Bakeer Markar accuses western media of serving as Israeli propaganda tools

SJB MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar 

• Quotes Israeli Raz Segal who has called attacks against Palestine ‘A textbook case of Genocide’
• Says situation of Palestine is similar to SL’s colonial past endured for centuries 
• Stresses that imperial powers are implementing colonial policies in a more sophisticated and strategic manner today 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar highlighted the dire plight of Palestine in parliament on Friday, by quoting Israeli historian Raz Segal who has called it a “A textbook case of Genocide”. 

“The situation in Palestine resembles the colonisation and tragic experiences that our country and forefathers endured for many centuries under the rule of Portuguese, Dutch, and British imperialists,” the MP said. 

He highlighted that the colonisers labelled many Sri Lankan freedom fighters and others around the world as Mahatma Gandhi, Yasser Arafat and Nelson Mandela as terrorists to justify their brutal acts of suppression against them.

“Today’s imperial powers are implementing their colonial policies in a more sophisticated and strategic manner, as evidenced by the situation in the Middle East,” he said.

“The world is now aware of the intentions of the imperialist forces when they established Israel on Palestinian territory,” Bakeer Markar added. 

The MP said Israel has turned Gaza into the largest open prison in the world while launching attacks against the populace while carrying out land and property grabs. “They have made Palestinians the largest refugee community in the world,” he noted.

Commenting on the recent attack on the Al-Arabi Hospital, Bakeer Markar said the initial claim of responsibility for the attack, and the subsequent withdrawal of that claim, shows the extent of the strong response from the world community. 

The MP called the situation a barbaric massacre of people, and noted how the western media has downplayed the opposition against Israeli actions.

“In a global context where people worldwide are advocating for an end to the inhumane operations against the Palestinian people who are striving for their freedom, it is evident that the conventional news monopolies that disseminate international news, as well as the influential western media, have transformed into instruments of propaganda serving the interests of Israel and the imperialist forces,” he said.

“In this era of advanced technology, we are observing instances where influential global media outlets have had to retract certain information they had disseminated due to public pressure regarding the accuracy of the narratives they had presented,” the MP added.

Bakeer Markar said these incidents are prime illustrations of the challenges that even the most influential global media outlets encounter when there is a resounding public outcry against the propagation of misinformation.

“Just as the world’s superpowers can obstruct decisions made by the United Nations through their veto power, we witness the manipulation of powerful media outlets to suit their own agendas. It is essential to dismantle these pretexts and comprehend the true realities at play,” he noted.