By Meera Srinivasan

 ARUGAM BAY/Ampara – While Sri Lanka continues to voice concern over Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, consistently calling for a ceasefire and reiterating its “long-standing and unwavering support” for the Palestinian cause, a popular tourist spot on the island’s east coast is welcoming thousands of Israeli visitors.

Arugam Bay, located in the south-eastern Ampara district, is the island’s surf capital, with its scenic coast drawing a huge number of tourists every year. Arty cafes, restaurants, hotels, surfboard and swimwear stores line the margins of this stretch that is sandwiched between Pottuvil town and Panama village. The district is home to people from Sri Lanka’s three main ethnic groups – Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim- but the signage in Arugam Bay appears to cater mostly to visitors, especially Israelis. Several eateries, spas, and money-changing outlets have Hebrew signboards prominently displayed at the entrance.

“It is to draw Israeli tourists who are the main clientele for us in Arugam Bay,” said K. Jaseem, staff at a swimwear shop. Although arrivals from Israel hardly top Sri Lanka’s tourism charts — India does — most Israelis visiting seem to head east on the island. Local traders estimate that Israeli tourists make up more than 50% of their clientele, followed by Europeans, many of them eager surfers. While tourists typically spend weeks in Arugam Bay, primarily surfing and visiting nearby national parks, some stay on for months. According to the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority, a total of 19,517, out of the total 1,487,303 tourist arrivals last year, were Israelis. This year, as many as 20,515 Israelis have visited until September.

The annual surfing season has nearly ended in October and will pick up again in March, according to traders. Arugam Bay, known for its ‘point breaks’ where waves break along the headland, is an attractive spot for surfers who enjoy riding long waves that gently wrap the shore. The potential for tourism business here has put a high premium on land nearby, and locals say they are constantly fighting to keep their plots.

Traders in the area, many of whom are Muslim, said the Israeli tourists were an important source of revenue for local businesses. “We may oppose a country’s actions, but we cannot chase away tourists from anywhere. They support businesses here and bring in dollars that help the country boost its foreign reserves,” a Muslim businessman running a store on the stretch told The Hindu last week. “We are just recovering after the cumulative impact of the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019, the pandemic and then our country’s economic crisis. Sending away willing tourists will not help us,” he added.

Further, the visiting Israeli tourists have set up a ‘Chabad’ house — a Jewish community centre — down a narrow lane leading to a charming, minimalist mosque. “Their centre is right next to the masjid,” said a young staff member at a nearby hotel. Anticipating surprise at the proximity, he added: “It is like that only.”

Armed personnel of Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) are stationed on top of the lane, and policemen guard the site 24/7. According to locals, Israeli tourists congregate at the Chabad house every weekend to offer prayers. Inside and on the peripheral wall of the compound are dozens of stickers with Hebrew messages, mostly expressing support for Israel and paying rich tributes to the military. “A country without her soldiers is like God without his angels” read a lone English sticker, with an image of a uniformed soldier “who fell on 12.2.24”.

Official position

For decades, Sri Lanka has maintained a consistent position on Palestine and has been voicing concern over the situation in Gaza over the last year. Ironically, Sri Lanka has also continued sending thousands of its workers to Israel, for employment in farms and in the construction sector.

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has claimed the lives of over 43,000 people, most of whom are women and children. Briefing Colombo-based diplomatic corps on October 14, Vijitha Herath, Foreign Minister in the newly elected government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is turning more dire by the day, and recent developments that have an impact on wider regional dimensions, in particular in Lebanon are most concerning.” Sri Lanka continues to call for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza and a sustainable two-state solution, he said.

Earlier this week, The Hindu sought a comment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on receiving Israeli tourists in Arugam Bay, but is yet to receive a response. Sri Lanka was also among the signatories to the joint letter supporting the UN Secretary-General and ‘condemning’ Israel for banning UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering Israeli territory.

‘Serious risk’

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Colombo on Wednesday (23) issued a ‘security alert’, saying it received “credible information warning of an attack” targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area. “Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the Embassy imposed a travel restriction on Embassy personnel for Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice. US citizens are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice,” it said in a statement, in the wake of social media posts by Sri Lankan rights activists questioning police protection for visiting Israelis. The British High Commission and Russian Embassy, too, updated their travel advisory alerting their citizens visiting Sri Lanka to ‘potential threats’.

While senior Sri Lankan officials said there was no known threat in the area, Sri Lanka police issued a statement saying special security measures had been put in place at Arugam Bay, to protect tourists, considering the wars in the “Middle East and Eastern Europe”. In a media statement on Wednesday, Police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa said the measures were taken to protect tourists and locals from potential threats.

The Hindu contacted Bimal Rathnayake, co-chair of the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine (SLCSP), and a politburo member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the chief political constituent of President Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, for a comment on Sri Lanka welcoming tourists from Israel.

Rathnayake said whether it was Israelis, Americans or Indians, they all had a right to visit the country with a valid tourist visa. “Unless they are violating our immigration law, all tourists have a right to visit and have a good time in Sri Lanka…as activists who are pro-Palestine, we condemn the ongoing massacre and genocide in Gaza and have demanded an immediate ceasefire. That is our main focus,” he said.

A prominent Palestinian solidarity group in Sri Lanka, the SLCSP has called for de-escalation of the violence, and demanded an “immediate end to Israeli occupation, blockade and atrocities of Palestinian lands and its people”, and that Israel be held accountable for its actions.  The group has also expressed concern about the “lopsided global response that continues to disregard Israeli injustices and violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people over the past 75 years”.

As for Israeli tourists meeting and worshipping in Arugam Bay, Rathnayake said not just citizens, but every visitor too had the right to worship as per the Sri Lankan constitution, so long as it does not amount to religious propaganda. “We are focusing on the Israeli state. We condemn the actions of the Israeli state, and we stand in support of Palestine’s right to self -self-determination,” he said.

-Meera Srinivasan is the Colombo-based correspondent for The Hindu, covering Sri Lanka and the Maldives and this article was originally featured on thehindu.com