What the Tamils and Palestinians have in common

Opinion: Tamils protest, and protest, humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, but no one is listening.

By Tom Fenton - Special to GlobalPost
Published: April 24, 2009 12:05 ET
Updated: May 2, 2009 11:34 ET
Page 2 of 2

The Sri Lankan government accuses the rebel fighters of holding the Tamil population as hostages by refusing to allow them to escape to the safety of a government-declared sanctuary. The Tigers are notorious for their cruel tactics. Their specialty is wiring up men and women as human bombs and using them for suicide attacks.

On the other hand, the Tigers accuse the government of shelling the shrinking enclave where the Tamil population is trapped, killing and wounding civilians. It’s hard to establish the facts when there are no independent observers, but it appears that both sides systematically violate humanitarian law and human rights. The reaction of the news media, when they think about it at all, naturally tends to be “a pox on both your houses.”

The fact that the United States, the European Union and a number of other governments have labelled the Tamil Tigers a “terrorist organization” makes it easier for the world to wash its hands of any responsibility for failing to come to the aid of the Tamil population. The same is true in Gaza, where the west refuses to deal with a Palestinian government run by Hamas, another designated terrorist organization. That’s a pity because, whatever the rights and wrongs of these nasty conflicts, innocent civilians — men, women and children of all ages caught in the ethnic crossfire — are paying the price for the western world’s indifference.

More from GlobalPost on Sri Lanka:

Tamil civilians endured horror

Silenced in Sri Lanka

The Tamil Tigers of Toronto

Comments:

3 Comments.

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Posted by jasonW on April 24, 2009 14:06 ET

I completely agree with your opinion. Tamils are at a great disadvantage due to the blanket ban that discriminates their struggle from the root. The ban needs to be lifted and a dialogue must be in place to hear their story if the interest of the west was to solve the problem. The more this goes unheard, the more blood we will have on our hands, if what shouldn't happen were to happen.

Posted by matt lunn on April 24, 2009 17:59 ET

So disappointing Tom. I work in a bank in Australia with both Tamil and singhalese people from Sri Lanka. They without exception want the LTTE gone. The 70,000 deaths are a mix of both races. Your report is another among thousands of inaccurate, biggoted, and poorly researched articles. I work in a bank - I have to keep repeating this yet it seems I can read reports on the web and absorb the information and read between the lines more effectively than most average reporters. And this is truly an average report. Good luck in your career, try office management you might find it more rewarding.

Posted by eelaminthan on April 26, 2009 10:11 ET

Tom, thanks for telling the truth and showing the humanity in your self. What Sri Lanka is trying to do is crush the voice of Tamils so that Tamils will forget their fundamental rights why Tamil Tigers are fighting for. Those countries banned LTTE are also responsible for the inhuman acts of Sri Lanka government today.

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