By Saman Indrajith

The JVP yesterday said that it would stand by the position taken by the UN General Secretary António Guterres’ on the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine and the need of the hour was not to ascertain who started the latest round of atrocities but to find means to end the war immediately.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, former JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa lauded the Foreign Ministry of taking a similar stand on the matter and insisted that Sri Lanka should not take sides in the conflict, which had already claimed more than 8,000 lives of men, women and children on both sides.

“Sri Lanka has always been a nation that stood by just and fair principles whenever there was a war of this nature. Despite the fact that we have become one of the poorest nations, we as a nation still command respect from others, thanks to principle of not taking sides. It is for this very same reason of preventing wars the United Nations was formed. We as a party stand by the UN’s

decision and UN Secretary General Guterres’ statement that rather than finding out the names of the belligerents who commenced this round of atrocities, the urgent need is to put an immediate end to violence and atrocities. The need of the hour is nothing but an immediate ceasefire,” Dr Jayatissa said.

Former MP Bimal Ratnayake said: “We believe that there should be free Israel as well as free Palestine. Brazil, who is currently holding the UN Security Council’s presidency, should intervene more meaningfully to bring about an immediate ceasefire. Both Israel and Palestine should be compelled to stop the war and commence exchanging prisoners. We may be a small nation but our standpoint pertaining to conflicts of this nature has always been lauded by the civilized nations around the world. Our position is that a solution accepted by both Israel and Palestine should be evolved for this crisis. We also express our condolences to the family members of Lankans serving in the war zone and also those of Anula Ratnayake, who was a victim of this war,” former MP Ratnayake said