International award-winning Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage recently spoke with the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) about Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Vithanage, a socially conscious artist, has directed several important films exploring the consequences of the three-decade long anti-Tamil communal war in Sri Lanka that was brought to a bloody end in May 2009 with the military defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The most powerful of these are Purahanda Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day [1997]), Ira Mediyama (August Sun [2003]) and Oba Nethuwa Oba Ekka (With You, Without You [2012]), a trilogy that deals with the human cost of the Sri Lankan government’s war against the LTTE.
Vithanage is a regular reader of the WSWS and is fully aware and supportive of its Marxist analyses of critical international events, including its coverage of the Gaza genocide.
We publish below his statement opposing the Gaza genocide:
There are reports about the staggering loss of Palestinian lives, including women and children, so we already know the statistics. Ground reports show, however, that the human catastrophe in Gaza could be far worse than these figures indicate. But even with the limited reporting we are able to grasp the situation. It is heartbreaking, powerful and testing of our humanity. It is a litmus test of our humanity.
Today this war has exposed the whole camp, including the Democratic Party and US President Joe Biden who claim to be advocating for freedom and democracy.