Sunday Times 2
Mahinda expresses solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers
View(s):Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among hundreds of people who went to the Palestinian embassy in Colombo to sign the book of solidarity as a mark of their support for the hunger-strike campaign of more than 1,800 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. Mr. Rajapaksa was a onetime patron of the Sri Lanka-Palestine Solidarity Movement.
The Palestinian Embassy opened the support-and-solidarity book on May 3. The book was kept open till Friday noon at the embassy premises on Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7 for well-wishers and supporters of peace and global justice to express their solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners.
The hunger strike led by Palestinian freedom fighter Marwan Barghouthi began on April 17. The prisoners are demanding an end to the Israeli practice of detention without trial, for more contact with relatives, better access to medical treatment, and freedom for child prisoners and those suffering from illnesses.
