Editorial: Israel should be taking notes

Issue of May 22, 2009 / 28 Iyar 5769

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when almost no one is paying attention.

For background we first draw your attention –– perhaps for the first time ever –– to a small nation that achieved independence from Great Britain in 1948 and which has been embroiled in internal conflict and violence ever since. Since the mid-70’s the violence has mostly emanated from a terrorist group that has sophisticated sources of funding, mostly criminal, from around the world; has murdered thousands of people; and is identified by the FBI as having perfected the suicide bomb belt and pioneered the use of female suicide bombers.

Sound familiar?

Sure it does, but we’re talking about Sri Lanka, an island less than 20 miles off the coast of India where early this week the terrorist group known as the Tamil Tigers conceded defeat in Asia’s longest-running civil war.

The government of Sri Lanka finally crushed the Tigers in a bloody battle that warranted a week’s worth of stories in The New York Times and a few complaints from human rights groups about civilian casualties but virtually no widespread coverage or interest.

The United States and 31 other countries list the Tamil Tigers as terrorists who, according to The Times, “once ran their own police force and court system, collected taxes and erected monuments to fallen fighters. A 2002 cease-fire held out promise of a negotiated settlement, but the Tamil Tigers dragged out the talks, and almost immediately after [President Mahinda] Rajapaksa’s election three years ago, they began provoking his government by ambushing the military.”

While there are obvious similarities to Israel’s situation, there are also many differences. To name a few, Sri Lanka is a country of 20 million to Israel’s seven million; Israel’s gross domestic product is $200 billion, while Sri Lanka’s is less than $40 billion; most significantly, the Tamil Tigers sought to secede from a portion of Sri Lanka to create a homeland for their ethnic minority, not to take the whole country.

The biggest difference between the two situations, however, is that the government of Sri Lanka took what appears to be final, definitive action they hope has changed the equation forever, while five months ago Israel squandered just such an opportunity. The result, as Monday’s meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama would seem to indicate, is that Israel is now preparing to be backed into a corner once again, forced to make concessions that will accomplish nothing useful.

Hopefully, Israel is watching the situation in Sri Lanka and taking notes.