Who is afraid of Deshapriya?

Is there any hurdle to hold PC elections under PR system?  

The threat on Monday by Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya to resign if Provincial Council elections were not held before the Presidential Election is an indication of his Commission’s helplessness. 

 2019-02-01

In a way, it also points to the degree of ‘Independence’ of the Independent Elections Commission.  
The Elections Commission Chief responding to journalists questioned them in return as to whom they were suggesting to bring to book for not holding Provincial Council Elections.  
And ironically, now the journalists have to ask that very Elections Chief as to who he was expecting to hold the PC elections before the Presidential Election.  
And he seems to think that whoever was responsible for the delay in holding PC elections would be moved by his threat and take prompt action to hold those elections.

Last Friday’s adjournment debate showed who the culprits were behind the PC election delay. The debate was on the election delay and it ended abruptly for want of quorum - 20 out of 224 members of Parliament. One might argue that the United National Party (UNP) wanted to disrupt the debate since one of the UNP members had raised the quorum issue in the House. But what matters was not the person who raised the issue, but why members from both the government and the Opposition failed to attend to such an important debate.  
The same thing happened with respect to the Local Government Elections as well. 
The head of the delimitation review committee on Local Government election Asoka Peiris had told during a newspaper interview that both the Government and the Opposition pressurized him to delay the delimitation process.  
If one goes through the approach by the UNP-led Government’s attitude towards the Local Government and Provincial Council Elections, it would be very clear that the Government has not only been evasive with elections but also has deliberately taken action to delay those elections.  
It was during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure, in 2012 that the Local Government Elections Amendment Bill, which provided for the elections under the mixed electoral system, was passed.  

Although the Rajapaksa Government had appointed a Delimitation Committee, its report was handed over to the Local Government Minister in 2015, only after the so-called Yahapalana Government assumed office.  
Since there had been shortcomings in the delimitation report, the new Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha appointed a Delimitation Review Committee under the chairmanship of Asoka Peiris, which had to hand over its report in January 2016.  
However, the new committee dragged on till January 2017 and Chairman Peiris attributed the delay to the Government’s failure to provide the necessary support such as the translators.  

It was during this delay that he alleged that both the government and the Opposition wanted him to delay the elections. 
Ridiculously, it was only after another 13 months that the Government was able to hold the Local Government Elections.  
The delay had cost the ruling UNP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) dearly. Both parties were handed a humiliating defeat. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) unofficially led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa swept the electorate by capturing more than 230 out of 340 Local Government bodies.   
The Government even before that defeat had taken action to delay the Provincial Council Elections as well. 
In September 2017 the Government was to adopt a Bill called the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which provided for the elections for all nine Provincial Councils to be held on the same day, instead of holding them on a staggered basis.  
However, the Supreme Court said that the Bill would delay elections for some Provincial Councils which the court ruled illegal.  
Then the government abandoned the Bill. 

•  Asoka Peiris says that both the Government and the Opposition pressurized him to delay the process

•  Very clear the Government has not only been evasive but also deliberately delays elections

• Govt achieved what it failed to achieve through the 20th Amendment

However, the Government in the same month presented another Bill, Provincial Councils Elections Amendment Bill in Parliament to make 30 per cent of female representation mandatory.  
While the Committee Stage debate on the Bill was on, the Government sneaked in an Amendment to the Bill, which provided for the mixed electoral system for the Provincial Councils.  
In a practical sense, the amendment needed postponement of Provincial Council Elections for want of a delimitation process.  
Thus, the Government achieved what it failed to achieve through the 20th Amendment -the postponement of provincial council elections. 
On the 27th of the same month, the term of office of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council lapsed and that of Eastern and North Central Provincial Councils ended on October 1 and 2 in the same year respectively.  

The terms of another three councils, namely Central, North Western and the Northern Councils expired on October 9,10 and 25 last year and thus elections for six councils are due now but cannot be held since the delimitation process has not been completed. 
Meanwhile, the terms of the Western and Southern Provincial Councils are to end on April 22 this year and the tenure of the Uva PC will expire on October 19.  
A Delimitation Commission for provincial councils was appointed under the Chairmanship of K. Thavalingam, the former Surveyor General which handed over its report to Minister Mustapha in August last year.  
However, since Parliament failed to ratify it with a two-thirds majority vote, a review committee headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as per the law.  

But the committee has failed to hand over its report to the President in two months provided by the law. Thus, the elections for the six councils the terms of which have lapsed are being dragged on.  
Even before the Thavalingam Report was handed over, in the light of the experience gained at the Local Government Elections held on February 10, last year, political parties started to demand that the Provincial Council elections should be held under the old Proportional Representation (PR) system.  
An all-party discussion was also held on August 1, last year at the Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister on the matter. Now, there seems to be unanimity among political parties on holding the provincial council elections under the PR system. 
Yet, there are two theories on holding elections under the old system. Some parties are of the view that the law has to be changed for it while some others opine that it can be done right away as the new system comes to operation only after the delimitation process is completed.

"The head of the delimitation review committee on Local Government election Asoka Peiris had told during a newspaper interview that both the Government and the Opposition pressurized him to delay the delimitation process"

An idea similar to the second theory had been expressed by the former Minister Musthapha as well in 2017, in respect of Local Government Elections.  
Replying to Joint Opposition Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila’s allegation on the Local Government elections delay, Minister Musthapha in a statement said:  
 “In terms of the Law, at the enactment of the said Acts, the then Local Government minister could opt to continue to have the old electoral system in place until the conclusion of the delimitation process or to fully implement the said Acts. However, prior to the conclusion of the aforesaid delimitation process, on January 1, 2013, the then Local Government Minister A. L. M Athaulla promulgated a Gazette Notification whereby the provisions of the aforesaid amending Acts have fully come into operation and the previous electoral system has become defunct.”  
Here, Minister Musthapha says Local Government Minister could have opted “to continue to have the old electoral system in place until the conclusion of the Local Government delimitation process.”  

And no political party or individual countered that argument then.  
Therefore, the Provincial Councils Minister too should be able to opt “to continue to have the old electoral system in place until the conclusion of the provincial delimitation process.”  
But, who is going to implement it, if the Government is not interested in holding elections at all?  

"Ukraine government said they never sold any MiG 27s to Sri Lanka

Iqbal Athas reveals shocking details about MIG Deal:

February 2, 2019, 12:00 pm 

The following is the speech made by senior journalist Iqbal Athas at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Center for Investigative journalism. He detailed his travails over the exposure of the MiG purchase deal for the SLAF.

"I am proud to be associated with today’s inauguration of the Sri Lanka Centre for Investigative Journalism. I thank your Board of Governors for honouring me by inviting me to deliver the keynote address.

I take delight for many reasons. I am the only Sri Lanka member of the Washington based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The membership is peer recommended. They are the first global organisation to use the cyber space to collaborate in investigative projects. You will recall one of the widely publicised recent projects known as Panama Papers.

Years earlier, as a member from their beginning I colloborated in their project titled "The Business of War." Now in the form of a book, it deals with mercenary groups and how some of them gained legitimacy in battle zones. It included a part on Sri Lanka.

Your parent organisation in Washington DC, the Global Investigative Journalists Network (GIJN) is an offshoot of the ICIJ. I count as a good friend David Kaplan, the Executive Director. He held the same position earlier with the ICIJ.

Like a good recipe for a particular dish, there are different definitions about investigative journalism. To use his own words, Kaplan says there is – In-depth reporting, enterprise reporting or project reporting. "All these," he says, "are loosely grouped under investigative journalism." He identifies five different characteristics:

1. Systematic Inquiry. This means you are taking your time and going in a systematic way to analyse what is going on. The work you are doing is original and in-depth. Original reporting is investigative journalism.

2. Forming a hypothesis about what is going on. To form a theory, find the facts that will support it. If it does not, you have to abandon it.

3. Using public records and public data. Investigative Reporting is following people, money, paper and data trails, collect public records, documents leaked and analyse them.

4. Making public matters that are secrets that remain hidden. Investigative Reporters are often dealing with secret information. The people in power does not want it brought out. It is embarrassing for them.

5. Focus on social justice and accountability.

I am not a teacher in investigative journalism. I will not, therefore, deal with the different technical aspects. Instead, I believe, it may be useful for those of you, who want to pursue investigative journalism, if I share some of my personal experience in this field.

Before I do that, please permit me to strike a personal note. Fifty years ago, straight out of school, I walked into the office of now-defunct SUN / WEEKEND in Hulftsdorp. It was then one of the largest groups. I did not realise it was going to be the turning point in my life.

I was offered a job as a Reporter and requested to work the very next day. I asked for time. I had to wind up a course in Sales Management. A week later, when I joined to cover Tamil political parties due to my fluency in Sinhala and Tamil languages.

My work then took me to different parts of the North and East of Sri Lanka, which were to later become the battleground for a deadly separatist insurgency. I became familiar with the terrain. At that juncture, there were only two major Tamil political parties. I covered their annual sessions and other events of importance in these two provinces.

By mid-1970s, moderate politics was transcending to militancy. Tamil political parties and groups united through what is known as the Vaddukottai resolution to go beyond democratic pursuits. Over a period of time, this saw the birth of a plethora of militant groups. During the early phases of what is euphemistically called Eelam

War I, they functioned separately but were unified in their objective of confronting the Security Forces and the Police.

The subsequent phases of what was dubbed Eelam War II and III became fierce in character. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), often known as Tamil Tigers, literally eliminated their rival groups in some of the crudest and bloodiest battles. New military hardware was inducted by both the militants and the military. In May 2009, the LTTE was militarily defeated. Thus, I was fortunate in being able to cover the birth, growth and death of separatist insurgency in Sri Lanka. Military procurements were becoming controversial. Both those in and outside uniform were profiting hugely. I began exposing some of the controversial deals. The travails I faced are far too many to list here. I can only say I have lived to tell the story.

In September 2006, a source in the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) gave me a bulky document – a so-called contract for the procurement of four MiG 27 fighter jets. Each was to cost US $ 3,462,000 or over Rs 265 million. These were for aircraft manufactured between 1980 and 1983. The contract claimed they were Government to Government deals. I investigated the matter for many weeks, talking to my sources as well as diplomats who specialised in defence and security. A clear picture emerged.

After the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, as you are aware, Ukraine became another state. A fleet of MiG 27s lay in a parking lot exposed to snow, sun and rain. A company based in Singapore was among those were wanting to sell these aircraft to the Sri Lanka Air Force and there appeared to be many irregularities.

The Sunday Times bared the details in an expose in December 2006. A few highlights of the report: I quote "A contract between the Air Force on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Ukranian Government-owned firm Ukrinmarsh is touted as a Government-to-Government deal. Such deals are made to obviate the need to call for tenders to pick the lowest bidder. The widely accepted principle in these deals, referred to as G to G, is the elimination of third parties who make fat commissions and become billionaires overnight…" unquote

Now, this so-called contract was signed on July 2006 – just a day before Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited came into being. This wholly state-owned concern was set up to procure all military equipment and related items to the armed services and Police. It was shocking to learn that the MiG 27s in question were those left over from two different purchases which Air Force teams that went to Ukraine had carefully selected.

These purchases, my report in the Sunday Times said: I quote "This was on two different occasions. That was six years ago and the prices were much lower. And now they have been contracted for higher prices. The first purchase was on May 25 2000 when four MiG 27 jets were purchased for US $ 1.75 million each. They were manufactured between 1982 and 1985. The second purchase was on October 24 2000. In this deal, two MiG – 27s were purchased at a cost of at $ 1.6 million each.One was manufactured in 1981 and the other in 1984,"

You will observe from what I said that the last purchase was made from MiG 27s remaining after the better ones were chosen. If the two earlier purchases were for ones manufactured before 1985, the last was for those made between 1980 and 1983. I continued my investigations. When more reports began to appear, those at the highest levels of the Government were incensed. Powerful persons with a bottomless reservoir of arrogance, vengeance and vendetta unleashed a campaign of terror on me. Unfortunately, those travails had to be borne even by my wife and daughter. I must confess that after studies abroad, this was the reason why my daughter chose to work outside Sri Lanka. That was not the only heavy price I paid in the name of investigative journalism.

The continued exposure in the Sunday Times saw a vicious campaign by the state-run media. Together with them, the Ministry of Defence gave me a dubious title in their website – Traitor. I must single out the Sirasa television network during this troubled time for standing up to the truth. They even broadcast a letter from Senator Joe Biden, who was to later become US Vice President to then Sri Lanka President on my behalf. Crowds carrying placards calling me traitor, backed by a local councillor, demonstrated near my house. Some of those taking part demanded my arrest. I came under close surveillance and an effort was being made to locate my sources. Leave alone being arrested, if indeed I was considered a traitor, no state agency questioned me. I was making the news daily. Not one. I knew that someone somewhere was deeply hurt by my embarrassing disclosures.

Attached to me was a security contingent from the Army. I am sure you will agree that for a journalist, working with bodyguards around, is anathema. Their presence will discourage of dry up source. I had no choice. It came on the recommendation of intelligence agencies who said there were threats. They were withdrawn.

One day, I had a telephone call from the leader of a left-leaning political party who had close connections with those at the Defence Ministry. He was on visiting terms. He met me at home and did not lose time in asking me how I got details of he MiG-27 deal. I had to open a Pilot’s briefcase to pull out the documents and prove a point to him – why not punish those involved. He asked me for a copy of the contract but I said it was difficult at that point in time.

What I heard days later from my sources in the military was distressing. Plans were afoot to raid my house. They were after the Pilot’s briefcase. A sinister plan had already been set in motion. Loud hailers fixed with speakers were going around the area where I live warning residents that LTTE cadres were hiding in homes. Hence, the announcement said, a house to house search was under way. The idea was to raid my house. My source who was very familiar with the plans and asked me to get out of the house with my family. The advice was because I had some cause to protest that my house was raided in my absence.

There was a problem. A religious event in Colombo that had drawn members of the Bohra community from world over. All hotels in Colombo were full. My friend Amal Jayasinghe was kind enough to arrange for a hotel in Kalutara. Two others who are common friends, including a staffer in a diplomatic mission, drove me there. He also took charge of the Pilot’s Brief case.

There was more disturbing news just two weeks before Lasantha Wickremetunga was murdered. A very highly placed source asked me to get out of the house that very night. I flew to Thailand. I had spent long stints there living in an apartment cooking food, washing clothes and working online. The next morning, my driver who was alerted, saw a man with an oversized bush shirt moving outside my house in a motorcycle. When there was strong blowing, the bottom part of the shirt went up. There was a pistol on his waist. The driver noted the registration number. I checked it on a secure phone from Bangkok. The registration plate belonged to a lorry.

When the so-called Yahapalanaya government came to power, they set up the Financial Crimes Investgation Division (FCID). I made a statement to them in early 2015 and investigations began.

I have learnt that a FCID team went to Ukraine. On April 25 2016 at 10 a.m. they met top Ukranian government officials including the Proscutor General. When told about the purchase of the last four MiG-27s, their response was shocking. The answer was "we never sold any MiG 27s to Sri Lanka."

Here are some of the findings: The so-called contract which the Sri Lanka Air Force signed with Ukrinmarsh does not exist.

The Zimbabwe Defence Industries did not have stocks at the time the order was placed. Since the Army was in a hurry, a corrupt official at ZDI had approached an Israeli arms dealer. The latter arranged for the stock of 32,400 mortars from surplus stocks from the Bosnian war. They were loaded into a ship that was to first travel to Zimbabwe. I have not been able to establish the link from there until I found that it had been loaded into an LTTE cargo ship. That brought the stocks to the waters off Mullaitivu.

This was why, the ship that remained anchored for weeks, was later destroyed by the LTTE. It did not sail away. The advance paid by the Army remains in Singapore and the story ended there. There were pressure moves then to prevent a detailed probe.

I chose to mention these instances purely to underscore the fact that investigative journalism is not an easy task. There is someone somewhere who wants to hide the secrets of wrong doing so the public may not know. For those of you who aspire to become investigative journalists, it would be good to bear in mind the words Briitish playright Christopher Hampton. With apologies to him, I have modified it to say "asking what an investigative journalist what he thinks is about critics is like asking a lampost how it feels about dogs."

In all the trials and tribulations, I must record the fact that I owe my great gratitude to my Publisher Ranjit Wijewardene, Editor in Chief Sinha Ratnatunga. They have not only stood by me but have been a tower of strength. I also owe a great thank you to my wife and daughter who had to bear all that I went through for no fault of theirs.

Once again, all my best wishes to the Sri Lanka Centre for Investigative Journalism. I think when you have to look at my work, like what a onetime US President said, "I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made."

Thank you."

Passing the Animal Welfare Bill – an urgent need

Our Sri Lankan culture, and in fact most world religions, understand the importance of compassion towards animals for human wellbeing – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

Friday, 1 February 2019

As a veterinary practice, we at Pet Vet Clinic absolutely believe that animal welfare should be at the core and heart of all that we do as veterinarians and para-veterinary professionals. As such, we unequivocally believe that it is of utmost importance that the draft of the Animal Welfare Bill finalised in late 2017 be passed in Parliament in a timely manner. This is an urgent requirement as it has already been delayed for many years.

Veterinarians and veterinary support staff across the world, not only in Sri Lanka, have an important responsibility in recognising and promoting the essential role of animals in society, not only as pets but also working animals, production animals, etc. We veterinarians are their voice – at times their only voice – and their professional representation. It is our duty to ensure they live comfortable lives, free from fear and pain.

The relationship between animals and people is specially highlighted in the role pets play as human companions. Many studies and high-quality research show a variety of benefits, both physiological (reduced blood pressure, etc.) and psychological (stress reduction, etc.). Animals as companions are important for human wellbeing, more so in modern society where interpersonal bonds are often challenging to establish and sustain. Pets fill this space, providing friendship and emotional comfort. This is especially so with the elderly as well as children – special needs children in particular, as pets provide mental stimulation and support.

Our Sri Lankan culture, and in fact most world religions, understand the importance of compassion towards animals for human wellbeing. Many Sri Lankans are fundamentally good to animals or at least won’t purposefully harm them.  Many less obvious forms of animal cruelty in Sri Lanka occur due to lack of knowledge about animal needs. For example, clearly loved pets who are kept in tiny kennels, pets forcibly taken into rivers or the sea for a bath even when they are obviously terrified, lack of correct quality and quantity of food needed based on the animal species. This requires a good balance between education and regulations. The Animal Welfare Authority proposed in the bill can and should address this.

There are clearly exceptions and incidences of absolute cruelty are not as uncommon as we think. The case of Charlie, the Labrador that was set on fire whilst in its outdoor kennel on New Year’s Eve, succumbing to its injuries the next day, that made the news recently is not a one-off incident.

This is just an example of a tendency to take out one’s anger by harming a person’s pet or an animal.  People do this with a clear awareness that this is a more painful and horrendous revenge than directly harming the person concerned. This is the same idea as threatening a person’s family and loved ones.

The cornered leopard that was brutally beaten to death with the attendant victory celebrations filmed last June is another example of obvious cruelty. There is an extensive body of evidence that those who show such cruelty to animals also show similar cruelty towards people.

One leads to another. Both situations are equally unacceptable in society and should be equally punishable. The 2017 draft of the Animal Welfare Bill will render behaviour of this nature illegal, allowing for the investigation, prosecution and adequate punishment that will also act as a deterrent.

Animals are an integral part of a healthy lifestyle and healthy planet. They demonstrate the importance of respecting and coexisting with other species and our environment. There are many examples where animals sacrifice their life for our benefit, from police and service dogs who have died defending their handlers to farm animals we use for food.

Protein malnutrition is a common and serious problem in developing countries. Adequate, affordable, high-quality protein is important to human nutrition. Animals make this ultimate sacrifice – of their lives – for our benefit. Thus it is our duty to ensure their short lives are comfortable and their death is fear and pain free. The Animal Welfare bill provides for the examination of production practices which, taken in consideration with economics and supply, will lead to a fair and balanced compromise.

With the creation of an Animal Welfare Authority, the bill will shift the burden of responsibility that formerly rested solely on the Police who have neither the time nor the knowledge to address matters of animal welfare. Animal welfare officers, trained and working under the authority, will have the knowhow to inspect the situation in question and make an informed and rationally balanced report as to its nature.

The lack of such continues to be a serious concern in attempting litigation of animal welfare cases. The bill also looks at emerging problems in Sri Lanka such as poaching and trading of animals for food, ivory, skins and furs, etc., which have been steadily increasing with the developing tourist trade and globalisation in general.

A lot of input from a variety of quarters, be they activists, veterinarians, livestock producers, or the Department of Animal Production and Health, has gone into the creation of this bill over the past years. It covers the full spectrum of animal welfare, be they wildlife, captive animals, laboratory animals, street animals, livestock or working animals.

There is absolutely no reason to fear this bill as it is a reasonable and moderate document that has taken into account the voices and concerns of anyone and everyone with an interest in animals, with the promise of being effective in the long run. The longer we delay passing this Animal Welfare Bill, the longer the highly ineffectual Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907 and Animals Act No. 29 of 1958 remain in effect.

We are a country with a historical and cultural tradition of animal welfare. The Animal Welfare Bill is clearly aligned with Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage and values. It should be easily passed with the full support of all right-thinking leaders. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.


[Dr. Nalinika Obeyesekere has a BSc in Wildlife from University of California, Davis; a BVSc from University of Peradeniya; and an MVS (Distinction) from Murdoch University, Australia. She is also a Fellow of the Ashoka Trust and of the Sri Lanka College of Veterinary Surgeons (FSLCVS). Dr. Obeyesekere has been presented the prestigious awards for One Medicine One Health (2015) and Companion Animal Welfare (2018) by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). She is a Founder and Director of Pet Vet Clinic, a full-service veterinary hospital based on a unique multi-doctor model and an absolute love for animals. Pet Vet continuously strives to learn and improve the quality of veterinary diagnosis, medicine and surgery in a holistic manner and to champion the all-important pet-people bond.]

TripAdvisor among firms profiting from Israeli war crimes

Part of Israel’s Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the southern occupied West Bank, one of hundreds of colonies built on Palestinian land in violation of international law.

 Wisam HashlamounAPA images

Tamara Nassar Rights and Accountability 31 January 2019

Online booking companies Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Expedia are fueling and profiting from war crimes by listing hundreds of destinations in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

TripAdvisor is one of the world’s biggest and most influential travel booking and recommendation websites.

“The Israeli government uses the growing tourism industry in the settlements as a way of legitimizing their existence and expansion, and online booking companies are playing along with this agenda,” said Seema Joshi of Amnesty International, which has published a new report on the companies’ activities.

Listings include accommodations and attractions, and often fail to indicate that they are located in settlements.

“Amnesty International is calling for these four companies to stop doing business in or with the settlements,” Mark Dummett, an Amnesty researcher, stated. “They should suspend, withdraw these listings immediately.”

“We’re also calling on governments around the world to regulate the operations of these companies, to pass laws that prevent them from advertising or providing listings in Israeli settlements,” Dummett added.

Amnesty International

✔@amnesty

Take a trip with us…to the lands of the illegal Israeli settlements. Promise “guns, check points and walls” aren’t too far away! RT to tell @TripAdvisor to pull out of illegal Israeli settlements now.

TripAdvisor

✔@TripAdvisor

Take a trip with us...to the lands beyond okay, promise these other-worldly destinations aren't too far away! https://tripadv.sr/2sIouTj 

255

5:22 AM - Jan 30, 2019

TripAdvisor

✔@TripAdvisor

Been to #Bali? Done #Ibiza? Here's Where You Should Go Next
https://tripadv.sr/2TsYK8C 

163

7:51 AM - Jan 30, 2019

All of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Syria’s Golan Heights are illegal under international law and are considered a war crime.

In building settlements, Israel perpetuates human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian population, including home demolitions, forced displacement and theft of land.

The increased presence of illegal settlers means a greater “security” presence by the Israeli army, which translates into even more violence by Israeli occupation forces and by the settlers themselves against Palestinians.

Palestinians who live under Israeli military occupation and severe movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank – or as refugees in exile – cannot rent properties in nearby Israeli settlements.

Israel bars exiled Palestinians from returning to their homeland because they are not Jewish.

Expanding settlements

One listing on Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Booking.com is in Kfar Adumim, an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem near the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar.

Israel’s high court has given the government a green light to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and forcibly displace its residents.

This land east of Jerusalem, in the so-called E1 zone, is where Israel plans to expand its mega-settlement of Maaleh Adumim, completing the isolation of the northern and southern parts of the West Bank from each other and encircling Jerusalem with settlements.

Earlier this month, Israel’s economy minister Eli Cohen toured Khan al-Ahmar escorted by representatives from far-right pro-settlement Israeli organization Regavim.

Cohen called on Israel to demolish the village before upcoming Israeli elections in April.

“Khan al-Ahmar outpost should be evacuated before the elections. But even more important, we must deny the Palestinian Authority territorial contiguity, by coming and annexing, and applying [Israeli] sovereignty over Area C,” Cohen stated.

Area C is a term for 60 percent of the occupied West Bank still fully controlled by Israel under the Oslo accords signed in the 1990s.

The booking sites also drive business to Israeli “archaeological” attractions in Silwan, an occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood whose Palestinian residents Israel is violently displacing for the benefit of Jewish settlers.

Amnesty noted that Silwan and other Palestinian villages located near settlements are close to “lucrative” tourist attractions.

An example is the so-called City of David, which not only reaps profits for the settlers, but is part of Israel’s ongoing effort to erase Jerusalem’s Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim characters and remake and rewrite the city’s past and present as predominantly or exclusively Jewish.

Calls to abide by international law

In a December letter, Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and three other organizations demanded that Booking.com stop listing properties in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Golan Heights, and cease referring to these areas as parts of Israel.

Airbnb and Booking.com facilitate the “continuation and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank,” Al-Haq stated.

“By allowing tourists to make reservations in illegal settlements in the [occupied Palestinian territories] Booking.com is supporting and helping to finance illegal activity,” the group added.

Airbnb leaves West Bank

In November, Airbnb announced that it will delist units in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank following a years-long campaign by Palestinian and international human rights activists.

But Airbnb did not extend that commitment to occupied East Jerusalem, where it has more than 100 settlement listings.

“Amnesty International is calling on Airbnb to implement its announcement and remove all its listings in settlements in occupied territory, including East Jerusalem,” the human rights group stated.

Despite months of intense pressure from Israel, lobby groups and US lawmakers to rescind its decision, Airbnb recently reiterated its November announcement and said it would be pulling the rental properties.

In retaliation, Florida’s governor has directed that his state should cease doing business with Airbnb.

The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah appeared on Al Jazeera English on Wednesday night to discuss Amnesty’s report.

“Promoting and aiding and profiting from the settlements is no different from walking into a store, robbing it at gunpoint, and then going out into the street and selling the stolen goods for your own profit,” Abunimah said.

Abunimah added that states – such as the Netherlands, where Booking.com is based – must hold these companies accountable.

“The Dutch government claims to oppose the occupation but it’s doing nothing to enforce international law or require its companies like Booking.com to respect it.”

Expelling human rights organizations

Israel is already planning to retaliate against Amnesty International over its report.

Israeli public security minister Gilad Erdan ordered officials to “examine the possibility of preventing the entry and stay of Amnesty International in Israel.”

Erdan is also seeking to end the organization’s tax exemption through Israel’s finance ministry.

Israeli tourism minister Yariv Levin also slammed Amnesty’s report.

“No force in the world will change the simple historical truth – the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. We will fight this despicable anti-Semitic decision. No one can boycott Israel or parts of it,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Any further crackdown on Amnesty would be part of a broader Israeli pattern of restricting the work of human rights defenders.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will not renew the mandate of a human rights monitoring group in Hebron.

The mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) was set to be renewed on 31 January, as it is every six months.

TIPH was established in 1994, following the massacre of 29 Palestinian men and boys in Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque by US-born settler Baruch Goldstein.

Ali Abunimah contributed research.

Lords of the land: Why Israel's victory won't last

Israel has a strategic choice to make: either to continue as a security state or come to terms with the people it has expelled and dominates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP)

David Hearst-1 February 2019 

If Benjamin Netanyahu ever needs rest and recuperation from the travails of being Israel’s longest serving prime minister, if there is a shed in which he can hide from any one of the five police investigations threatening him, this place of relative comfort must surely be "the pit".

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