Protest Demanding Justice Against the Destruction of Palestine
16-Aug-2025.
The National Organization for the Protection of Palestine, formed by various political parties other than the National People’s Power Party, held a protest on August 14 in front of the United Nations office located in Colombo.
This protest was held to urge the United Nations to pressure the Israeli government to stop the ongoing genocide in the Palestinian Gaza region and to lift Israel’s restrictions on delivering food supplies to the people of Gaza.
Hundreds, including religious leaders, political party leaders, members, civil society representatives, and the general public, participated in the protest.
They raised slogans calling on Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza, to stop expelling Palestinians from their ancestral lands, and to stop starving the people of Gaza, while also holding placards written against Israel.
At the end of this approximately one-hour protest, a petition containing several demands was handed over to a senior official of the United Nations’ Colombo office by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem, Sri Lanka Communist Party Secretary Dr. G. Weerasinghe, and civil society representatives.
Speaking to the media afterward, Sri Lanka Communist Party Secretary Dr. G. Weerasinghe stated:
“Except for the National People’s Power, all other parties in the country have united to form the National Organization for the Protection of Palestine. We will continue our struggle until this genocide carried out by the Israeli government in Palestine is stopped and peace is established there. At the same time, we have handed over a petition with key demands. Israel has blocked food delivery to the people of Gaza — we demand that this be removed immediately and that food supplies be allowed in.”
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem said, “Today’s handing over of a petition to the UN office marks the beginning of our protest campaign against Israel. In the next stage, we will unite political parties and civil society representatives across the country to conduct massive protests.
Especially in the recent conflict, an unprecedented number of UN personnel have been killed. We strongly condemn the joint policy of Israel and the United States. This is not a protest against Jews, but against Netanyahu’s Zionist government. At the same time, the government here grants privileges to certain tourists that are not available to the local people — we are mobilizing against this as well. We also demand that Donald Trump’s administration stop its indirect support for Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
National Freedom Front member Jayantha Samarasinghe said:
“Netanyahu and Donald Trump are killing even infants in Palestine, yet President Anura Kumara’s government follows a weak policy without issuing a strong condemnation. Therefore, we strongly urge the NPP government to adopt a firm stance against Israel and America’s brutal acts. The United Nations too, without adopting a firm policy, is ignoring the genocide happening in Palestine. Hence, we will continue our struggle until peace is restored in Palestine.”
