Friday, March 18, 2016

Northern Province residents unhappy with army presence - CM to Australian HC

17 March 2016

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, said to the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka that the people in the province are against the continued presence of the military.

High Commissioner Bryce Hutcheson visited Jaffna with a delegation on Wednesday and met with the chief minister during his time in the North-East.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister, said to reporters,

"I can see the Central government and the Australian government are jointly involved in some activities. The role of the provincial government in these activities is less. I conveyed that it is proper to discuss with us, when it comes to helping our people."

Mr Wigneswaran said the high commissioner replied that it is being done jointly by both governments.

"I expressed that I am not against it. But, it is not correct to supersede the representatives of the people. And, he said that the same will be considered. Thereafter, he enquired about the present situation. I told him that there were some changes, however, the continued presence of the army is posing a problem for us. As per [the government's] claim, they provide us benefits, however, the continued presence of the army in the north, is not acceptable to our people,

"I reasoned him that six years was over since the end of war, so it will be proper to reduce the army presence. I stipulated that I am deeply hurt by the Central government’s actions, sidelining the provincial government. I also explained him that having given some powers to the provincial government, and describing it as power sharing, and later on, the Central government’s actions are in contradiction, only shows that it is against power sharing."

T. Kandasamy: Intellectually A Giant, And As a Man Kind, Fatherly & Exemplary

By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –March 18, 2016

Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Many men walk the earth but few have accolades written of them. Often such accolades come after death, and are exaggerated and of little value. T. Kandasamy, former Government Analyst (GA), is a man who deserves accolades while he is alive. And with his real achievements, there is no need to exaggerate anything.

His early life was in Burma (Myanmar) where his father from Ceylon was a Station Master for Burma Railways. Given the nature of his father’s work, young Kandasamy was boarded at a Rangoon Catholic School, spending only 3 months a year at home. His schooling ended when the Japanese declared war on 7th December 1941 and he came to Ceylon in July 1942. It involved a long march to India that left many dead.

T. Kandasamy, B.Sc. Hons. Cey., M.Sc. London, D.I.C.

He went to Skanda Varodaya College Jan. 1943 – Dec. 1946. He did the school proud by being the first boy to gain university entrance. At the university, he was one of seven selected for the BSc Chemistry course after the first examination and graduated with 2nd class Honours in 1950. He was appointed to the GA’s in April 1951 from where he retired as GA in 1986.

Kandasamy went to England on a Colombo Plan Scholarship to specialise in Pharmaceutical Analysis. He earned his M.Sc. London and DIC in Food and Drugs at Imperial College of Science and Technology. He had training at the Quality Control Laboratories of Burroughs and Glaxo and at Government Chemist Laboratory, London. He followed evening classes on the Chemistry of Food and Drugs to take the Branch E Diploma examination conducted by the Royal Institute of Chemistry – a required qualification under the Food and Drugs Act to be appointed as Public Analyst in the UK.

These were amazing achievements on one scholarship for the MSc which was a rare degree in the 1950s. However, I see his values and example as far more important to posterity and that is what this article is about.

Kandasamy: The Person

Every citizen shall be entitled to apply to the Human Rights Court, in respect of any infringement or imminent infringement, by legislative, executive or administrative action, of a fundamental human right enunciated in sections from 1 to 9 to seek personal redress. If the infringement is outside the premises of the public authorities, the Human Rights Court may refer the matter to the Human Rights Commission for redress or settlement.

by Laksiri Fernando

( March 18, 2016, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) One of the key challenges of drafting a new constitution might be (1) whether and how ‘economic, social and cultural rights’ could be constitutionalized, and (2) what are the ways and means of operationalizing them in some meaningful way in a new constitution. It is understood that legal remedies cannot easily be sought in the case of ‘economic, social and cultural rights,’ like in the case of ‘civil and political rights.’ What might be achieved is ‘public interest litigation,’ in addition to the already accepted provision for filing individual fundamental rights cases in respect of ‘civil and political rights.’

If ‘economic, social and cultural rights’ are written only as ‘decoration,’ then there is a possibility of incorporating most or all of them in a constitution, as recognized in international instruments. However, considering that even allowing ‘public interest litigation’ is serious business, what is proposed here limits to (1) the right to work, (2) right to education, (3) right to health care and (4) cultural rights, both as individuals and groups.

The Public Representations Committee (PRC) on Constitutional Reforms had requested the public to submit proposals on ‘Fundamental Rights and Duties,’ among other 20 titles, the 15^th of March being the deadline. The PRC also requested people to submit proposals on ‘Directive Principles on State Policy.’ It was my proposal, published previously, to give prominence to duties under a chapter on “Fundamental Duties of the State, Political Parties and Citizens,” instead of a chapter on State Policy, but incorporating some of the important public policy matters.

On the question of ‘Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms’ following are the proposals submitted which are self-explanatory. In addition to the incorporation of some key ‘economic, social and cultural rights,’ the right to life, abolition of capital punishment, media and academic freedom, non-discrimination on sexual preference, dual citizenship, and the emphasis on responsibilities along with rights, as appropriate, can be considered some of the new proposals.

We took loan to pay the loan taken by the former regime – Finance Minister

Mar 18, 2016

Finance minister Ravi Karunanayaka said that contradictions exists in the accounts submitted to the expenditures made by the Mahinda Rajapaksa governance which took loan to build the Maththala airport and the Katunayaka highway.

Finance minister Ravi Karunanayaka convening a media briefing said the above as a respond to the allegation made by former President recently that his governance was not responsible for the current fiscal crisis faced by country but the current government.

Finance minister who explained the discrepancy between the loan taken and the expenditures spent with statistics and said the expenditures are not clear hence the current government is bound to pay the loans taken.

Higher interest rates
Finance minister said that he has published the financial figures of the accounts published and loans taken for higher interest rates and announced the Mahinda Rajapaksa governance to publish the accounts for the unaccounted money.

Further stating the finance minister said the current government has taken loans not to any other purpose but to pay the loans taken by the former regime. Finance mister stressed that the new government would not burden the people to pay the loans taken by the previous government.

Finance minister pointed out that the current government has to pay the loss incurred by the previous regime of importing rice from Bangladesh and the loss acquired from the Sri Lankan airlines.

Top Lankan team heading to Brussels on EU fishery ban

Saturday, 19 March 2016
Lankan fishery exporters during their meeting with State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe. EDB Chairperson/CEO Indira Malwatte is also present.

In the backdrop of the Government’s continued efforts to resolve the EU fishery ban, a top team of officials from Sri Lanka is now scheduled to depart for Brussels for decisive talks on the matter.

The Lankan team will include members from the Prime Ministerial Task Force on the EU Fishery Ban.

“A top Lankan delegation on the EU fishery ban is scheduled to leave for Brussels on 30 March,” revealed Seafood Exporters Asso-ciation of Sri Lanka (SEASL) Chairman and Global Sea Foods Managing Director Prabhash Subasinghe.

Subasinghe was addressing State Minister of Intern-ational Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe on 17 March at the EDB during a special discussion the latter was attending with Lankan seafood exporters. Representatives from leading seafood export firms of Sri Lanka including Global Seafoods Ltd., NorthWest Fishery and Sri Lanka Aquaculture Producers Association amongst others were meeting Senasingheto apprise him of issues faced by them.

On 14 October 2014, the EU declared: “Sri Lanka is not complying with international rules on illegal fishing and Lankan control systems inadequate. Fisheries products caught by vessels flagged in Sri Lanka will not be able to enter the EU market.”

Thereafter, in March 2015, under the supervision of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a Committee was appointed on the fishery ban which continuously met and updated the EU with its progress reports. The 2014 EU fish ban affected Sri Lanka’s seafood exports and the 500,000 strong fishery sector livelihoods.

“A top Lankan delegation on the EU Fishery ban is scheduled to leave for Brussels on 30 March. This meeting is almost expected to be the final, and a decisive meeting with EU on the fishery ban issue and its outcome will determine our fishery export outlook to Europe in future. We believe the outcome will be favourable for Sri Lanka,” said Subasinghe.

He added: “Especially in the post-ban period, our seafood exports are suffering and complicating the situation is the unfriendly import and export policy environment. For example, we need to pay a licence fee of $50 per tonof seafood we export while suffering from inadequate production volumes to meet the export demands. We need the Government’s support for us to increase production. The 9% tariff charged by China on our seafood exports is a problem and this needs to be discussed at FTA formulation. We praise the Government’s prompt responses to the EU in this, which are helping us to overcome our export setbacks.”

Despite the ban, three EU countries – Italy, UK and the Netherlands – wereamong the top five buyers of Lankan seafood in 2014, while the US and Japan topped the list in the same year. Lankan seafood production tripled by 2015 from 2004 volumes and of the total harvest, only about a quarter is exported due to heavy domestic consumer demand. More than 70% of Lankan seafood exports consist of tuna fish. $252.7 mof Lankan seafood exports in 2014 declined by 35% to $163.1 m in 2015.

Responding, Minister Senasinghesaid: “I too have been given to understand that the EU fishery ban issue is now heading for a favourable resolution and a Lankan team leaving for Brussels is good news for you, our fishery exporters. In fact, 95% of compliance work on the fishery ban has been completed by us. The EU ban had a cascading effect on our fishery sector and livelihoods. It also damaged our international image as a reputed seafood exporter.Therefore it is time we commence an image building campaign and also time to launch sustainable fisheries based efforts so that we can make fishery exports a $1 b sector soon.”

“The way to achieve $1 b in seafood is by becoming smarter in comparison to the competition,” stressed EDB Chairperson/CEO Indira Malwatte. “For example, take your marketing. It is time for Lankan seafood to enter global markets as a common, single brand to build its brand and overcome the setbacks. The EDB can help in building Lankan fishery image overseas.”

Sri Lankacomplies with the stringent regulations imposed by importing countries and adheres to HACCP, BRP, Friend of Sea and other food security environment friendly requirements when it comes to seafood exports.

The fishery reps also thanked the EDB for its continued help to them to enhance their exports at the 17 March meeting.

Economy to grow by 6.2-6.8% this year: Ravi K

Reuters: Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake believes the country’s economy will grow between 6.2% and 6.8% this year, exceeding an estimate of 5.3% by the State-run Statistics office, while analysts expect it to fall short of potential growth.

Growth slowed to 4.8% last year from the previous year’s 4.9%. The fourth quarter’s 2.5% expansion was the slowest since the second quarter of 2014 and less than half the 5.6% growth in the previous quarter. “I believe we are in the range of 6.2 to 6.8%, averaging 6.5% to 6.6%,” Karunanayake told reporters, attributing the lower growth to a cut in government spending and some anti-corruption measures.

Last year’s less-than-expected expansion took place in a framework of loose fiscal and monetary policy. President Maithripala Sirisena raised the salaries of State employees, who make up around 7% of the population. Interest rates were at record lows.

Sri Lanka’s finances are under scrutiny after ratings agency Fitch on 29 February downgraded its sovereign rating by a notch, to “B+”, spurred by a ballooning fiscal deficit, rising foreign debt and sluggish growth prospects.

It also faces a balance-of-payments crisis after a third of its foreign exchange reserves were depleted within the 15 months to January by the Central Bank’s defence of the rupee, pressured by heavy debt piled up under the previous Government.

The Central Bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points last month, and the government last week announced a raft of tax increases in a move to qualify for an IMF loan. Those measures are expected to weigh on the growth, analysts say.

In an investor note, Capital Economics forecast the $82.2 billion economy to grow at 4.5% this year.

“We see little chance of a pick-up next year. This would be well below the economy’s potential growth rate, but it is the price that must be paid for repeating old mistakes,” it said.

An IMF loan should stave off a potential crisis in the near term, and the economy still has enough going for it to keep growth from collapsing, Capital Economics said.

Moving From Conventional Farming To Organic Farming

By Chandre Dharmawardana –March 18, 2016

Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana

Moving From Conventional Farming To Organic Farming – Jumping From The Frying Pan Into The Fire?

I number of people have expresses surprise about my statement that “Organic fertilizers made by repeated composting of leaves can have dangerous amounts of metal toxins like Cd and As, as plants bio-accumulate them”, quoted from ‘Wholesome agriculture’ for a ‘toxin free nation’?. Others have expressed surprise at the statement that “Chemical analyzes of the soil, water and food have NOT revealed any relevant toxins from agrochemicals.”

The latter is the conclusion that we can derive from the world-health-organization (WHO) and Sri lanka National-Science foundation (NSF) funded study (2013) of the Rajarata environment in the context of chronic kidney disease. The WHO-NSF issued a second report where they speculated on the possibility that there may be some risk from Cadmium toxins in the food. The latter has not been confirmed by subsequent studies, while the absence of metal toxins like Cd, As, lead etc., in the soil, water table, reservoirs and rivers has been confirmed by more recent studies (after 2013) from the geology department, Peradeniya University, by the University of Tokyo and other studies including those from an Australian study.

Professor James McWilliams, a “green” advocate and author of “Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly” writes:

“One issue … overlooked in the rush to … organic agriculture is the prevalence of excess arsenic, lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury, copper, and zinc in organic soil. Soil ecologists and environmentalists … have known for more than a century that … conventional farming leave heavy metals in the ground. But the fact that you’ll also find the same toxins in organic soil has been something of a dirty little secret”.

New Zealand is one of the biggest users of synthetic fertilizer, applying 1700 kg/hectare in 2012. Other comparative figures (per hectare, World Bank data) are, Malaysia,1600, Singapore 3400, Holland 300, India 165, Sri Lanka 198, Nicaragua 50. Both Nicaragua and Sri Lanka have chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDU). There are similar trends for glyphosate (herbicide) use. While Nicaragua uses very little fertilizer and glyphosate, New Zealand which uses more than 34 times has no CKDU.

Singapore (3400) and especially Qatar (11,650) use enormous quantities of synthetic fertilizer while Quatar has to deal with a desert. Singapore attempts to make the most out of its small land area and use modern agriculture. There are parts of USA where the fertilizer use is even double that of New Zealand, but the overall national average is less than that in Europe.

2016-03-18

Nine trainee soldiers who have fallen sick at an army training school were admitted to Aralaganwila Hospital last evening. Later on, they have been transferred to Polonnaruwa Hospital for further treatments, Police Media Unit told Ceylon Today Online.

Furthermore, yesterday it was reported that a trainee soldier for the same military training facility died upon his admission to Aralaganwila Hospital.

Aralaganwila Police is conducting further investigations into the incident.

A Clear Indictment On Sri Lanka Police

752 complaints against the police in three months-
by Camelia Nathaniel-Friday, March 18, 2016

‘Not a day goes by without reports of police officers overstepping the
bounds of the Constitution’

The National Police Commission (NPC) has so far received 752 complaints against the police from October 21, 2015 to date. According to the secretary of the NPC, N. Ariyadasa Cooray, as and when they receive these complaints the NPC calls for a report from the police.

“Currently these

reports are being processed, and we are geared to conduct the investigation into these cases. First of all, we have to call for reports from the police, and they may have started preparing these reports already, and I believe that 60 to 70 per cent of the reports are being gathered. We have 9 provincial offices and the complaints received are from the entire island,” he added.

According to Cooray, 60-70 per cent of the cases are complaints about partiality, abuse of power, and police inaction. He said the NPC members had met for a discussion on Friday and were categorising these complaints.

Of over 700 complaints received so far, the latest incidents reported was a youth who had allegedly been killed by police in Embilipitiya.

The following incidents are cautionary tales for anyone who still thinks that they can defy police officers without deadly repercussions, even if it is simply to disagree about a speeding ticket, challenge a search warrant, or defend oneself against an unreasonable or unjust charge. The message they send is that “we, the people”, have very little protection from the police.

There is a saying that ‘to a hammer, everything looks like a nail’. In the scenario that has been playing out in recent years, we the citizenry have become the nails to be hammered by the government’s henchmen, the nation’s law-enforcement agencies.

Not a day goes by without reports of police officers overstepping the bounds of the Constitution and brutalizing, terrorizing, and killing the citizenry. Indeed, the list of incidents in which unaccountable police abuse their power, betray their oaths of office, and leave taxpayers bruised, broken, and/or killed grow longer and more tragic by the day.

As a result, no more do we have a civilian force of peace officers entrusted with serving and protecting the Sri Lankan people. Instead, today’s militarised law-enforcement officials have shifted their allegiance from the citizenry to the State, engaging in pre-emptive acting to ward off any possible challenges to the government’s power. Making matters worse, when these officers – who have long since ceased to be peace officers – violate their oaths by bullying, beating, shooting, and killing innocent people.

Today, among both police officials and rank and file officers, it is widely recognised that police brutality hinders good law enforcement. Nonetheless, even one person, or a small group of persistent people, can make a big difference. Sometimes outmoded and abusive police practices prevail largely because no one has ever questioned them. In such cases, the simple act of spotlighting a problem can have a powerful effect that leads to reform. Just by raising questions, one person or a few people — who need not be experts — can open up some corner of the all-too-secretive and insular world of policing to public scrutiny.

Hence a group of lawyers is ready to file a public interest litigation next week against the police over their continuing violation of basic human rights of the general public.

Lawyer Thushara S. Daskon speaking to The Sunday Leader said that there have been many instances of HR violations by police, although they were tasked with maintaining law and order.

“We will seek an order by the Supreme Court, detailing how the police should act in human rights cases. There are 70 cases that we have cited in this litigation, including the latest Embilipitiya incident,” he said.

Meanwhile expressing his views with regard to the NPC, he said that there was no way that the people will receive justice through it.

“The secretary of the NPC clearly told us that they have no authority to take any action against the police. The NPC has the mandate only to act on police internal matters. So, they have no authority to take action against the police when they commit human rights violations. Therefore, we have no faith in the NPC. Moreover, the NPC has called for reports regarding the police human rights violations from the police itself. This is a ridiculous situation. There is no way that the NPC can be effective under these circumstances.”

When asked what action they propose to take, he said, since they do not believe the NPC can do anything effective, they have no faith in the NPC, they have sought the intervention of the Supreme Court.

“Although we blame the police, even they don’t have proper guidelines on how to deal with certain human rights cases, and therefore a Supreme Court’s order will be the best reference for the future too, in order to prevent such incidents from recurring. This will help the police as well. A case will be filed in the Supreme Court, seeking new criteria on how police should investigate a crime and for implementing the law, in order to prevent public harassment,” he added.

Meanwhile, Attorney-at-law Udul Premaratne told The Sunday Leader that in the case of the Embilipitiya incident, the police media spokesman had stated that once the autopsy report was received, they would consider arresting the perpetrators. This is totally against the law as there are eyewitnesses to what took place that day.”

On the NPC, he said the government now tries to wash their hands of this case by saying that a NPC has been appointed and the police is independent.

“However, the NPC says that they don’t have the power to order to arrest any police officer. The NPC says they too are unclear about the powers vested on them. Then who takes responsibility for these atrocities committed by the police? The ball is being passed from person to person, but in the end no one is taking on the responsibility.

“But the biggest issue I raise is none of them, but of the law is in the hands of the rulers. During the previous regime the law was manipulated by the rulers and this government, although they claim they are not interfering, pretty much does the same, in a more subtle manner. This is the fault of the whole system,” he said.

In the Embilipitiya incident, the NPC has called for a report from the police itself. According to Premaratne, this is a totally hideous state of affairs. “Just imagine in any incident where a case is taken up even in courts, and the police is called to give evidence, will they testify or give evidence against one of their higher-ups? In this incident, the main accused is the ASP and there is no way that the police to give any report or evidence against him. There is no need for any reports as there are eyewitnesses to what happened that day. But the people are afraid to come forward because they are afraid of the repercussions they may have to face.

“The NPC too is nothing more than a ploy to hoodwink the people, and they too will cover up the atrocities committed by the police,” he added.

Meanwhile Inspector General of Police N. K. Illangakoon had been called before the National Police Commission, to discuss issues concerning the Embilipitiya incident, and decide the next step regarding the matter.

In addition, 21 police officers transferred from Embilipitiya following the incident have been summoned to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission to obtain statements. The incident relates to the conflict between a group of civilians and police at a party in Embilipitiya on January 4. The conflict led to the death of a 29-year-old Sumith Prasanna Jayewardene, who according to the police, fell from the top floor of the building, where the party was being held in Embilipitiya.

The country has come to a point where instead of meting out justice and maintaining law and order, police officials have resorted to protecting the offending police officers.

When The Sunday Leader contacted the police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara regarding the NPC, he said, the NPC has the superior power regarding disciplinary measures of the police.

“So when the NPC asks for the report from the IGP, he will submit a full report. It is the right of the public to complain against the police to the NPC and we respect their right. The NPC will also not take any action against the police officers without conducting a proper investigation. The Department of Police too is ready to support the NPC in these investigations,” he said and added that the police will take strict action against the police officers cited in these cases, if they were found guilty.

Islandwide power failure restored fully in 5 days but another transformer breaks down soon after ! -Dep. Minister Ajith’s special statement (video)

(Lanka-e-News -18.March.2016, 11.45PM) After the Biygama power transformer broke down and was followed by the collapse of Norochcholai power plant an all Islandwide power cut resulted. Though the situation was brought back to normal fully within five days, today again however , at Kotugoda, a transformer similar to that has exploded in the same way as before . These transformers too are of the same age as the Biyagama transformer.

Deputy minister of power and energy Ajith P.Perera said, this is a situation equivalent to national disaster , while adding decisions must be taken on a scientific basis without getting too emotional or kowtowing to politics .Already Germany’s MR Co. which produced the transformers and their local representatives are in Sri Lanka (SL). Along with our local engineers they are attending to the repairs, he stated.

After the collapse at Kotugoda , though an Islandwide power cut did not follow , several areas were affected , the minister reevaled.

Ajith P.Perera’s speech can be viewed by clicking hereunder

---------------------------
by (2016-03-18 23:51:21)

Factory fire in Sapugaskanda

2016-03-18

A sudden fire has erupted at a warehouse in a factory in Sapugaskanda Police division last evening, Police Media Unit told Ceylon Today Online.

Police have successfully doused the fire with the assistance of Gampaha Fire Brigade and residents of the area. The entire storage facility has been destroyed and the damage caused by the fire has not yet been estimated.

It has been revealed that the fire was caused by an electrical leakage and Sapugaskanda Police is conducting further investigations into the incident.

Clinton: A Better Servant Of Corporate Interests Than Trump

By Jude Fernando –March 18, 2016

Jude Fernando

During periods of acute political and economic crises, corporate elites will always prefer a Hillary-type Democrat to a Trump-like Republican. Candidates like Hillary Clinton absorb society’s discontent, drawing attention away from corporations. Instead, they divert the public’s attention by putting a human story in the forefront (“the first woman President!”), and mask neoliberalism with traditional liberal stumping. But Clinton, like her husband before her, will enact policies that discipline the entire political economy to function according to corporate interests, and will continue to ignore and punish the victims of those interests. She (and her corporate backers) are depending on the desperation of Democratic voters to avoid a Trump presidency, and campaign on the promise that there is no viable alternative: it’s either Clinton or Trump.

Admittedly, it’s a hard moment to be a liberal when the party of liberalism has moved so far to the right, but this notion of no alternative (“Hillary, or else!”) is not a cure. Even those who hope it will be a temporary salve while we work to move the Democratic party back to the middle left where it theoretically belongs, will be deeply disappointed. The labor unions who have supported Clinton (sometimes in direct opposition to the wishes of their rank-and-file members) will find Clinton is far less concerned about their interests than their votes. When the Service Workers International and American Federation of Teachers endorsed Clinton, it practically tore the unions apart, and the rank-and-file, as usual, have the right of it. Union heads may feel betrayed, but the rank-and-file know she was never with them in the first place. In fact, unions run by the rank-and-file, like the ATF, Communication Workers of America, the American Postal Workers Union, and the AFL-CIO locals, are backing Sanders.

Inside the Abu Khusa family’s home, where two children died in an Israeli air strike, 12 March.Momen Faiz

Hamza Abu Eltarabesh-18 March 2016

Yasin and Ayoub Abu Khusa were as close as two brothers could be. They slept beside each other and walked to school together. They were the best of friends.

Thirteen-year-old Ayoub does not know how he will cope without Yasin, 10. On Saturday, Yasin was killed when Israel attacked their neighborhood in northern Gaza.

“When I found Yasin losing consciousness and covered with blood, I sat in the corner and started crying from fear,” Ayoub said.

To make matters worse, their 6-year-old sister Isra was also killed.

Media reports about the killings relied heavily on Israeli propaganda. The reports conveyed the impression that the children were killed accidentally as Israel targeted a nearby training camp for the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

The reports also insinuated that the family was partly to blame because they lived beside a Hamas training camp.

Sabha, the children’s mother, offers a perspective that has been omitted from those reports.

The Abu Khusas are a Palestinian Bedouin family. Their home, located on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, had been previously attacked twice by Israel in recent years.

As a result, the family asked the authorities within Gaza that they be moved somewhere that was considered safer. Their request went unanswered. They did not receive any financial aid to repair the damage caused by the previous attacks.

“How are we guilty?” Sabha asked. “Why have our children been denied a chance to live in safety?”

“Deep shock”

The family’s home was completely dark at the time of the attack. As happens frequently in Gaza, there had been a power cut.

The attack took place without warning in the early hours last Saturday morning.

Suleiman, the children’s father, woke up in a state of panic when he heard the explosion. He ran towards the children’s room. There was smoke everywhere.

It was immediately clear that Yassin could not move. Suleiman found Isra groaning in pain.

The body of Yasin Abu Khusa, 10, is shrouded before his burial in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, on 12 March.

Momen Faiz

An ambulance was called. But when 15 minutes had elapsed and there was no sign of it, a neighbor drove Isra and Yasin to a hospital, along with their father.

Suleiman screamed at his neighbor to drive as fast as possible. Yasin died during the journey.

“My neighbor whispered that my son was dead,” Suleiman said. “I kept silent for a moment. Then I screamed louder.”

The car stopped in Indonesia hospital, a recently opened facility in Jabaliya refugee camp. Isra was rushed to the intensive care unit; Yasin’s remains were brought to the morgue.

After a few hours, Isra was transferred to al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital.

“Deep shock”

Back at the family’s home, friends and neighbors soon began calling to offer their condolences. Yasin’s funeral was held soon after his death, in accordance with Palestinian traditions. Teachers and pupils from his school were among those to attend.

Just one hour after Yasin was buried, the family received a phone call from al-Shifa hospital. Isra had died from her injuries, they were told.

“We were in deep shock,” Suleiman said.

Sabha had dreamed of Isra getting married in the future. Isra would be a beautiful bride.

Sabha is barely able to talk now. She cannot comprehend what has happened to her family. She could only speak a few sentences when asked for a comment.

The Abu Khusa family posed no threat to anyone. They were trying to survive as best they could by grazing sheep and planting crops. Israel has robbed them of two precious children.

Hamza Abu Eltarabesh is a journalist in Gaza

Key suspect in Paris attacks captured in Brussels raid; four others arrested

Police with dogs and drones secure a residential area in Molenbeek, Belgium.

By James McAuley, Griff Witte and Michael Birnbaum-March 18

PARIS — Belgian counterterrorism police raided an apartment block in Brussels on Friday and arrested Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last year’s bloody terrorist attacks in Paris, after a shootout that left him wounded, European leaders said.

Four other people were also arrested, three of them members of Abdeslam’s family, as police carried out three raids over a four-hour operation, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said. One of the four, identified as Monir Ahmed al-Hadj, was wounded, the spokesman, Eric van der Sypt, told reporters in Brussels.

Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French national of Moroccan descent, was shot in the leg during the operation, officials said.

Police say Abdeslam drove a car to Paris from Brussels, where he lived, as part of a plan to participate in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded at least 368 others. But he fled the scene, possibly after shedding a suicide vest. Seven other attackers died, including one of his brothers. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault.

Abdeslam, a resident of the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels before the attacks, had eluded authorities since then despite a massive manhunt across Europe.

Hours after the initial raid, explosions were heard in a Brussels neighborhood where police searched for other suspected terrorists. Belgium’s VTM television channel reported that another suspect was arrested there.

Four Million Muslims Killed in US-NATO Wars: Should We Call It Genocide?

Hearkening back to the Japanese interment camps of WWII, some Americans are now calling for Muslims to be placed in camps or even openly calling for genocide against the 1.6 billion practitioners of the faith.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH AND INJURY Afghan villagers sit near the bodies of children who they said were killed during an air strike in Kunar province April 7, 2013.REUTERS/Stringer

Image: Afghan villagers sit near the bodies of children who they said were killed during a NATO air strike in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. April 7, 2013. (Reuters)

Note: Following the recent US House of Representatives vote to declare that ISIS is committing genocide in Iraq and Syria, we bring to the attention of our readers this article originally published in August 2015.

It may never be possible to know the true death toll of the modern Western wars on the Middle East, but that figure could be 4 million or higher. Since the vast majority of those killed were of Arab descent, and mostly Muslim, when would it be fair to accuse the United States and its allies of genocide?

A March report by Physicians for Social Responsibility calculates the body count of the Iraq War at around 1.3 million, and possibly as many as 2 million. However, the numbers of those killed in Middle Eastern wars could be much higher. The actual death toll could reach as high as 4 million if one includes not just those killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the victims of the sanctions against Iraq, which left about 1.7 million more dead, half of them children, according to figures from the United Nations.

Raphael Lemkin and the definition of genocide

The term “genocide” did not exist prior to 1943, when it was coined by a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin. Lemkin created the word by combining the Greek root “geno,” which means people or tribe, with “-cide,” derived from the Latin word for killing.

he Nuremberg trials, in which top Nazi officials were prosecuted for crimes against humanity, began in 1945 and were based around Lemkin’s idea of genocide. By the following year, it was becoming international law, according to United to End Genocide: