Uditha Devapriya

International Relations Analyst | Researcher | Columnist | Sri Lankan 🇱🇰🌴

[Uditha Devapriya @udakdev]

If you have any writing and research requirements, do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

WhatsApp: [phone] (Personal) and ([phone] (Professional).

My books so far.

[Governor Gavin Newsom @CAgovernor]

This is not sustainable.

Plutarch warned us 2,000 years ago that the imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

We have got to democratize our economy so that it works for all.

[Democrats @TheDemocrats]

The same man who cut children’s cancer research is now a trillionaire.

[Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی @arash_tehran]

Bruh :)))

[Alonso Gurmendi @Alonso_GD]

Rich people have gone from “let them eat cake” to “cancel their AIDS treatment and let them die”

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Elon Musk held up a chainsaw, fed USAID into the wood chipper, and at least 600,00 people have already died as a result - two-thirds of them children.

History's first trillionaire.

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

A just-released @NYTmag deep dive on AIPAC’s growing political backlash lands at a moment when more and more voters – including Jewish voters who care deeply about Israel – are rejecting the idea that the United States has to support Israel right-or-wrong.

Americans want foreign policy rooted in diplomacy, democracy and peace. Not fear, litmus tests and unquestioning support for the Israeli government.
https://t.co/dqmAwV2kTS

[Dr. S. Jaishankar @DrSJaishankar]

Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India’s strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners. Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified.

[Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی @arash_tehran]

Btw claiming a nation “doesn’t exist@l” is a gross act of racism

[Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی @arash_tehran]

Proud of my friend Gissou and others who will defend international law and the pursuit of international justice against all odds.

She fought Khamenei and his henchmen bravely and she won't stop when faced with others just because they have better ties with the West

[William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill]

New from @EmpirePodUK-
Saladin, Richard the Lionheart & the Knights Templar:
THE CRUSADERS IN GAZA

[Gayara De Silva @gayaradesilva]

Sri Lanka has limited electricity and related infrastructure, while existing industries continue to face high energy costs. So the question is: even if these data centres are powered by renewables, is this the “highest value” use of our nation’s resources?

Data centres generate forex sure, but they don’t create large numbers of long term jobs (emphasis on LT) relative to their power consumption. So before we rush in, will Sri Lanka be offering subsidized land, water, power or tax concessions to attract AI infrastructure while our exporters still struggle with electricity costs, grid capacity, transmission losses and competitiveness?

Those are the questions I like answered.
I’m questioning priorities @ErangaWeraratne

Shouldn’t our focus be on strengthening export-led growth?
And improving the competitiveness of industries that already employ thousands of Sri Lankans?

[Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی @arash_tehran]

Glad to see common sense is overcoming the mindless boycotters

[The Iain Duncan Smiths @TheIDSmiths]

I ran a script to replace every instance of 'whale' in Moby Dick with the word 'lesbian', and I have to tell you, Captain Ahab does not come out of it well

[lee harpin @lmharpin]

Statement by Rabbi Josh Levy & Rabbi Charley Bagisnky, Co-leads of The Movement for Progressive Judaism in response to UK sanctions on entities linked to West Bank settlement expansion and violence. “We welcome the UK government's decision to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for financing, enabling and carrying out settler violence in the West Bank. As Progressive Jews, we have consistently opposed settlement expansion, settler violence and moves towards annexation. Settler violence is not only an attack on Palestinians; it is a direct contradiction of Jewish values and of the vision set out in Israel's Declaration of Independence. We support a liberal, democratic State of Israel, as envisaged in that Declaration, with equal rights for all its citizens. Settlement expansion, settler violence and annexation make a negotiated two-state solution harder to achieve and damage Israel's future as both a Jewish and democratic state. Targeted sanctions against those responsible for violence are therefore justified. We also recognise that the government's updated guidance to UK businesses relates to settlements, not to Israel itself. That distinction matters. We would be concerned if the guidance were interpreted as support for the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions platform. We do not support BDS. We do not believe that broad economic, academic or cultural boycotts of Israel bring peace any closer. Nor should settlements and Israel be treated as though they are one and the same. Some of the strongest voices for democracy, equality and a political resolution to the conflict are found within Israeli society itself. They should be engaged with, not isolated. Action against settler violence is necessary. Broad boycotts of Israel are not. Keeping that distinction clear is in the interests of Israelis, Palestinians and all those committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

[ej @ejdickson]

So the Israeli filmmaker being boycotted:

A) has totally disavowed Israel
B) does not live in Israel
C) produced and distributed his movie in France
D) is so loathed by Israel that the entire country has refused to distribute his movie

guys at what point are we gonna start straight up boycotting bagels

[Ali Abbasi @_aliabbasi_]

I don’t know Nadav personally but he has done some great and independent movies. Boycotting him would be like boycotting Asghar Farhadi because he gets to work in iran undr the rule of IRGC. It’s unfair and against the spirit of artistic freedom.

[Ajay Kamalakaran @AjayKamalakaran]

Better late than never! Formally presenting a copy of the book to the Sri Lankan National Archives.

Director General, Dr. Nadeera Rupesinghe already knew of the book but didn't know that a lot of the research was done at the archives.

[Luc Bernard @LucBernard]

“The open letter signed by Portman, Triet and others directly challenges the logic behind the cultural boycott. “In what way does the presence of a filmmaker on a jury or the screening of one of his films make him a representative of a state? Inviting an artist to a festival is not about elevating him to the status of a cultural ambassador, but about recognizing a body of work, a career, and a cinematic vision.” The letter asks pointedly, “How could Nadav Lapid — whose work has been built over many years on a direct critique of the policies pursued by his country’s various governments, at the cost of taking real risks, and who has publicly denounced, on numerous occasions, the destruction of Gaza — be equated with any form of Israeli cultural embassy?” It calls this conflation “a logic of assignment” that reduces an artist to their nationality.

The letter also highlights the broader culture of intimidation spreading through film institutions. “Instead of opening a discussion on possible forms of resistance, we are witnessing the proliferation of tactics of intimidation that shut down precisely this space for vision, thought, and struggle.”

“Cinema can remain a space for critical discourse only if it resists this logic. Not by distancing itself from the world’s conflicts, but by refusing to reproduce their most brutal simplifications. Nadav Lapid’s films can be discussed, challenged, or rejected. But first, they must be seen,” says the open letter.”

[Uditha Devapriya @udakdev]

A turbulent Strait of Hormuz is now the new normal, thanks to Bibi and Trump.

[Pradeeban @pradeeban]

Going abroad for vacation.