Sunday, January 15, 2017

Paris summit warns against 'unilateral' solution to Mideast conflict

Britain cites reservations over conference without Israeli or Palestinian representatives, just days before transition to new US president

US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini (2nd right) as they take part with other foreign ministers and representatives in family picture during Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday (AFP)

By Cecile Feuillatre and Clare Byrne-Sunday 15 January 2017

A conference for peace in the Middle East on Sunday warned Israel and the Palestinians against "unilateral steps" on Jerusalem and borders that could threaten a negotiated solution to their seven-decade conflict.

About 70 countries attending the Paris talks called on the two sides to avoid steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final status issues, including among other things, Jerusalem, borders, security and refugees.

The participants in the conference "will not recognise" such steps, they said.

They also said that the basis for the negotiations should be the 1967 borders, before Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told a news conference.

France organised the gathering to reaffirm global support for a Palestinian state existing alongside an Israeli state - a scenario the Palestinians fear could be jeopardised by Donald Trump's incoming US administration.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians attended the conference, which the Palestinians supported but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as "futile".

Britain cited "reservations" over the conference and refused to sign a joint statement that called for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the British had "particular reservations" about the meeting in Paris taking place without Israeli or Palestinian representatives, "just days before the transition to a new American president".

Britain had therefore attended the talks as an observer only, the spokesman said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who attended the talks on his farewell tour, said he had negotiated to prevent Israel being treated unfairly.

"We did what was necessary to have a balanced resolution," Kerry told reporters.

Ayrault said that the participants had set out the 1967 frontiers as the basis for final-status negotiations.

The conference comes as Trump's campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sparks fears of a major escalation in the Middle East.

Ayrault said such a move, which would support Israel's claim that Jerusalem is its capital, would be a "provocation".

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has warned it would "destroy" peace efforts.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The status of the city is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault told France 3 TV.

President Francois Hollande told the gathering that the prospect of two independent states coexisting side-by-side - seen as increasingly elusive - was "not the dream of yesterday's system.

"It remains the goal of the entire international community," he said.

Netanyahu, who insists only direct talks with the Palestinians can bring peace, dismissed the Paris meeting as "a last gasp of the past".

Both Netanyahu and Abbas have been invited to meet with Hollande to discuss the conclusions of the Paris talks.

Abbas is expected to travel to Paris in the coming weeks but Netanyahu has rejected the offer, French diplomats said.

The conference was mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as president.

Trump has said "there's nobody more pro-Israeli than I am" and his choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a hardliner who says he looks forward to working from "Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem"

Israel, which is still seething over a critical UN resolution last month, had voiced fears the Paris meeting could produce anti-Israel measures at the Security Council - before Trump takes over.

EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the conference's conclusions on Monday, EU sources said.

It was uncertain whether they would issue a statement, with Britain and some central European countries reluctant to upset the incoming Trump administration, a European diplomat said.

Israeli-Palestinian efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Tensions have spiralled recently after a wave of Palestinian attacks and inflammatory rhetoric on both sides.

Israel's ongoing expansion of settlements on occupied Palestinian territory is also seen as a major obstacle to a resolution.

More than 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements considered illegal by the UN.

On Saturday, Abbas warned that relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem could "destroy the prospects of any political process" and fuel extremism.

The Paris conference comes les than a month after a landmark UN Security Council resolution criticising Israeli settler activity.

The vote passed after the Obama administration - in a parting shot at Netanyahu - took the rare step of abstaining rather than using its veto to protect Israel.

Kerry said at the time that Israeli settlement policy was leading towards "one state", with "millions of Palestinians permanently living in segregated enclaves".

Six years after the fall of Ben Ali, demands of revolution still to be realised

New revolts brewing

Al-Badil al-Ishtiraki, CWI in Tunisia-14/01/2017

Below is a slightly edited and longer version of a leaflet distributed in the streets of Tunis today, 14 January, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the revolutionary overthrow of Dictator Ben Ali.

“How do you expect me to make a living?” was the reported cry of then 27 year-old Mohamed Bouazizi when he soaked himself with gasoline, before pouring himself on fire on December 17, 2010 – triggering a snowballing movement of mass revolt against the corrupt dictatorship of President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown less than a month later, on January 14, 2011.

Six years later, a huge number of young Tunisians still have no decent foundations on which to build a future on. A new study carried out by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) has revealed that 45.2% of young Tunisians between 18 and 34 years-old want to migrate to Europe, and 1,000 Tunisians have died while making the journey since 2011.

These figures speak volumes about the complete bankruptcy of the ruling politicians to guarantee work and dignity - demands at the very heart of the 2010-11 popular uprising. The much talked about persistence of the jihadist danger is, before all, the expression of an economic system which vomits and marginalizes large sections of its youth, whose rage and frustrations are then channelled and exploited in a reactionary direction by fundamentalist groups, such as Daesh.

Offering a job to all young Tunisians would deal a bigger blow to such organisations than any of the vast “anti-terrorist” operations carried out by the State. These are often used as an excuse for the stigmatisation of entire neighbourhoods and a justification for perpetuating a climate of police terror and abuse on people who are not terrorists.

New budget

Despite the promises of social equity and of “shared sacrifice”, the Financial Law for 2017, adopted by the Parliament in December, confirms the general trajectory adopted by Chahed’s government since its inception, and in fact by all governments since 2011: continuously seeking money from within the pockets of those who have the least, in order to enrich those who have already the most.

While the “exaggerated” claims of workers are regularly blamed for the state of the public finances, the reality is that big corporations have never paid so little taxes than today - and they are rewarded with a new array of additional tax gifts for the New Year, in the name of “promoting investment” – despite the fact that these fiscal advantages have demonstrated time and again to have no or little incidence on the level of investments (which are at historic low) while having dramatic incidence on the fortunes accumulated by the super-rich, as much as on the impoverishment of the rest of society.

Meanwhile, the demands of the unemployed, the poor and the salaried workers, and the recurrent cries of despair emanated from the inland regions, remain largely ignored.

No wonder, in these conditions, that the popularity of the present government and of the presidency is nosediving. In 2016 alone, the satisfaction with Presidency Essebsi declined markedly from 51.3% in April to 41.9% in October, then to 32.7% in December. The political authority of the prime minister is following a similar direction.

Meanwhile, the number of strikes and social movements has exploded, with last year the highest number on record since 2011 (nearly 1,000). The last few weeks have seen tens of thousands of construction workers, midwives, day care workers, teachers of secondary education, and many more taking industrial action. A report by the Ministry of Social Affairs also shows a great increase in the rate of participation in these strikes. A growing layer of workers realise that this is the only way to go if to secure a future for them and for their families.

Counter-revolutionary government

This government, despite its pretensions, has totally failed the people. This is not surprising, as it never had the least intention to satisfy the demands of the revolution in the first place. Set up in the corridors of power, with the backing of Western powers, this government was essentially built to try and block these demands, which have never stopped to be raised for the last six years, up and down the country. The State repression against political and social activists and the criminalization of class conflicts responds directly to this objective, as evidenced by the proliferation of political trials against people who have been involved in sit-ins, strikes and demonstrations.

But the stifling of struggles will be facilitated if every sector, every community, every company, every locality fights on its own. Our enemy is sharpening its preparation for broader confrontations, and we have to be ready too. What is needed is a generalised and nationally coordinated struggle against this government.

The solid general strike that took place on Thursday, in Meknassi, in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, shows the way. It is by these types of methods that we drove Ben Ali out, even though the ruling elite would like us to forget it. The role of the working class in our revolution is being systematically and consciously downplayed by the spokespeople and commentators of the ruling class, as the latter dreads a repetition of mass working class upheavals erupting in the future.

The same is true in Egypt. Journalist Peter Speetjens was correct to point out that, “Today, we all know the heroic images of Egyptians, young and old, occupying Tahrir Square, resisting police and even camel raids, while calling for president Hosni Mubarak to step down and the 30-year state of emergency to end. Much less known are the doctors, bus drivers, textile workers and thousands and thousands of other labourers who went on strike and crippled the country.”

Similarly, the mobilization of the Tunisian working class through mass strike action is the only weapon that can push back the counter-revolution, now in the form of Chahed’s so-called “national unity” coalition. Significantly, the mere threat of a general strike by the union leaders on 8 December 2016 was enough to force the government to back down on its plan to freeze public sector wages for a year.

But it is also necessary to link words to actions, in order to build a serious relationship of forces in favour of our movement. The content of the new budget, and the new austerity attacks that will undoubtedly fall in the coming year, justifies more than mere threats. Today we need 10, 20, 30 Meknassi’s across the country! The ingredients for this exist, as a wind of revolt is brewing everywhere.

The Left, the UGTT and the various social movements should work together to develop a joint action plan culminating in a national general strike for jobs, wages and regional development. Local popular action committees, as they already exist in some areas, need to extend across the country and coordinate their action on a local, regional and countrywide basis.

Beyond the need for an offensive and coordinated strategy for the grassroots struggle, a larger debate is necessary about the political alternative we need. The fact that the Popular Front, in spite of all its leadership’s limitations, hesitations, and past mistakes, managed to preserve a popularity rate turning around 10%, is indicative of the potential for the rebuilding of a mass revolutionary political force. Popular Front rank-and-file members, trade unionists from the UGTT, and activists from social movements could play a critical role to bring such a mass party into shape.

The inability of all successive governments since Ben Ali to satisfy the people’s demands is not a simple matter of circumstances; it is a conscious political choice. This choice is to serve the interests of the capitalist class, the handful of multinational companies and rich Tunisian families who control the major sectors of the Tunisian economy, and who have an immense leverage over the ruling parties and over the representatives in the Assembly. This elite want to make the economy work solely for its own benefits. For this reason it blocks any move in the direction of alleviating the suffering, poverty, unemployment and social problems that exist and grow out of its rotten system.

In order to break with this logic, we will need to fight for a government that, unlike all the previous ones, is prepared to take on the large fortunes who today “call the shots”, to refuse to pay the illegitimate debt that enriches international creditors in the tune of billions of dinars, and to nationalize, under the democratic control of the people, the country’ major companies and banks. This would lay the basis for planning the economy, according to the needs of the majority, to start massive public investments, develop infrastructure and public services, create jobs for the unemployed, and end the continuing marginalization of vast swathes of the country.

Let us build without further delay the struggle for such a government: a democratic and socialist one.

South Korea: Decision on arrest warrant for Samsung leader delayed to Monday

Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee is surrounded by media as he leaves the office of the independent counsel in Seoul, South Korea, Jan 13, 2017. Source: Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via Reuters

15th January 2017

SOUTH Korea’s special prosecutor said on Sunday it will take into account the economic impact of whether to arrest Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee in connection with an influence-peddling investigation involving the president.

The office also delayed by one day, until Monday, its decision on whether to seek the arrest of Lee, the third-generation leader of South Korea’s largest conglomerate, or chaebol, citing the gravity of the case.

The special prosecution had said it would make a decision on Lee by Sunday. But spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told reporters on Sunday investigators were deliberating all factors including the potential economic impact of the arrest of Jay Y. Lee.

Prosecutors have been investigating whether Samsung provided KRW30 billion (US$25.46 million) to a business and foundations backed by President Park Geun-hye’s friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for the national pension fund’s support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

The Samsung chief denied bribery accusations during a parliamentary hearing in December.

Taking into account the economic impact could prove beneficial to the 48-year-old Lee. The imposition of less severe punishment on erring business leaders to avoid negative economic consequences has precedent in South Korea.

“Law and principle are the most important metric, and after also considering various factors mentioned previously, we will decide by law and principle,” the prosecution spokesman Lee said, referring to economic impact, without elaborating.

A Samsung Group spokeswoman declined to comment.

Samsung’s Lee was questioned for 22 hours before leaving the special prosecutors’ office in Seoul on Friday morning as part of the investigation into a corruption scandal that has led to President Park’s impeachment by parliament.

SEE ALSO: Samsung leader named suspect in South Korean political scandal

Establishing a money-for-favour exchange between Samsung and Park is critical for the special prosecutor’s investigation, analysts say.

Park, the daughter of a military ruler, has denied wrongdoing, although she has apologised for exercising poor judgment. Her friend, Choi, who is in detention and facing her own trial, has also denied wrongdoing.

The Constitutional Court is deciding whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment vote.

If Park is forced to leave office, a presidential election would be held in 60 days. Among the expected contenders is former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The chiefs of South Korean chaebol have over the years had prison sentences shortened or forgiven, or received pardons, with the economic impact of imprisonment cited as a factor.

Jay Y. Lee’s father Lee Kun-hee, who has been incapacitated since a 2014 heart attack, was handed a three-year suspended jail sentence in 2009 for tax evasion. He was later pardoned.

Samsung has acknowledged making contributions to the two foundations as well as a consulting firm controlled by Choi but has repeatedly denied accusations of lobbying to push through the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries Inc.

The world’s biggest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-screen televisions has delayed its annual executive promotions, which typically take place in early December, amid the scandal.

The special prosecution also said it plans to indict early next week National Pension Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo, who was arrested in December after acknowledging he pressured the fund to approve the merger while he was health minister. – Reuters

Senegal hosts president-elect of The Gambia as Jammeh urged to leave

Gambians flee as west African states consider military intervention if Jammeh refuses to cede power to Adama Barrow

Ecowas asked Senegal to host Adama Barrow until his inauguration, when the African Union will no longer recognise Jammeh Photograph: AFP/Getty

Associated Press in Dakar-Sunday 15 January 2017

Senegal is hosting Adama Barrow, president-elect of neighbouring the Gambia, until his inauguration on 19 January, as the small west African country’s longtime leader, Yahya Jammeh, refuses to step down peacefully despite mediation efforts and calls from regional and international leaders.

Jammeh had initially conceded to Barrow after losing elections on 1 December but changed his mind a week later, saying the vote was invalid, citing irregularities. His party has submitted a petition to the supreme court against the results, but there are not enough judges currently presiding to hear the case.

Leaders from west Africa’s regional bloc, Ecowas, have met Jammeh and Barrow in attempts to mediate, and Nigeria has offered asylum to Jammeh. However, Ecowas said no deal had been reached yet.

After meeting African leaders at the France-Africa summit in Mali on Saturday, Barrow is now in Senegal, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

At the request of Ecowas, Senegal will host Barrow until his inauguration, the official said.

The west African regional bloc has said that if Jammeh does not cede power it will consider military intervention and has already prepared a standby force led by Senegal, which almost completely surrounds the Gambia. A Nigerian army memo has also ordered officers to prepare a battalion of 800 troops for a possible military intervention should Jammeh not step down.

The African Union has announced it will cease to recognise Jammeh as the Gambia’s legitimate leader from 19 January, when his mandate expires, and warned of “serious consequences” if his actions led to the loss of lives.

The political uncertainty has in the past 10 days made several thousand Gambians – mostly women and children – flee the country of about 1.9 million people and cross the borders into Senegal.

Ahmed Hussen: From Somali refugee to Canada's parliament

Ahmed Hussen is Canada's new minister of immigration in Justin Trudeau's government

By Jessica Murphy-14 January 2017

Ahmed Hussen came to Canada from Somalia as a refugee. Now he's the new minister of immigration.

Along with thousands of compatriots, Ahmed Hussen fled war-ravaged Somalia for a better life in Canada.

Hussen's journey took him from Mogadishu to Toronto and then on to Ottawa's Parliament Hill, where the former Somali refugee was named this week as the country's newest minister of immigration in a reshuffle of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet.

It was a fast political rise for the rookie politician, and will put Hussen, who arrived in Canada in 1993 as a 16-year-old, in charge of the complex portfolio that oversees who is welcomed into the country.

Friends say the lawyer and social activist will be able to draw from personal experience in his new role.

Mahamad Accord, who has known Hussen for years through his work with the Canadian Somali Congress, says his friend has not forgotten his modest roots despite walking Canada's corridors of power.

"He didn't change," he says. "The people around him changed."

A view of the Parliament of Canada taken on a snow winter day, December 6, 2016 in Ottawa.

Canada's Parliament Hill

Accord recalls Hussen offering him help a few years back. The Somali community in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta were struggling to tackle the deaths of dozens of young Somali men due to drug and gun violence.

He says Hussen did not shy away from speaking openly about the problems plaguing the Somali community in Canada, from high rates of poverty and unemployment to gang involvement.

But Hussen was also aware of how the community could be stigmatised, and was always careful in how he spoke and presented himself. Accord says his friend would tell him "we need to change people's perception of us".

"He expects high standards," he says.

Accord admits he was sometimes jealous of the lawyer and social activist's ability to get across a difficult message diplomatically.

It was that ability that struck former Ontario politician George Smitherman when he first met Hussen in 1999. Hussen was then fighting for the interest of Regent Park, a multi-ethnic neighbourhood in downtown Toronto where he had settled with one of his brothers upon his arrival in Canada.

In 2015, he told the Toronto Star that a backlog in refugee applications for permanent residency at the time meant he could not qualify for a student loan. Living in the public housing allowed him to save enough to go to university.

VIA Rail train leaves Union Station, the heart of VIA Rail travel, bound for Windsor on April 22, 2013 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Ahmed Hussen is from Toronto, where many Canadian Somalis settled

Hussen lobbied to help secure funds to revitalise the crime-ridden housing project, co-founding the Regent Park Community Council.

Some long-time residents had to move out of their homes during the redevelopment and were fearful they would not be able to return; Hussen worked to ensure their interests were protected.

"There was an extraordinary tension because there was distrust and concerns among tenants," recalls Smitherman. "Ahmed had to very carefully but forcefully represent their interests."

Smitherman, who calls the 40-year-old Mr Hussen an "old soul", later helped him land a job working with former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty.

"He was someone who spoke with a calmness and an informed knowledge and a maturity that defied his circumstances, both as someone who was young and someone who had taken this awesomely courageous step of leaving Africa for Canada."

An undated picture shows Yemeni coast guards checking a small boat with refugees arriving from Somalia to the Yemeni port city Aden. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) around 1,500 African refugees have made it to Yemeni shores after risky voyages in rough conditions to flee civil was in their country.

Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has spoken out about the migrant crisis

Mr Hussen swept his Toronto riding in November 2015, though he drew criticism for not living in the disadvantaged riding he was elected to represent.

Speaking last April in the House of Commons, he raised concerns about the recent drowning death of hundreds of migrants from Somalia and the Horn of Africa, saying: "Asylum seekers are not criminals. They are human beings in need of protection and assistance and deserving of our respect".

Smitherman sees Hussen's background as both an asset and a possible disadvantage in the challenging portfolio.

"It sets up for tensions also as expectations are increased," he says.

Following his swearing-in, Mr Hussen, the father of three boys, told media he was "extremely proud of our country's history as a place of asylum, a place that opens its doors and hearts to new immigrants and refugees".

Hussen has always referred to himself as a Canadian first and Somali second, says Accord. In 2015 Mr Hussen told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that he does not want to be labelled a "Somali MP".

"I'm a Canadian. Somali is my heritage and I'm proud of my heritage but I have a lot to contribute to Canada. And I'm a mainstream guy. I'm not limited by my community," he said.

Hussen replaces John McCallum, a veteran politician who is going to become Canada's envoy to China after managing Trudeau government efforts to bring in over 39,000 Syrian refugees in the last 13 months.

"The real message of the new appointment is that the government wishes to profile refuges as a more salient part of our immigration program,' says Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociology professor.

"But it does raise the question of the mainstream immigration programme," he says.

The rookie minister will face challenges in the key, and rarely uncontroversial, portfolio.

McCallum recently introduced contentious changes to Canada's popular family reunification programme, replacing a first-come, first-serve process with a lottery system to randomly choose 10,000 people who filled out initial applications to express interest. Critics say that reuniting families should not depend on luck of the draw.

Another recent decision to scrap a rule limiting how long foreign workers can stay in Canada is being targeted by the opposition as potentially harmful to the country's work force in the long run. Immigrant rights groups have been critical of the programme, arguing the workers under the program are vulnerable to abuse by employers.

He will also have to defend a recent Liberal decision to significantly reduce the number of private sponsorship applications for Syrian and Iraqi refugees because of a current backlog.

Canada plans to bring in 300,000 immigrants in 2017, the majority of them economic immigrants.

Anger in India at Amazon's Gandhi flip-flops

Published on Sunday, 15 January, 2017 at 10:15

(AFP) Flip-flops bearing the face of India's independence icon Mahatma Gandhi for sale on Amazon triggered fresh outrage Sunday, days after the e-retail giant was forced to stop selling Indian flag doormats.

On Wednesday, India demanded Amazon apologise for selling "insulting" doormats featuring India's national flag, with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj warning of tough action against the company.

Amazon removed the offending products from its website, but the controversy had barely died down when Twitter users began posting screengrabs of the pink Gandhi flip-flops on sale on Amazon USA.

"#Amazon should be banned in India. They have crossed the limit. This is ridiculous!" Mayank Parmar posted on Sunday.

"#Amazon must rollback its slippers with face of Mahatma Gandhi on it. Respect our leaders and avoid controversy," wrote another user Ashok Tanwar.

The flip-flops, which cost $16.99, are described on the website as "professionally printed" and a product that "will look great and make someone smile".

Amazon could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday but the flip-flops appeared to have been taken down from their site.

Amazon has made steady inroads in India, with plans to invest $5 billion in the country since entering the cut-throat, rapidly growing e-commerce market in 2013.

On Saturday, the Indian foreign ministry said that the country's "Ambassador in Washington has been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments," said spokesman Vikas Swarup.

Get the latest news by signing up to our newsletter, following us on Facebook or Twitter.