Tuesday, March 14, 2017

A Ray of Hope from Australia: Lessons for Sri Lanka?

by Laksiri Fernando-Mar 14, 2017

( March 14, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) In a context that almost all the Western countries are drifting to the right, xenophobic nationalism and even to the brink of neo-fascism, the results at the Western Australian (WA) election are undoubtedly a ray of hope for those who aspire for a better world, a balanced international relations and justice to the poor and the working people.

In Australia, it is more than a ‘ray,’ and heralds a clear possibility of bringing a Labor Government at the federal level, at the next parliamentary elections, in two years’ time.

Election Trends

The people of WA have decisively defeated the conservative Liberal Party by bringing the Labor into power, in a landslide victory, and throwing the much-touted Paulin Hanson’s One Nation party into oblivion, at least at this election. Paulin Hansen is the personification of Marine Le Pen in France or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, not to speak of Donald Trump of USA; her politics still not to be underestimated.

The Labor in Australia is also not like the wishy-washy Labour in Britain. I am sorry to say that. They have stood firmly against the ‘One Nation’ ideology, for the rights of the working people, the middle-class families (women and children), the indigenous people and the migrants. They have persisted for multi-culturalism in a balanced manner, and for political pluralism. The party does not express any antagonism with Asia.

The Liberal defeat is also marked by its electoral alliance (preference deal), at this election, with Pauline Hansen. If it continues, so much the better for Labor. At the onset of the election, the polls predicted over 13 percent primary vote for One Nation. But it came down to 4.6 at the election.

At the elections held on Saturday the 11th March, the Labor have almost won 40 seats in the lower house of Parliament out of 59 (the proverbial two-thirds in Sri Lanka), leaving the remaining 19 seats to the Liberals. No other party, including the Greens, could win a single seat in the lower house. Their chances are in the Senate. It would take little more time to issue the results for the Senate. The Labour have obtained 42.6 percent of the total votes with a swing towards the party of +9.4 percent. The Liberals have obtained only 31.6 percent of total votes, with a massive swing against them of -15.5 percent.

Western Australia

WA is the largest state in the Australian federal setup, with an area of 2.5 million sq.km. This is only second to Sakha Republic in Russia, as a sub-division of a country. This is more than 2/3 of the size of India. The population however is small, with little over 2.6 million and only 1 person for a square kilometre as an average (population density). However, 92 percent of the population lives in the south-west corner, Perth as the state’s capital. It has a highest number of recent migrants (45 percent), however mostly from New Zealand, Europe or South Africa. The present indigenous population is no more than 3 percent which is almost similar to the national average.

WA has a bi-cameral system like in many other states (except Queensland and the two territories), with a Legislative Assembly (59) and a Legislative Council (36). WA had been a reluctant participant to the federation in 1901 which created the Commonwealth of Australia and secessionism had been a recurrent issue until the mid-20th century. In creating the federation, the WA had to handover certain power to the centre, keeping the rest with them. This is somewhat a reverse of a devolution process. This was also the grumble that they had to surrender some powers to the centre. In 1933, 68 percent of the voters opted for separation and to join the British empire directly again, but the move didn’t work out as the Empire was reluctant. Now secessionism has subsided, the WA is a happy partner of the Australian federal state.

Obvious Lessons

Australia shows that emerging extreme nationalism can be defeated not through extreme neo-liberal policies, but by realistic, balanced, and prominence given to the working people. This is also the challenge in Sri Lanka. Extreme neo-liberalism often give way to extreme nationalism, as the American election has proven. To say in other words, Hilary Clinton failed where Bernie Sanders could have succeeded. In the case of Australia, the liberals even allied with extreme nationalists!

The unfortunate predicament in Sri Lanka is the absence of a proper ‘labour party’ in the country. In Australia, the Labor have not been in power always. They have their own mistakes, and it is also not good for democracy for one party to stay in power continuously. They also should learn their lessons. In the recent past, there had been vicious leadership coups and struggles in the Labor Party, now contracted also by the Liberals as a disease. These struggles are also long standing.

A friend of mine, Rodney Tiffen (Emeritus Professor), launched his new book “Disposable Leaders: Media and Leadership Coups from Menzies to Abbot” the other day, which throws much light on the history of these ‘leadership coups.’ I still have to read the book carefully. Unlike me, Tiffen is completely above politics. That is a luxury that many academics in Australia could afford, because the system and democracy have stabilized. But the academics from Sri Lanka hardly could afford this luxury, as they naturally tend to express opinions, beyond giving evidence and making analysis. I am of the Sri Lankan category.

In respect of the Labor Party, there is some stability now after some reforms in the party structure. Hopefully this would prevail. In the case of Sri Lanka, particularly on the ‘labour’ side, when there are differences, people split the party/parties and form their own. These are considered great achievements. These are worse than leadership coups/struggles that happen within parties. That is why we don’t have one labour or socialist/social democratic party.

Moreover, in the case of Australia, there is a broad political culture created based on Labor policies and values. This is my reading of the situation, if I am not mistaken. This broad political culture is not a narrow ideology. ‘Labor’ is a ‘social trade mark’ in that sense. But there is nothing like that in Sri Lanka, although ‘Sama Samaja’ (equal society) concepts could have created such an effective ‘social trade mark.’ If it were created, it could have been a solution or approach even to the ethnic conflict.

Last Point

My last point is this. It is abundantly clear from the trends in the West (Europe and America) that extreme neo-liberal policies easily give way to extreme nationalist trends. This is also clear from Sri Lanka. The neo-liberal policies (including extreme structural changes), knowingly or unknowingly, breeds into and generates the opposite, the insular/extremist nationalist policies of the type of the Joint Opposition. They also could encourage extremism in the North, giving dead ropes. Therefore, there should be a cause correction for the Yahapalana government which partly follows neo-liberal policies. The unfortunate predicament is that the traditional left (the LSSP and the CP), is aligning with the JO because of their opposition to neo-liberalism. Simply talking about suppressing the JO is utter nonsense in this context.

As shown by the Labor Party in Australia and its victory in Western Australia, there is a way out. If a middle ground could be created based on the aspirations of the working people, and also addressing the needs of the middle layers, in the North and the South, both extremes of neo-liberalism and primitive/insular nationalism could be opposed and defeated. One is an internal struggle, the other is largely external. The policies should be based on social democracy, inter-community cooperation, developing primarily the national resources and capacities; and emphasizing the ‘unity in diversity’ and pluralism.

‘Parliament has become a ‘joke’ with UPFA hoodlums making it a bedlam’ -Handunetti ; speaker blamed by govt. group ! (Video)

(Lanka-e-News - 13.March.2017, 11.30PM) During the last four days of parliamentary sessions it was only precious public funds amounting to Rs. 18,400,000/- that were wasted by dragging an issue concerning the SLFP party into parliament, thereby making the August assembly a bedlam , said JVP M.P. Sunil Handunetti while pinpointing those were conflicts created unnecessarily and purposelessly .

Following the disgraceful scenario created by UPFA M.P. Wimal Weerawansa the notorious grade nine qualified goofy goon that his own party is entitled to parliamentary privileges , UPFA M.P. Dinesh Gunawardena who is already suffering from senile decay , and long considered as having outlived his utility on earth had to be suspended from parliamentary sittings for a week.

The next day too , the UPFA again created a rowdy commotion that the chief whip post of Dinesh shall be entrusted to Dallas .On that day (last Friday) , for the first time in Parliament history the government group walked out of parliament.

This was because the government group blamed the speaker for allowing the saboteurs to make their speeches without granting opportunities to the government group.

Charges were mounted that the speaker did not even allow the leader of the house to speak. The government M.P.s held the view that the speaker expressing his regrets the next day over the suspension of Dinesh is unbecoming to the speaker, and uncalled for. They also pointed out , a judge is not expected to regret after delivering a death sentence on a criminal . He does not say, ‘I did not send him to the gallows intentionally , but because I had no other choice. I regret it’. On the same token , the speaker is not expected to ‘cry’ after giving his decision.

In any event , it is learnt based on information reaching Lanka e news , all this devil dance and barbaric acrobatics were performed by the UPFA hooligans only during the two hours live telecast of the parliamentary proceedings . These UPFA hoodlums who turned the August assembly into a disgraceful bedlam during those two hours to make a vain display of themselves as ‘heroes’ to the public , after the conclusion of the live telecast disappeared faster than wind even without sitting in their seats , according to LeN parliament reporters.

In any case the statement made by Handunetti is most paramount in this context.. If the parliament ,the August assembly where policy decisions are formulated , is to be converted into a theater to stage the power struggles within a political party, the faith and confidence the people repose in the parliament can be undermined.

The video footage of the speech made by Handunetti in this regard at a media briefing at Matara on 11 th is hereunder .

Vide footage provided by Indunil Kelum Jayaweera , Matara

---------------------------
by (2017-03-13 20:18:34)

94 MPS IN SRI LANKA PARLIAMENT HAS FAILED O’ LEVEL EXAM, ONLY 25 OUT OF 225 ARE GRADUATES!

Image: This is how they behave. ( file photo 2011-11-21)

14/03/2017

Ninety four MPs have not passed their GEC (O/L) examination while there are only 25 among the 225 legislators in the present Sri Lankan Parliament, former Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, Prof. M O A de Zoysa has said today.

Parliament is a place that makes laws. Its members should be dignified, with a knowledge of their subjects, logical intelligence and of impeccable conduct. But, we cannot see these qualities in most of the MPs today,” he has said.”Taxpayers money is being spent for the welfare of all MPs and a Rs. 2500 Special Attendance Allowance, with the luxury meals, are provided to them for one sitting. Therefore, MPs should bear in mind their responsibilities. But, everyday, when parliament meets, JO members disrupt parliament proceedings for about one or two hours. So how can parliament pass laws on behalf of the people and the country? The conduct of certain senior members is not good and it is disgusting.” he has further said.

With the inputs from DN

Towards An Informed Water Vision

By Ranil Senanayake –March 14, 2017

Dr Ranil Senanayake

The three basic substances of our biosphere, Air, Water and Soil share the characteristic that they are all dynamic and vary in quality and quantity from place to place on this planet. However there is what is generally recognized as the ‘optimal range’ of values for each one of these substances, to render the environment hospitable to life. While my comments today, are focussed on water, it should be kept in mind that they apply equally to the other two.

Water is a critical element of all living things and it is the medium through which much of life is expressed, all animals and plants including humans are made mostly of water. Water is an essential material for the maintenance of global ecosystems; it is required in the right quality and quantity for each purpose that it is used for. Water enters a landscape as rain or fog and moves across a landscape responding to gravity and heat. It flows both above and below the soil level in every terrestrial ecosystem increasing its load of suspended and dissolved solids, organic and inorganic compounds as it flows. The ability to clean groundwater is demonstrated by active soils, wetlands and by evapotranspiration, is a critical consideration not only for human sustainability but also for the sustainability of our life support systems. As such, a visioning process that seeks to address all aspects of water and harmonizes this vision with the existing international agreements is critical.

In the examination of the role, function and value of water, an obligatory needs of water management to address the goals of agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), The Commission on Sustainable Development (CBD), The Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), becomes obvious. Thus one statement that might provide an intergrative vision is; “The requirement for developing optimally functioning watersheds at the local, regional and global levels is a fundamental development goal”.

From the local level on, management must be focussed on the watershed, it can begin as a mini watershed of a brook and the scale or treatment area widened into the watershed of a stream or of a river basin.

A basic need for all humans is the ability to have access to clean water and air. For this country the question clean air is still largely an urban problem, however, the question of clean water is much more ubiquitous and ominous.

Sri Lanka is rapidly moving towards a situation where the traditional knowledge of basic health care and the stability of climate buffers are becoming dangerously eroded. The surface waters of the country are demonstrating a rapid decline in quality.

The estimated groundwater potential of the country is 780,000-hectare meters per annum. (Natural Resources of Sri Lanka, 1991). Rainfall is the primary source of groundwater. Its contribution to the groundwater recharge is estimated to be 7-30% (Anon 2000), or 200 – 600 mm/year. The majority of Sri Lankans rely on surface water or shallow aquifers for their supply of drinking water. However the quality of this resource is being rapidly eroded. The water sources from the very tops of the mountains are being contaminated with large volumes of toxins and leached nutrients. This is the consequence of a socially irresponsible vision of agriculture that accepts no responsibility beyond production goals. One consequence of this view and practice of agriculture is that toxic chemicals are often applied at rates exceeding eighty times the manufacturers recommended dose. While the slow poisoning of the population through its food intake is an item that needs urgent address, the poisoning of the headwaters of our rivers bespeaks of an incredible lethargy in the monitoring of water quality by the administration.

The high loads of nutrient dumped into the river systems by wasteful applications of fertilizer, a consequence of a poorly informed agricultural sector, are rendering rivers eutrophic, full of algae and silt. The problem is compounded by the high loads of garbage and sewage dumped into the river systems by riverside towns, communities and industries that contribute towards creating algal and bacterial blooms of unprecedented magnitude. A season of low flow and drought can now render many of these waters toxic. Further, the contamination of the shallow aquifer by industrial chemicals, currently tapped by a majority of domestic wells, has now become a common phenomenon in most industrial areas. The complaints from the public over polluted wells are yet to be attended to. This trend if allowed to continue will impact not only the present population but will also compromise the health and security of future generations of Sri Lankans.

It is in this context that we should examine and comment on the draft framework for a National Water Resources Policy (De Alwis 2011). While it is a good start, more public participation and comment is obviously a good thing . It suggests a framework on a base of 18 principles :

Diplomacy: Second Meeting of EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission

The following Press communique issued after the second meeting of the Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights under the European Union-Sri Lanka Joint Commission was held in Colombo 13-14 March 2017.

( March 14, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The EU delegation to the Working Group called on Ranil Wickeremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and met with Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, who confirmed their political commitment to move forward on reforms in sectors covered by the Working Group.

Both sides reaffirmed their joint commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights domestically and globally and to collaborate on the effective implementation of international human rights instruments. The EU recognised the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka in various areas, including the ratification of the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the passing of the Right to Information Act, legislation on the Office on Missing Persons and symbolic steps taken to advance reconciliation.

There was a detailed exchange of information on many important ongoing reforms, such as Constitution-making, as well as replacing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and amending the Code of Criminal Procedure Act to bring them in line with international standards. Both sides recognised the need for further progress on reconciliation. They agreed that the full implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution of October 2015 remains a priority. The EU reiterated its readiness to continue supporting the Government in its reforms, including with financial assistance.

There was also discussion of the progress made and the challenges ahead in maintaining the freedoms of expression and of the media, strengthening the civil society, advancing the rights of women and children, respecting non-discrimination on any grounds, addressing the rights of minorities, accelerating the return of land, labour rights, and implementing the treaty obligations and the rule of law. The EU stressed the importance of addressing areas of concern, especially torture, violence against women and the need to combat corruption.

The parties also discussed Sri Lanka’s application under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) which is currently under consideration by the European Parliament and the Council. The two institutions have until mid-May to discuss the European Commission’s assessment and adopt their position. Therefore, the EU drew attention to the importance of Sri Lanka making prompt and concrete progress in fulfilling international commitments on human rights and labour rights and environmental protection.

The delegation of the European Union was led by Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific Department of the European External Action Service. The delegation of Sri Lanka was led by A.L.A. Azeez, Senior Director-General for European Union of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. The conclusions and recommendations of the Working Group will be reported to the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission to be held later this year. The Joint Commission will then assess the progress achieved since today’s meeting.

Industrialists in dilemma because governments think they know how to manage business better

Wednesday, 15 March 2017

We Sri Lankan industrialists keep on demanding consistency in industrial policies. Every Government has kept on proposing completely new policies that were not highlighted even in their manifestoes. The latest magic word used by the current Government is ‘Free Trade Agreements’.

The success of any Free Trade Agreement will mainly defend on the availability of a range of products which can be marketable to the other partner where his specialty is different to the partner. If the Free Trade Agreement is one-sided, the loser will be the country that has a lesser number of products or services that can be offered.

When a senior minister visits any country the visit follows up with a proposal to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement. The latest worry hovering over our heads at the moment is the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (CSLFTA). The biggest ‘breaking news’ we received was from the Prime Minister’s Office and it has originated from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management dated 16 January. This letter is with a sub heading ‘Tariff Reduction Modality under China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (CSLFTA) and removal of Cess’.

Cess and its objective

Before expressing our view point on the above, I wish to quote from the Export Development Board web site itself as it carries very valuable intention to help local farmers and industrialists. I wish to highlight since 1979 how the Cess was effectively used by so many governments for the betterment of the industry.

Cess came into effect from Sri Lanka Export Development Act No. 40 of 1979. We local industrialists felt at the beginning with the Cess implementation that it was a blessing for us. As per EDB explanation on ‘what is CESS?’ it clearly indicates Cess as a local levy on commodity/product for special purpose and it describes very clearly the objectives.

The authority impose Cess under Section 14 of the SLEDB Act 40 of 1979 has vested powers in the Minister in charge of the EDB to impose tax
Concurrence of the Minister in charge of Finance is required
A gazette notification should be published to give effect to the order
Cess could be imposed both on imports and exports
This section will apply as though it formed a part of the Customs Ordinance and the provisions of the ordinance shall apply accordingly
Proceeds of the Cess to be credited to the Export Development Board
The Cess is in addition to any Import/Export duty or any other Cess levied under any written law of the country
EDB Cess on imports as per Gazette No. 1885/46 of 24 /10/2014 explains the objectives of the Cess:
Discourage imports of nonessential items
Protection of local farmers/manufacturers
Funds for implementation of Export Development Program

Under rates, it is indicated 1% to 35%.

Computation of Cess Levy: (CIF value + 10% of CIF value x Rate of Cess levy) – Source: Export Development Board.

The objective of the Cess is very clear. It shows the commitment of political and other Government officials to convert Sri Lanka into an industrial nation while maintaining the status quo. Old visionaries clearly understood the importance of local farmers, especially when you consider food security as well as manufacturers required a certain amount of nurturing and care by having protection to take them to the next level.

Unfortunately the funds collected were taken away from the EDB most probably for better “safe keeping “in consolidated fund. So out of the three important objectives one was taken away by the then Government as they thought they are the best specialist who knew how to spend money wisely! The Cess funds were supposed to be ploughed back into the industry to provide more assistance to improve productivity and efficiency in the particular industry; the Cess funds were used at the inception as per the anticipation of the creators though it got diluted at the latter stage.

Latest development

The latest development came from cabinet committee on economic management. It has taken a 360-degree turn with reference to Cess which is used strategically up to now by EDB for successfully ensured industries like biscuits, footwear, cosmetics, shampoo, soap, furniture, tea, cordials, milk products and jams to reach recognisable growth level. Furthermore, certain industries have become foreign exchange earners as well as savers. In addition all these industries built up the necessary resilience to survive the longstanding civil war and terrorism without massive retrenchments.

When we study the present status of Cess imposed on imports we feel it was done with a very high level of responsibility to safeguard the economy of an island with a 21 million population.

Out of 1 to 99 HS classification chapters, we can find 1,742 items under Cess. The figure explains how the Cess mechanism is used to develop the local industry and farming. This figure explains up to now how Cess is being used to generate new employment. The few examples given in the table show how the Cess mechanism is used to safeguard farmers and local producers. We cannot forget that the Government has earned a substantial income through the Cess from Cess implementation. (As the list will be too big the information in the table is limited up to Chapter 35 only.)

As per the Cabinet Committee of Economic management letter dated 16 January, “No. 2 agrees to phasing out and removal of Cess over a period of five years commencing from the fifth year of the CSLFTA coming into force.”

We cannot identify the rationale behind dumping a successful scheme in a hurry without any detailed study. If it only for the sake of successful signing of CSLFTA, we can predict it will be not a very wise option.

A person without any industry experience or any layman will understand what will happen to most industries in Sri Lanka if this drastic deviation from present policies is implemented in a hurry without evaluating the consequences. In addition if it is implemented in the said manner I do not think the authorities have already decided which industries will be targeted in the first year and so on to remove the Cess. Having so many uncertainties in the mind of industrialists will not bring in any new investment. I do not think any ministry or Government authority has done a survey on sunset industries or sick industries. The half-baked action that is already scheduled for implementation will definitely lead to a sudden death for so many industries. It can even have negative effects physically among industrialists as they are not sure which way to go!

Anyone can argue asking why industrialists are scared of opening the market, especially to China. Yes, it is a valid question. When you compare the basic requirements for a successful industry and when you make a comparison with China we are miles apart. A few major factors are highlighted below:

Chinese operators live in dormitories and they do not have to undergo any hassle to report to work – transport is not required. In Sri Lanka an operator has to leave home more than one hour before commencement of work. When they reach the production unit they have lost the enthusiasm to work and energy and fatigue has already set in. Poor night time travelling facility specially targeting night shift working personnel is another killer.

In China, factory premises are Government owned and built and handed over to operate to private partners. In Sri Lanka all the factories are privately owned.

In China, uninterrupted power is available at a very competitive rate. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates in Asia and still we are dreaming of uninterrupted power supply.

Chinese labour is from distant places and they enjoy long vacations only. They do not enjoy frequent holidays; the onetime delivery has become a general rule.

In Sri Lanka we work only 243 days in a year, e.g. 2017. From this when you reduce 21 days entitled leave, it comes down to 222 working days.

China has become the factory to the whole world. They enjoy the advantage of scale of production. China has a wide range of products compared to Sri Lanka. In these circumstances if the Government proceeds with the proposal of reducing Sri Lankan Negative List, this will result in the a total collapse of industries in Sri Lanka (point number one in the letter issued by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Management to reduce the Sri Lankan Negative List).

Best approach

As private sector industrialists, we feel the best approach the Government should adopt is to implement a policy that will ensure the growth of private sector industries that have currently displayed the capability of going global and which have displayed potential for growth, especially the industries that have at least served a reasonable share of the Sri Lankan market to be nurtured through the Export Development Board.

Premature opening of the market by rushing Free Trade Agreements will not only kill the industries, it will destroy the growing buying power in Sri Lanka. It is only by having industrial production economy that we can anticipate a rapid growth in Buying Power Index. We must never consider that Free Trade Agreements will ensure growth in trading as the answer for all our worries. This will lead to a rise in unemployment and retrenchment, in addition we will be burdened with a very big decrease in buying power and poor distribution of wealth in the country.

I finally wish to state that the Government must publically demonstrate and inform the masses about the advantages we as a country are going to gain from so-called Free Trade Agreements with proper statistics.

(The writer is Past Chairman of the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries. He can be reached via email rhetty9@gmail.com or mobile 0777815296.)

Never obey the occupation: the legacy of Bassel al-Araj

Budour Youssef Hassan-14 March 2017

We will hear several accounts of what happened in the Ramallah area on 6 March 2017, when Bassel al-Araj was killed in an Israeli military raid.

How long did the confrontation between Bassel and the Israeli soldiers last? Was the video published by Israel purporting to show the incident authentic? Did Bassel manage to injure any of the soldiers?

We may never know. But one thing we can be sure of is that Bassel never surrendered.

“The biggest insult against a martyr would be to say that he was obedient, submissive and polite in the face of his killer,” Bassel once said.

Bassel was anything but obedient.

Resistance was his choice. He wasn’t driven to this path by depression, economic anxiety or lack of opportunities but rather by an unwavering commitment to the Palestinian struggle for full, unconditional liberation.

Pictures circulated by Palestinian users on social media after Bassel’s assassination carry immense symbolism. They show stains of blood, Bassel’s trademark blue shoe, his kuffiyeh, a gun and a pile of books.

Among the books Bassel left behind was one on the ideology of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. That was appropriate: Bassel epitomized the grassroots intellectual that Gramsci wrote about.

“If you want to be an intellectual, you have to be engaged,” Bassel said in one of the oral history tours he directed in Jenin, a city in the northern occupied West Bank. “If you don’t want to be engaged – if you don’t want to confront oppression – your role as an intellectual is pointless.”

Bassel believed in making knowledge accessible to everyone. This requires reaching out to people, speaking to them directly in a language that does not alienate them – without being simplistic or patronizing.

Another book found in Bassel’s shelter was by Mahdi Amel, a Lebanese Marxist assassinated in Beirut 30 years ago.

Much like Mahdi Amel, Bassel fought a losing battle, in the tactical sense. Bassel was a skinny activist-turned-warrior, who had no military experience and did not belong to any political faction.

He did not stand a chance against Israel’s military and intelligence apparatus and its “subcontractors” in the Palestinian Authority.

Persecuted

“Bassel carried a huge burden on his own,” his friend Muhannad Abu Ghosh told me.
I first met Bassel during a 2012 demonstration in support of Palestinian prisoners then on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

Bassel and I had many conversations since then. Some of our discussions were heated but they were always thought-provoking. Bassel taught me that resistance is always worthwhile in the long run, even if we don’t reap its reward in our own lifetimes.

He taught me that in order to be part of a genuine liberation movement, you have to love and respect your people and think beyond individual salvation.

Every Palestinian martyr leaves us with an added sense of responsibility.

While we are still struggling to come to terms with Bassel’s physical loss, we must fight for the ideals he lived and died for.

In recent days, I have been speaking to Bassel’s friends and family in al-Walaja, his home village in the occupied West Bank.

Despite the tremendous pain they are suffering because of Bassel’s killing, his family’s pride remains intact.

“I am eternally proud of him,” his brother Saeed said. “He lived in honor and died like a hero.”

Bassel’s family have opened their hearts and home for all Palestinians wishing to pay condolences but insisted that the Palestinian Authority and its official media are not welcome.

Siham al-Araj – Bassel’s mother – said that her son “scared the two states,” as she described Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “Israeli soldiers killed him but the PA paved the way for them.”

“We will not welcome the media that abandoned Bassel and his comrades when they were on hunger strike in PA jails last year,” Doha al-Araj, Bassel’s sister, said. “The PA is complicit in Bassel’s killing and we are not waiting for anything for them.”

The PA had persecuted Bassel for a number of years.

Bassel took part in numerous protests against the PA’s cooperation with Israel. Such protests have continued since his death and they have been violently attacked by the PA’s forces.

Bassel knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of the PA’s repression.

In the summer of 2012, he was taken to hospital after being beaten in the head by the PA’s security forces.
The beating occurred during a protest against a planned visit by Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister, to the PA’s headquarters in Ramallah.

In July and August 2013, Bassel participated in a series of protests against the decision of the PA to resume negotiations with Israel.

Yet Bassel stressed that he was mainly struggling against Zionism, Israel’s state ideology, and the settler-colonial project undertaken in its name, rather than the PA. “This settler-colonial state that has tried to exterminate every facet of our identity, including our cuisine,” was how Bassel described Israel.

While the PA must be opposed and eventually toppled, Palestinians should direct most of their energy towards fighting the Israeli occupation. It was important, in Bassel’s view, to understand that the PA’s collaboration with Israel was structural.

Tortured

Bassel never insulted the PA police and security officers who beat him.

He acknowledged that there was a significant class dimension in the way the PA recruits the poorest and most downtrodden men in Palestinian society to crush protests. Bassel believed that activists should try to win those men over and not treat them as enemies.

Bassel was arrested by the PA’s security forces last year. He and five other young men spent more than five months in PA custody without charge or trial.

He was tortured during his detention, according to Siham, Bassel’s mother. His glasses were confiscated and he was denied medical treatment.

It was only after Bassel had been jailed that Siham learned he had diabetes. He had concealed his condition from her for years so that she would not have to worry about him.

The Palestinian press mainly kept quiet about Bassel’s arrest. The lack of a media or public outcry prompted him and the five other men to go on hunger strike.

“Bassel told me that the hunger strike was the most difficult thing he went through in his life,” Siham said. She added that it was necessary for the six men to starve themselves in order to ensure their release.

Following his release, Bassel never returned to his family’s home. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Israel would find him. He was right.

Four of the other men were all arrested by Israel shortly after their release from PA jails. They were once again held – though this time by Israel – without charge or trial. Israel calls that practice “administrative detention.”

“The Israeli occupation forces raided our home 11 times in search of Bassel,” Thaira al-Araj, Bassel’s sister, said. “A soldier, clearly with no idea what he was doing, thought that Bassel was a Hamas member.”

The intensity of the raids left the family fearing the worst. They had no contact with Bassel since he went into hiding last September.

“His death was not surprising. We expected that once the soldiers found him, they would kill him,” Mahmoud al-Araj, Bassel’s father, said. “But expecting it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Final act of rebellion

Bassel’s final act of rebellion – his six months of resisting arrest – turned him into an icon. Yet Bassel himself was strongly opposed to the mythologizing of individuals.

Stories of resistance fighters, particularly those missing from the official records, must be immortalized. But even great leaders should not be remembered as superhuman or flawless.

“Bassel wanted to create a model of resistance that Palestinians can look up to and learn from,” Abboud Hamayel, a close friend of Bassel, said. “He was not naive to think that his assassination would spark an uprising. He always maintained that while our generation might not liberate Palestine, its duty is to lay the ground for the next generation. And if we fail to do that, history will never forgive us.”

As a child in al-Walaja, Bassel used to spend hours listening to his grandfather’s stories about Palestinian history and the great revolutionaries. It was his grandfather who taught him that Palestinians needed to reclaim their history.

Bassel inherited his grandfather’s gift for storytelling. People would listen for hours when Bassel began talking about the history of the 1930s revolt in Palestine, the Algerian War of Independence, or the liberation movement in Vietnam.

Bassel combined passion with knowledge.

Bassel studied pharmacy in Egypt and briefly worked as a pharmacist in Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem. But his heart lay elsewhere.

Bassel read voraciously about history, anthropology, social movements, politics and philosophy. He connected his reading to his activism on the ground.

Bassel was heavily involved in a project known as the Popular University. In that capacity, he led tours around the West Bank. Their objective was to revive the stories of forgotten revolutionaries and acts of resistance.

The Popular University was set up by the Suleiman al-Halabi Department for Colonial Studies. Named after a fighter against French colonial forces in 18th century Egypt, the department brings together volunteers committed to teaching topics that are neglected by mainstream schools and colleges. Such topics include the literature of Palestinian resistance, social movements in Latin America and the history of the Black Panthers in the United States.

“Two characteristics distinguished Bassel: his love for Palestine and his honesty,” Khaled Odetallah, director of the Suleiman al-Halabi Department, wrote in a tribute. “He loved this land, its details, every single stone, each of its fighters’ stories.”

Bassel also worked as a part-time researcher in the Palestinian Museum before its inauguration.

His friend Yara Abbas confirmed that some of Bassel’s writings and research have not yet been published. The research covered the Palestinian revolt of the 1930s – including the theater and literature associated with it – and the history of the first intifada. He had undertaken research, too, on the Black Hand, an anti-Zionist group formed in Palestine when it was under British control.

Bassel described himself as an anti-authoritarian, whose identity was shaped by Palestinian nationalism, Pan-Arabism, Islamic culture and internationalism. He stressed that the various ideas which inspired him did not conflict with each other.

The most influential writers on his thoughts about politics and resistance were Frantz Fanon, the Martinique-born anti-colonial thinker, and Ali Shariati, the Iranian intellectual, revolutionary and sociologist.

Hanadi Qawasmi, a Palestinian journalist, said that Bassel had been hoping to return to university and study history or sociology.

“He was not at all interested in getting a particular degree,” said Qawasmi. “But he wanted to get closer to undergraduate students. He believed that they have so much energy and raw potential that must be mobilized and embraced.”

Bassel had been immensely helpful to young people in al-Walaja.

“When I decided to study obstetrics at university, everyone put me down,” Alaa Abu Khiyara, Bassel’s cousin, said. “Bassel was the only person who encouraged me and believed in my abilities. His support was crucial.”

Bassel’s writings will outlive him. The Suleiman al-Halabi Department has undertaken to gather all his articles and speeches in the hope of publishing them soon.

That would be a fitting tribute to Bassel al-Araj, an intellectual and freedom fighter of passion and principle.

Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law graduate based in occupied Jerusalem.

Blog: budourhassan.wordpress.com

John Pilger On Nuclear War And Targeting China

( March 14, 2017, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) A nuclear war between the United States and China is not only imaginable but a current ‘contingency’, says the Pentagon. Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning director, John Pilger’s 60th film is his most urgent work to date and is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.

Filmed over two years across five potential flashpoints in Asia and the Pacific, this documentary reveals the build-up to war on more than 400 US military bases that encircle China in a ‘perfect noose’.

Americans Are Getting More Secular All the Time—Which Is One Reason Why Trump Voters Are So Angry

A new poll finds white evangelicals are out of step with the rest of the country.

By Amanda Marcotte / Salon-March 14, 2017

Despite all the conservative posturing about how their movement represents “real” America and liberal political attitudes are restricted mainly to the “coastal elite,” new research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) suggests that, at least in political terms, most Americans are secular in their orientation. While many Americans may still hold conservative personal beliefs, when it comes to the issue of church-state separation, large majorities reject efforts by the religious right to use the power of the state to impose conservative Christian values on others.

In fact, the polling data shows that there’s really only one group of Americans that rejects a secular society: White evangelical Christians. And this study is just further evidence that a lot of the political polarization in our country is the direct result of white evangelical Christians realizing that they are no longer dominant majority, and lashing out angrily in an effort to regain the levels of dominance they used to enjoy.

For instance, the poll found that while the majority of Americans from all walks of life have come to embrace the rights of gay and lesbian Americans, white evangelicals remains stubbornly opposed to the gay rights movement. White evangelicals are the only category of the population that supports business owners who want to discriminate against gay and lesbian customers.

You see similar results regarding the issue of same-sex marriage, which has seen a dramatic rise in acceptance in recent years. Sixty-three percent of Americans surveyed this year by PRRI support same-sex marriage, up from 51 percent in a similar PRRI survey from 2013. But white evangelicals, and to a lesser extent black Protestants, refuse to get on board.

“Same-sex marriage now garners majority support among most religious groups,” the study authors write. “Roughly two-thirds of white mainline Protestants (66 percent) and Catholics (68 percent), and more than eight in ten (84 percent) religiously unaffiliated Americans and members of non-Christian religious traditions (86 percent) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally. In stark contrast, only about one-third (34 percent) of white evangelical Protestants and roughly half (47 percent) of black Protestants support same-sex marriage.”

I spoke with Daniel Cox, the director of research for PRRI, about this survey. He emphasized that this gulf between white evangelicals and everyone else goes a long way towards explaining how Donald Trump was able to turn white evangelicals out at the polls, despite Trump’s own seedy personal history and his total inability to put on a persuasive display of personal religiosity.

“Yes, there were a lot of feelings of economic insecurity, but there [were] also pervading and pervasive cultural fears that the U.S. was changing, not just racially and ethnically, but religiously as well,” Cox said.

The trends that are making white evangelicals nervous, Cox explained, are real enough. “We’re seeing, just during the Obama era, a significant drop in Americans who identify as white Christian,” he said. Instead, the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation or align themselves with a non-Christian religion are rising.

Trump didn’t need convince conservative Christians he was one of them to get their votes, Cox suggested. All he needed to do was to assure them that he saw them as a privileged category and would treat them as such.

“At a time when white evangelical Protestants were really feeling under assault culturally, you had someone pugnaciously saying, ‘You know, we’re going to turn back the clock to a place where you were so much more comfortable and you had more influence,'” Cox said. He noted that Trump won an even bigger share of the white evangelical vote than even George W. Bush, even though the latter was indisputably a person of faith fluent with white evangelical traditions.

The PRRI survey shows that many white people, especially white conservatives, are confusing the loss of cultural dominance with actual oppression. While nearly every other group of Americans believes that Muslims face more discrimination than Christians in the United States, white evangelicals believe the reverse is true.

Here’s another symptom of growing secularism in America: The religious right is finding it a lot harder than it used to be to whip the public into some kind of social panic about cultural change. When the same-sex marriage issue first started to emerge onto the public radar, Cox said, the majority of Americans bought into religious right claims that legalizing it would somehow do real damage to the institution of marriage. Now the religious right is trying to do the same thing to transgender people, painting them as a threat to society, but the public isn’t biting.

“I think when it comes to the issue of transgender rights, there’s not going to be as steep a learning curve as when it came to the rights of gay and lesbian people,” Cox said.

More than half of Americans support the right of transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity. The divide on this issue, moreover, is deeply partisan, with independent and Democratic voters supporting trans people and Republicans rejecting trans rights.

PRRI had a similar finding regarding insurance coverage of contraception, a previously non-controversial idea that the Christian right began making hay over a few years ago. Despite a huge propaganda push from the right to characterize contraception coverage as immoral and greedy, two-thirds of Americans believe the government should require insurance plans to cover birth control.

But while the public is politically secular, Cox noted, the United States still has “this strong culturally conservative streak that runs through our politics.”

PRRI’s survey picks this up in a clever way. While LGBT and contraception-access issues are framed in terms of “rights,” the question of premarital sex is framed in terms of “morals.” That shift in framing drastically changes the levels of public approval. Nearly half of Americans — 48 percent — said that any sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman was immoral. Only 49 percent of Americans allowed that there are other ways to have sex that can also be morally acceptable.

“It’s important to remember that rights and morality aren’t really the same thing,” Cox said, by way of explaining how so many Americans can simultaneously embrace legalized gay marriage and contraception coverage, while also rejecting a behavior — premarital sex — that nearly everyone participates in at some point.

I’d argue that this finding also shows that American attitudes about sex are aspirational, if you’re feeling generous, or hypocritical, if you’re not. Unless PRRI accidentally stumbled on a rare vat of virgins, which is highly unlikely, the vast majority of people who expressed moral disapproval of non-marital sex have themselves had non-marital sex. A famous Guttmacher poll from 2006 showed that 95 percent of Americans have premarital sex at some point in their lives, so this PRRI finding can safely be seen as a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do result.

But, as Cox pointed out, white evangelicals — 83 percent of whom disapprove of premarital sex — show considerable distance between their moral aspirations and their actual behavior in other areas of life, too. They also disapprove of divorce and gambling in large numbers, he said, but they get divorced and hit the casino in the same numbers as everyone else.

The good news is that the younger generation is a little better at aligning its stated values with their its experiences.

“While nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of seniors agree sex is only moral when it is between a married man and woman, only three in ten (30 percent) young adults say the same,” the study write-up explains. “Nearly seven in ten (69 percent) young adults disagree that sex is only morally acceptable when it takes place within a heterosexual marriage.”

Of course, this very shift goes a long way towards explaining Trumpism. Everyone has sex outside of marriage, but the expectation that you feel bad or guilty about it is fading with the younger generation. That refusal to pay tribute to hypocritical social values is part of the social shift that is making conservative Americans, especially white evangelicals, so angry. The same people who thought this would always be “their” country are not only finding that the laws are geared towards a diverse and tolerant nation, but even that their cultural values, like disapproval of premarital sex, are on the wane. In this context, Trump is their weapon for lashing out.

Amanda Marcotte is a politics writer for Salon. She's on Twitter @AmandaMarcotte.

John McCain tells Donald Trump to prove Obama wiretap claim or else retract it

The Arizona senator said Mr Trump could resolve the matter 'in a minute'

Mr McCain has an often tense relationship with Mr Trump Getty

Andrew Buncombe New York
@AndrewBuncombe

A senior Republican senator has called on Donald Trump to either provide evidence that Barack Obama wiretapped his offices or else retract the claim.

Mr Trump last weekend accused Mr Obama of electronically eavesdropping on him shortly before the November election. He did so without providing any evidence, and the White House called on Congress to investigate the claim.

The House Intelligence Committee agreed to do so, and asked the White House to provide any evidence of the allegations by Monday. But speaking on CNN, John McCain, said Mr Trump could very easily clear up the matter.

“I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but I also believe that the President of the United States could clear this up in a minute,” Mr McCain said.

“All he has to do is pick up the phone, call the director of the CIA, director of national intelligence and say, ‘OK, what happened’.”

He added: “The president has one of two choices, either retract or provide the information that the American people deserve.”

Saturday Night Live Alec Baldwin returns as Donald Trump for Independence Day spoof

Mr McCain has long had a difficult relationship with Mr Trump. During the election campaign, Mr Trump claimed that Mr McCain, who served five years as prisoner of war in Vietnam, was only considered a hero “because he got caught”.

The Arizona senator eventually backed Mr Trump, in a move that seemed measured to ensure he did not alienate the people he needed to reelect him.

Through his spokesman, Mr Obama denied Mr Trump’s accusation, as have other current and former national security figures.

Graphiq

Mr McCain also expressed his concern with the mounting questions about the relationships between Russian officials and people tied to the Trump campaign.

“There’s a lot of aspects of this whole relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin that requires further scrutiny, and so far, I don’t think the American people have gotten all the answers,” Mr McCain said.

“In fact, I think there's a lot more shoes to drop from this centipede.”

Mr McCain, who has advocated a hard line against Russia, called into question the failure of the Republican Party to adopt at its 2016 national convention a plank for the provision of defensive weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of Crimea.

“Why was that taken out of the Republican platform,” Mr McCain asked. “Clearly, it was not the will of most Republicans.”