A land levelled – a people left to memory – history’s promise. Humanity’s failure

COLOMBO – There are moments in history that refuse to fade. Gaza is one of them.

What we have witnessed is not simply conflict, but devastation on a scale that defies language. Entire neighbourhoods reduced to dust, families erased in seconds, a generation growing up under the shadow of loss. The suffering of the Palestinian people is no longer a distant headline — it is a continuing human tragedy, unfolding in real time.

And yet, the response of the world has too often been measured, cautious, even indifferent. Statements are issued. Positions are calibrated. But for those on the ground, survival is immediate, and justice remains elusive.

To understand this moment, one must confront its origins.

The 1917 Balfour Declaration – issued with little regard for the people already living on that land — set in motion a chain of events that continues to reverberate more than a century later.

It was a decision made far away, with consequences borne locally, and it embedded a structural imbalance that has never been fully resolved.

Be that as it may, history alone cannot be an excuse for inaction.

The present demands more than sympathy.

It demands clarity, courage, and a commitment to a solution that is not temporary, not transactional, but sustainable and just. A solution that recognises dignity, security, and statehood not as privileges, but as rights.

Because this is not just about territory.

It is about people. On this Eid, we remember you. Palestinian Lives Matter.