strongly support Israel, have supported United Nations resolutions calling for investigations into alleged war crimes committed during the war in Sri Lanka.
Earlier this month, President Ranil Wickremesinghe accused the West of double standards. “What applies to us must also apply to Gaza,” he said.
Meanwhile, many Sri Lankan Tamils see parallels between Israel’s deadly attack on Gaza – in which nearly 15,000 people were killed – and the final stages of the civil war in which the government Sri Lankans allegedly committed war crimes. The government denies these allegations.
“The aggression against Gaza should be seen as similar to the killing of Tamils in Mullivaikal (where the final battle of the war took place),” Sri Prakas, co-secretary of the Mass Movement for Social Justice, said in a statement.
Demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine
Dozens of protests took place in Sri Lanka to oppose the Israeli attack on Gaza, which follows an attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on October 7, during which 1,200 people were been killed. At protests across Sri Lanka, people marched with signs saying “Stop the Genocide” and “End Israeli Apartheid.”
A continuing truce has seen the release of dozens of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners over the past six days, as Palestinians in Gaza return to their bombed homes and devastated towns.
In the northern city of Jaffna, once the center of Sri Lanka’s civil war, a group of Tamils staged a protest calling for an end to the attacks.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were also present in their hundreds at a demonstration in Colombo, attended by leaders of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu faiths.
Father Lionel Peiris, who was part of a fact-finding mission sent by the World Council of Churches to Palestine during the first Intifada in the late 1980s, also protested.
“When people are massacred and when their lands and homes are taken, treat them as humans. Feel sadness. Feel grief and anger. You can’t let this happen,” Peiris told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“(Benjamin) Netanyahu’s government has completely dehumanized the Palestinians. This cannot continue.
Tassy Dahlan, an education consultant, attended at least five protests in support of Palestine, including those outside the US embassy and the UN compound in Colombo.
“Muslim, Christian and Jewish children were killed. Their lives have been shattered because of the political agendas of some countries that turn a blind eye to humanity,” Dahlan told Tel Aviv Tribune.
People laid flowers, lit candles, tied ribbons and posted messages of solidarity at a memorial at the Palestinian embassy in Colombo.
Meanwhile, Melani Gunathilaka, a civil rights activist, is fighting misinformation about the conflict on social media.
“Groups with money and power dictate the discourse. That’s why I try to share verified information and read research done on these topics by experts, in order to set the record straight,” Gunathilaka told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Back at Dolci Falasteen restaurant, as the fundraiser drew to a close, Altaf admitted to feeling “a little less helpless” – but then expressed hope as well.
“Let’s show unity, collaboration and empathy. Together, we have the power to build a better future for all. Every action we take has a ripple effect, impacting lives beyond our own borders,” she said.