A 2023 protest in support of Israel in Colombo. There are indications Israel might be trying to propel Sri Lanka down a path of majoritarianism, blood-and-faith nationalism, and Islamophobia.IMAGO / Pacific Press Agency

The growing dangers of Sri Lanka’s Israel nexus

Pro-Israel groups and Buddhist extremists are expanding Israeli influence in Sri Lanka, stoking anti-Muslim sentiment as the government maintains ambivalence around Palestine and the Gaza genocide

Tisaranee Gunasekara is a political commentator based in Colombo.

Published on:

08 Oct 2025, 6:45 am

MOHAMED SUHAIL, a 21-year-old student, was searching for lodgings in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala on 23 October 2024 when a mobile police unit arrested him near Israeli consular premises. His supposed offence was not carrying his national identity card. A magistrate ordered his release after the document was produced.

After Suhail went home to Mawanella, a small town some 100 kilometres from Colombo, police arrested him again. This time, he was remanded under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. His new “crime” – having anti-Israel posts on his social media – was a non-crime even under this draconian law. Yet Suhail was denied bail and remained in detention.

Suhail’s ordeal came to light after Colombo police arrested another Sri Lankan Muslim for the “crime” of being anti-Israel. This March, 22-year-old Mohamed Rushdi pasted a sticker saying “Fuck Israel” in a mall. The police obtained a 90-day detention order for the act of “pasting a sticker with extremist views” directly from the defence minister, Anura Kumara Dissanayake – also the president of Sri Lanka.

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