Tamil Management

by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

( April 28, 2014, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) When TGTE (Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam) was formed after the 2009 Battle of Vanni – I also received emails regarding the formation of TGTE.

Tamil Management by Thavam Ratna

Deceived by premiership promise Dinesh betrays party!

Monday, 28 April 2014

Yesterday’s (27) central committee meeting of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a key partner in the ruling UPFA, eneded in total chaos, according to internal sources of the party.

That was due to the MEP’s MPs - party leader Dinesh Gunawardena, Geethanjana Gunawardena and Digamadulla district MP Sriyani Wijewickrama - having voted in support of the ‘casino act’ in parliament recently.

Members of the central committee have strongly condemned this act by Dinesh Gunawardena. They had severely condemned the party leader for having neglected their vote base – the Pancha Maha Balawegaya – for his petty personal gains.

In comments to Lanka News Web, a senior member of the MEP said with a sorrowing voice, “The president has deceived Dinesh with a promise of the premiership. The party leader has let down vote base of the party. Now, we cannot even visit a temple. We cannot look the Mahanayake Theras in their face. But, Dinesh does not care. He is dreaming about the premiership. Dinesh is trying his best to become the premier, which his father and uncles could not do. For that, he will make any betrayal. Because of him, we cannot even walk on the streets. But, we will not let him have his ways easily.”

All affiliates of the UPFA have decided to have their own May Day rallies, but only the MEP is getting together with the government to hold a rally. A Mahanayake Thera said it was very unfortunate that Dinesh Gunawardena has fallen to such low depths to raise his voice even to legalize prostitution if he gets the premiership. His ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ claims are mere fakes and nothing else, said the Mahanayake Thera.

சிங்கள அடிப்படை வாதிகளின் சிறைக்கைதியாக அரசாங்கம்: வாசுதேவ நாணயக்கார

 Mon, 04/28/2014 

சிங்கள அடிப்படைவாதிகளின் சிறைக்கைதியாகியுள்ள அரசாங்கம் வட மாகாண சபைக்கான அதிகாரங்களை வழங்காது அடிமைப்படுத்தி வைத்துள்ளது எனக் குற்றம் சாட்டும் அரசின் பங்காளிக் கட்சியான ஜனநாயக இடது சாரி முன்னணியின் தலைவரும் அமைச்சருமான வாசுதேவ நாணயக்கார வடக்கில் படையினர் வகை தொகையின்றி காணிகளை கையகப்படுத்துவது கைவிடப்பட வேண்டுமென்றும் அமைச்சர் தெரிவித்தார்.

 

இது தொடர்பாக தேசிய மொழிகள் மற்றும் சமூக ஒருமைப்பாடு தொடர்பான அமைச்சர் வாசுதேவ நாணயக்கார மேலும் தெரிவிக்கையில்,

 

வட மாகாண சபை தேர்தல் மட்டுமே நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளதே தவிர அச்சபை இயங்குவதற்கான எந்த அதிகாரங்களும் மத்திய அரசாங்கத்தால் வழங்கப்படவில்லை.

வட மாகாண சபை செயலாளர் நியமிப்பில் முதலமைச்சருடன் எந்தவித பேச்சுவார்த்தைகளும் நடத்தப்படவில்லை. தீர்மானம் எடுக்கப்படவில்லை. அரசாங்கம் தன்னிச்சையாகவே அந்த நியமனத்தை வழங்கியது.

அதேபோன்று வட மாகாணத்திற்கான சிரேஷ்ட பொலிஸ் அத்தியட்சர் நியமனத்திலும் இவ்வாறான செயற்பாடே இடம்பெற்றது.

 

13 ஆவது அரசியலமைப்பு திருத்தத்தில் மேற்கண்ட பதவிகள் தொடர்பில் மாகாண சபை முதலமைச்சருடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தைகளை நடத்தி இணக்கப்பாடு கண்ட பின்னரே அப்பதவிகள் நியமிக்கப்பட வேண்டுமென தெளிவாக குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஆனால் அரசாங்கம் இந்த வழிமுறைகள் எதனையும் பின்பற்றாமலேயே செயற்பட்டுள்ளது.

 

சிங்கள சக்திகளின் கைதியாக

தெற்கின் சிங்கள அடிப்படைவாதச் சக்திகளின் சிறைக்கைதியாக அரசாங்கம் மாறியுள்ளது.

இச் சக்திகளின் ஆலோசனைகளுக்கமைய வட மாகாண சபையை அடிமைப்படுத்தி அதற்கு கட்டளையிடும் அதிகாரியின் தோரணையிலேயே அரசாங்கத்தின் நடவடிக்கைகள் அமைந்துள்ளது.

வட மாகாண சபையை கலைக்க வேண்டுமென்ற சிங்கள அடிப்படைவாதிகளின் அபிலாஷையை பூர்த்தி செய்யும் விதத்திலேயே அனைத்தும் இடம்பெறுகின்றன.

 

ஜனாதிபதி

வட மாகாண சபைக்கு அதிகாரங்கள் வழங்கப்பட வேண்டுமென ஜனாதிபதி மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷவிடம் பல முறை வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளோம்.

ஆனால் எதுவுமே சாத்தியப்படுவதாக இல்லை. எமது முயற்சிகள் வெற்றியளிக்கவில்லை.

 

வெளிநாடுகள்

இந்நிலை தொடர்வது எமது நாட்டுக்கு நல்லதல்ல. ஏனென்றால் புலம் பெயர்ந்து வாழும் தமிழர் அமைப்புக்கள் தாம் வாழும் நாடுகளின் அரசாங்கங்களிடமும் ஐ.நா. உட்பட சர்வதேச அமைப்புக்களிடமும் இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் வட மாகாண சபை தேர்தலை மட்டுமே நடத்தி உலகை ஏமாற்றியதே தவிர மாகாண சபைக்கான அதிகாரங்களை வழங்கவில்லை பட்டியலிட்டு குற்றச்சாட்டுக்களை சமர்ப்பிக்கும்.

 

அவ்வாறானதொரு சூழ்நிலையில் எமக்கெதிராக என்னென்ன குற்றச்சாட்டுக்களை சுமத்த முடியுமென வழிதேடிக் கொண்டிருக்கும் வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு சாதகமாக அமைந்து விடும்.

இது நமக்கு நாமே குழி தோண்டிக்கொள்ளும் நிலைமைக்கு ஒப்பானதாகும்.

 

ஆளுநர்

வட மாகாண ஆளுநராக இராணுவத்தை சேர்ந்த ஒருவரே நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளார். இவரை வெளியேற்றி சிவிலியன் ஒருவரை நியமிக்க வேண்டும். அதனை தொடர்ந்து வலியுறுத்துகின்றோம். ஆனால் இன்னமும் சாத்தியப்படவில்லை.

 

காணிகள்

பாதுகாப்புக்கெனக் கூறிக் கொண்டு வட மாகாணத்தில் இராணுவத்தினர் வகை தொகையின்றி காணிகளை கையகப்படுத்துவது கைவிடப்பட வேண்டும்.

அத்தோடு மக்களின் காணிகளை கையகப்படுத்துவதும் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளக் கூடியதல்ல. தேசிய பாதுகாப்புக்கென காணிகள் அடையாளம் காணப்படும் போது அது தொடர்பாக வட மாகாண சபையுடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தைகளை நடத்தி இணக்கப்பாடு காண வேண்டும்.

அது மட்டுமல்லாது பெருமளவு ஏக்கர் கணக்கில் காணிகளை கையகப்படுத்துவதை கைவிட்டு அதற்கான ஒரு வரையறையை வகுத்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டும். எல்லைகளை நிர்ணயித்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

 

இணக்கப்பாடு

அரசாங்கம் வட மாகாண சபையோடு இணக்கப்பாடோடு செயற்பட்டு அதிகாரங்களை வழங்கி தமிழ் மக்களின் நம்பிக்கையை பெற்றுக் கொள்ளும் திட்டங்களை முன்னகர்த்த வேண்டும்.

 

தெரிவுக்குழு

பாராளுமன்றத் தெரிவுக்குழுவுக்கு தமிழ் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு வர வேண்டும். அதன் மூலமே தீர்வுகளை எட்ட முடியும்.

 

தற்போது தென்னாபிரிக்கா மத்தியஸ்தம் வகிக்க முன் வந்துள்ளதால் கூட்டமைப்பு தெரிவுக்குழுவில் கலந்து கொள்ள வேண்டுமென்ற தீர்மானத்தை வட மாகாண சபை மேற்கொள்ளும் நிலைமையும் காணப்படுகின்றது என்றும் அமைச்சர் வாசுதேவ நாணயக்கார தெரிவித்தார்.

Petition for the rights to information and publication

 Monday, 28 April 2014

 

The Action Committee for Media Freedom has organized an event to sign a public petition calling for the rights to information and publication to mark the World Press Freedom Day that falls on May 3, 2014.

The Action Committee for Media Freedom is an organization consisting of media associations, trade unions and individuals with the main aim of working to establish media freedom in the country. The main goals of the Action Committee is to effectively lobby and struggle for the right to information and publication, justice to media personnel who have been murdered, assaulted, threatened, abducted, gone missing and even fled the country while also demanding proper inquiries into the attacks faced by some media institutions in the past few years.

In order to achieve these goals, a free media, which is a key feature in any democratic society, has to be established. The support and assistance of religious leaders, political parties, trade unions, civil society organizations and the general public plays a key role in ensuring media freedom in the country.

As a first step in achieving the goal of media freedom, the Action Committee for Media Freedom will launch the signing of a public petition on May 5, 2014 (Monday) opposite the Fort Railway Station at 4 p.m. to mark the World Press Freedom Day.

The Committee will greatly appreciate your active participation at the event.

Microfinance: Rehabilitated

• Confusion in Batticaloa-Monday 28th April 2014

The dynamic development of Microfinance (MF) worldwide continues. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently created history, by granting for the first time a banking license to a microfinance organisation – Bandhan Financial Services.

Microfinance Rehabilitated by Thavam Ratna

UK tourist complains of harassment 





By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

-April 24, 2014
 

UK National, Naomi Coleman (37), who was arrested under Section 291 B of the Penal Code for having a tattoo of the Buddha on her arm, complained that she was sexually harassed by Negombo Prison officials.
 

A nurse by profession, Coleman told Ceylon Today she was arrested Monday for violating the law, however, after the Court hearing, she was transferred to the deportation centre where she is now.
 

Describing the whole scenario as 'hellish', Coleman said she intends to file a case against Negombo Prison officials, who harassed her sexually, before she leaves. "I had the Buddha tattoo 10 years ago and travelled to Sri Lanka twice before. I was unaware of such arrest and detention for having a Buddha tattoo," she said.
Coleman, before being sent to the deportation centre for 'security clearance', was taken by the police to the Immigration and Emigration Department in Colombo where she was questioned.
 

"My air ticket has been cancelled since I did not travel on that day, and that cash would be reimbursed only after a couple of weeks in the UK, and I have no money. When I revealed this, the British High Commission told me that I shall be offered an air ticket through the Immigration Department," she said.
 

When Ceylon Today asked Police spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana, as to what Coleman's offence was, he said the Penal Code states, "Whoever, with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of persons, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both."
 

Coleman said she had arrived from India and went through the Immigration counter without any hassle. However, when she had come out of the taxi hiring counter at the exit lounge of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), a driver following her had spotted the Buddha tattoo on her arm and reported her to a policeman in civvies, who was standing outside the exit area. He had later taken her to the Negombo Police Station in a white police van.
Coleman was produced before a Magistrate, who had ordered her to be deported.
 

She had asked a SSP why she had not been arrested previously when she had been in the country twice before with the same tattoo on her arm. He had said, "Perhaps, no one saw it then."
"I am a practising Buddhist, but this Buddhist country ripped me off nearly £ 300 over this incident. This is 'hellish.'" she said.
 

According to her, the taxi driver had claimed Rs 15,000 for dropping her friend from the airport to the Negombo Police Station. A prison warden had gone through her wallet and asked for money. "My cigarettes were taken and I don't know what else is there in my luggage," Coleman lamented. She even said that one of the prison officials had made a sexual remark at her.
 

She had paid Rs 5,000 (US$ 38) to a lawyer, who did not help her or appear for her but who had later told her she will be deported. The Magistrate or the lawyer did not read my statement, she alleged.
Having gone through the ordeal, Coleman intends to lodge a complaint before she leaves the country about the 'treatment' she received.
 

"I cried and still I am frightened," she said.
The SSP who called the Negombo Prison to verify her statement of sexual harassment and money plundered was, however, told that 'nothing of that sort had taken place.'

Muslim Council challenges Gnanasara Thero

April 28, 2014 

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL) has challenged the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero to prove the allegations made by him that the MCSL receives financial support from the US or any other country.

“The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has had no engagement or receive financial support from the Embassy of the United States or any agency affiliated to the United States of America or any other country as stated by you at the your press conference,” a letter addressed to Gnanasara Thero, released to media today, said.

“The Bodu Bala Sena remains charged for receiving financial support from Norway through Mr Arne Fjortoft and your Chief Executive Officer, Mr Dilanthe Withanage, which you have not denied,” it reminded.

The Muslim Council states that it operates through voluntary contributions of its own members in Sri Lanka and its steering committee.

“I challenge you to prove that the Muslim Council has received any financial support from USA or any other. If you have any evidence, please place them before us or produce them to the relevant authorities,” MCSL President N.M. Ameen said in the letter. 

The full letter has been reproduced below: 


Rev. Galabode Aththe Gnanasara Thero
Secretary General,
Bodu Bala Sena
Kirulapone
Sri Lanka

Rev. Gnanasara Thero,

I wish to bring to your attention that the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has had no engagement or receive financial support from the Embassy of the United States or any agency affiliated to the United States of America or any other country as stated by you at the your press conference of April 22nd 2014. I wish to remind you that the Bodu Bala Sena remains charged for receiving financial support from Norway through Mr Arne Fjortoft and your Chief Executive Officer, Mr Dilanthe Withanage, which you have not denied.

The Muslim Council operates through voluntary contributions of its own members in Sri Lanka and its steering committee. I challenge you to prove that the Muslim Council has received any financial support from USA or any other. If you have any evidence, please place them before us or produce them to the relevant authorities. It is unethical to target individual members of the Muslim Council and their families to gain media attention for your nefarious causes, which is destroying the immense respect Sri Lanka has, as a Buddhist nation.

You continue to make accusations against individuals and organizations, hiding yourself behind the sacred robe, which is respected by all Sri Lankans.

The hate campaign spearheaded by you and other Buddhist priests against minority communities is contrary to the principles espoused by the noble Gautama Buddha and Buddhism.

Your continued accusations against Islam and Muslims are destroying the image of Buddhism and the peace and harmony that has existed between our communities for centuries.

As you are aware the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka represent Muslim Civil Society across the country. It is our desire to discuss and solve any issues that confront by discussion amongst us. Please feel free to contact me, should you have any queries about the Muslim Council or any other issue you may have with the Muslim community.

Yours sincerely

N M Ameen
President,
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka

Kidney the plot thickens... 






By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody and Umesh Moramudali

 April 28, 2014
In a major revelation on the recent controversy over an alleged kidney transplant racket, Senior Professor of Medicine, University of Colombo, Prof. Rezvi Sheriff said local nephrologists have been talking to Indian agents, who were offering to supply kidneys for transplant operations conducted in Sri Lanka.


Prof. Sheriff, who is also the Founder Chairman of the Western Infirmary acknowledge that Indians purportedly supply kidneys and were doing so in Sri Lanka. "it is problematic but yet it continues to go on" he said adding, "Middlemen or agents are like tour operators who fleece the people. It is however not a racket between doctors. Everyone asks for more money, but we tell the recipient early. The professionals are not to blame. The racketeers are Indians or Sri Lankans or both joined in a combined deal."


Meanwhile, Director General of Health Services Dr. Palitha Mahipala has requested a detailed report regarding the kidney transplant surgeries done here in private hospitals. Accordingly Director of Medical Institutions Development Unit,
Dr. Kanthi Ariyaratne, will conduct an investigation into the kidney transplant operations, patients and donors.


Dr. Ariyaratne has been instructed to submit a report to the Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena within a month. The kidney transplant racket came to light when Andhra Pradesh police disclosure about a kidney racket, following a death of an Indian national who had allegedly come over to Sri Lanka to sell one of his kidneys. Investigations have revealed that the racket was supported by a Sri Lankan surgeon called Dr. Monik.
At present, Lanka Hospitals, Nawaloka Hospitals PLC and Hemas Hospitals in Thalawathugoda perform kidney transplant operations. Director General Nawaloka Hospitals, Lal Chandrasena said they had complied with the regulations of the Health Ministry on kidney transplant operations.


"We do many transplant surgeries in our hospital including kidney, lung, and open heart surgery for many local and foreign patients. We follow all the rules and regulations pertaining to the donation and retrieval of organs as stipulated by the, Ministry of Health," he said.
Director General Hemas Hospitals, Dr. Panna Guneratne said accusations can be hurled but facts are what is important. "We have a regulatory council and all our transplants are recorded. Any malpractice could be investigated."

How ex-IGP earned his degree!

 Monday, 28 April 2014

 

It is a well known secret that DIG at the police headquarters, attorney Dr. Ravi Waidyalankara had been caught in bed at a lodge in Dehiwala with a woman constable some days ago. In order to play down the indignity he was subjected to, Waidyalankara is nowadays exposing the characters of other top ranking police officers.

Last Friday, he has told several senior officers that all the police chiefs in Sri Lanka were grateful to him.

DIG Waidyalankara has also claimed that he was the most learned person in the Police Department, and described how he had, together with DIG Gamini Dissanayake, prepared the doctorate thesis for former IGP and present ambassador in the UAE Mahinda Balasuriya. Waidyalankara has gone on to say that all the pictures for that thesis were obtained from the Special Forces and the Sri Lanka Army with much effort, adding that Mahinda Balasuriya had not written just one word in that thesis.

Without DIG Gamini Dissanayake and himself, the ex-police chief could never have earned a doctorate, and he is a number one ignoramus, Waidyalankara has said to loud laughter from his audience.

He has added that he was aware of the inquiries held against former IGPs Victor Perera, W.B. Rajaguru, Lucky Kodituwakku, Chandra Fernando as well as senior DIGs K.P.P. Pathirana and Sirisena Herath and that he was in the possession of the relevant files. If anyone tries to be smart with me that will be the end of that person, a fully inebriated DIG Waidyalankara has boasted.

President admires police media spokesman!

Monday, 28 April 2014

Police media spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana has been immensely admired by president Mahinda Rajapaksa, said Temple Trees sources.

The president had many words of praise for the police spokesman at the conclusion of his monthly meeting with newspaper editors and heads of media institutions at Temple Trees on April 24.

It was the tradition that only the IGP attends this meeting. Telephoning the police chief on that Thursday morning, a special representative of the president has told him to bring his spokesman along for the meeting. Hence, both the IGP and his spokesman were present at the president’s meeting with the media heads.

At the end of the meeting, the president has told the IGP, “Do not change the position of the police media spokesman for any reason. We want persons like him. Keep Ajith Rohana in that position until the conclusion of the presidential election.”

Then, summoning Ajith Rohana to him and patting him on the back, the president has told him, “Do not be afraid Ajith. Your name is at the top of the next DIGs promotion board. Carry on with your work.”

Landslide warning for Matale, Ratnapura and Kegalle districts

April 28, 2014 

The Disaster Management Center (DMC) today advised public living Matale, Ratnapura and Kegalle districts to be vigilant of possible landslides if rain continues for next 24 hours in those areas. 

The Department of Meteorology says that under the influence of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (The area where the winds coming from northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere meet) more showers is expected over the country during next few days.

Thundershowers will develop over most parts of the island during the afternoon and night. Heavy falls (around 100mm) are also likely at some places.

Showers can be expected in the coastal areas from Colombo to Batticaloa via Galle and Hambantota during the morning.

In Canada’s immigration law, anyone can be a terrorist

It’s called section 34 (1) (f) of Canada’s main immigration law, and it likely would have kept Nelson 

Oscar Vigil and his wife Carolina Teves. As a university student in El Salvador in the 1980s, Vigil acted as a contact between foreign journalists and rebel leaders during his country's civil war. After 13 years in Canada, Vigil is about to be deported as a "terrorist."

By: Oakland Ross Feature Writer, Published on Sun Apr 27 2014

One elderly woman’s only political act was to stitch together uniforms for armed rebels in Ethiopia, then ruled by a murderous tyrant named Haile Mariam Mengistu.

In Canada’s Immigration Law, Anyone Can Be a Terrorist by Thavam Ratna

Should religion and state education be kept separate?

SUNDAY 27 APRIL 2014
In a fiery Channel 4 News debate on an alleged Muslim "plot" to take over Birmingham schools, Labour MP Khalid Mahmood says "you have got to keep education secular" - but what do you think?

The debate (video, above) followed an exclusive Channel 4 News interview with one of the teachers at the centre of the alleged "Trojan Horse" plot, where it is claimed that a hardline, conservative Islamic group was trying to take control of a number of Brimingham schools in order to influence the education of thousands of children.

In the interview the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said that there was a campaign to bring more Muslim teachers and governors into schools in Birmingham - but said this was not a part of an extremist plot, but was to raise standards.

'Choice'

Mr Mahmod argued that religion in schools serves to segregate communities, and that education must stay secular but inform all pupils about the basis of all religions.

Journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said that all religions in schools are getting "too strong" and that we need a "rethink" about the role of religion in state education.

Massoud Shadjareh from the Islamic Human Rights Commission said that if state schools are all secular then "you are not going to give a whole section of the community parental choice."

What do you think the role of religion in state education should be? Take the Channel 4 News survey below.

Israel risks becoming apartheid state if peace talks fail, says John Kerry

It is believed to be the first time a US official of Kerry's standing has used the term 'apartheid' in the context of Israel

John Kerry, the US secretary of state. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem

Monday 28 April 2014

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has warned in a closed-door meeting that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state" if US-sponsored efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement fail.

In an apparent sign of Kerry's deep frustration over the almost certain collapse of the current nine-month round of peace talks – due to conclude on Tuesday – he blamed both sides for the lack of progress and said failure could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens.

The remarks were made on Friday at the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental organisation of experts and officials from the US, western Europe, Russia and Japan. A recording was acquired by the Daily Beastwebsite.

Kerry also suggested that a change of either Israeli or Palestinian leadership might create more favourable conditions for peace and the final, long-delayed agreement on the shape of a Palestinian state.

Kerry's remarks represent a significant departure, as senior US officials historically have avoided the word "apartheid" relating to Israeli policies. It is believed to be the first time a US official of Kerry's standing has used the contentious term in the context of Israel, even if only as a warning for the future.

Although the danger to Israel of a failure to move towards a two-state solution has been framed by Israeli politicians in similar terms, US officials have long been wary of following suit. When the former president Jimmy Carter used it for the tile of his 2006 book Palestine: Peace or Apartheid, it caused controversy.

Kerry's comments reflect similar recent warnings to Israel from western diplomats that the collapse of the peace talks might lead to the country's increasing isolation.

Kerry said: "A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens – or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.

"Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to."

Kerry has had a sometimes strained relationship with some senior Israeli officials as the peace talks have become gridlocked. In January Israel's defence minister, Moshe Ya'alon, described Kerry as "obsessive and messianic".

In 2008 in an interview during his election campaign, Barack Obama explicitly rejected "injecting a term like apartheid" into the discussion over Israel and Palestine. "It's emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it's not what I believe," he said.

Attempting to defuse the row, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the US state department, said: "Secretary Kerry, like justice minister Livni and previous Israeli prime ministers Olmert and Barak, was reiterating why there's no such thing as a one-state solution if you believe, as he does, in the principle of a Jewish state.

"[Kerry] was talking about the kind of future Israel wants and the kind of future both Israelis and Palestinians would want to envision. The only way to have two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution. And without a two-state solution, the level of prosperity and security the Israeli and Palestinian people deserve isn't possible."

The Emergency Committee for Israel, whose chairman is the prominent neo-conservative William Kristol, said: "On Friday, secretary of state John Kerry raised the spectre of Israel as an 'apartheid state'. Even Barack Obama condemned the use of this term when running for president in 2008. It is no longer enough for the White House to clean up after the messes John Kerry has made. It is time for John Kerry to step down as secretary of state, or for President Obama to fire him."

Egyptian court sentence on top Muslim Brotherhood leader and 682 supporters

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie shouts slogans from the defendant's cage during his trial with other leaders of the Brotherhood in a courtroom in Cairo December 11, 2013.

BY YASMINE SALEH- Mon Apr 28, 2014

(Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters to death on Monday, intensifying a crackdown on the movement that could trigger protests and political violence ahead of an election next month.

Egyptian Court Sentence on Top Muslim Brotherhood Leader and 682 Supporters by Thavam Ratna