Ranjan Ramanayake Contempt of Court: AG submits draft of charge sheet to SC

KAVINDYA PERERA-JUL 30 2018

The Attorney General (AG) has submitted the draft of the charge sheet to the Supreme Court (SC) in relation to the contempt of Court charges against Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake.

The SC had previously directed the AG to draft a charge sheet to show reasons as to why Ramanayake should not be held in contempt of Court.

When the petition against the Deputy Minister was called up for hearing before a three Judge SC bench comprising of Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, and Justices Vijith Malalgoda and L.T.B. Dehideniya, Deputy Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana appearing on behalf of the AG, submitted the draft of the said charge sheet.

Accordingly, the SC said that the course of action regarding it would be notified on 8 August.

Two petitions were filed against the Deputy Minister concerned by Buddhist Monk Magalkande Sudatta of the Sihala Ravaya and Retired Air Force Officer Sunil Perera alleging that the Deputy Minister had vehemently insulted the reputation of the judiciary and the lawyers at a press conference held on 21 August last year.

The petitioners have highlighted the fact that such defamatory statements will shatter public confidence and provide a distorted image of the judiciary to the people of Sri Lanka.

President calls for accelerating North, East development

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

 

President Maithripala Sirisena while hailing the success of the government’s programme to promote reconciliation and co-existence yesterday stressed the importance of expediting development activities in the North and East with an objective of providing dividends to the people.

The President added that the government’s drive aiming at promoting reconciliation and coexistence among the people in the North and East has proved successful.

President Sirisena lamented that the people were not well informed about the massive projects launched by the government over the past three and half years for the development of livelihood and infrastructure in the North and East.

The President said that development in the North and East had suffered a setback due to the protracted terrorist conflict and the government is determined to give priority to bring development to these provinces, while uplifting the livelihood of the people.

President Sirisena was speaking at the first meeting of Special Presidential Task Force to direct, expedite and monitor development activities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

This Special Presidential Task Force was appointed by the President in an extraordinary Gazzette Notification published on June 5, 2018. The Task Force chaired by the President consists of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, 15 Cabinet Ministers, Governors, the Chief Ministers of the two provinces together with the Tri Forces Commanders.

The Task Force will review also review the development projects so far launched in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and accelerate the development process. It will also initiate and formulate new plans, programmes and subjects targeting sectors and groups that need priority attention.

A number of projects to be launched in the North and East on priority basis have been identified and they would be implemented soon.

It has been planned to commence the construction of 25,000 out of 50,000 houses for the people in the North and East in August. Construction of another 10,000 houses is to begin in January 2019.

The road network programme covering a length of 1847 kms in these two provinces will get underway soon. The Myliaddy fishing harbour which would greatly benefit the fishing community in the Jaffna Peninsula is also to be developed soon.

The Northern and Eastern Provinces are to be brought under a massive infrastructure development drive with special emphasis on the development of agri, irrigation, economic education and health sectors.

Over 20 projects would be implemented which would help uplift the people’s livelihood in the two provinces. The sugar factory in Ampara, National Paper Mill in Batticaloa, Rice Mill in Batticaloa are also to be revived under this programme thus boosting the economy of these areas. 

Chamal No, Dinesh No, opposition has no winning ‘jockey’ for 2020 presidential election ! Vasu laments – conspiracy the only solution (video)

(Lanka e News - 30.July.2018, 7.30AM) The pro Rajapakses  following the defeat on 2015-01-08 ,who have not changed and  stranded  at one place in the opposition are unable to select a suitable candidate for the presidential election, and  are hence conspiring to avoid holding a presidential election , said Vasudeva Nanayakkara , who is himself  a key figure  among the pro Rajapakse group  when addressing the TTV , a new media channel.

He went on to say the quandary is so deep that they have agreed to abstain from speaking about a presidential candidate . Yet , when responding to a question posed by a new  young journalist , this bearded  Leftist  better known as  ‘Old Goat’ because of his lascivious propensities despite his senile decay  ,could not restrain his characteristic unbridled tongue  -it popped out from his own mouth that the candidate can be Chamal Rajapakse or Dinesh Gunawardena.

Lascivious ludicrous Vasu the ‘old goat’ looking around for a presidential  candidate revealed ,

 ‘we have agreed that we shall not speak about this issue. That is until we arrive at a decision , our Joint Opposition will not be speaking about this. Because I am in  it , it is difficult for me to transgress  that condition. Otherwise I have an idea as to who should be the choice. If I tell  that I have acted in breach. However I cannot hold back without revealing what is in my mind  when I am questioned like this.The politicos in my mind are Chamal Rajapakse and Dinesh Gunawardena . I think  they are good politicos.’

Question :

If a Rajapakse is to field as the candidate at the presidential elections , what is the position ?

Answer :

If  I am to discuss that question I shall be getting embroiled in  issues. Hence I  am not able to go beyond that in this discussion.

Unbelievably , this is the same ‘antique’  so called revolutionary Vasudeva who voluntarily gagged himself out of fear of the Rajapakses , and for no other reason. In any event   this disclosure   however clearly reveals the grave issues surrounding  the opposition candidate.

The position is crystal clear  ,no matter who says what. Gotabaya Rajapakse  the American citizen cannot claim eligibility for the candidature  at presidential elections, let alone winning elections. On the other hand Basil Rajapakse who left no stone unturned to form the new  lotus Bud force against the Bandaranaike Radala (noble) force is not going to offer the presidential  candidature to moronic Gota on a platter.  Basil by his announcement at Weligama had confirmed this , and that needs no further confirmation.  It is to be noted Sri Lanka’s politics is decided by India irrespective of who says what. Basil is with India while Gota is with China which is a friend trailing  India.

When considering the  two names , Chamal and Dinesh proposed  by Vasu  , the latter was  mentioning Dinesh’s name with Chamal  just for its  sake. Undoubtedly ,  it is only Chamal who has not so far been incriminated in any corruption  charges. Besides he has no citizenship issues.  Hence no constitutional  barriers.

Yet , the issues plaguing the family are apart from what Vasu the lascivious bearded ‘old goat’   is aware of. 

Sashindra’s rajayogaya (luck to become ‘king’)

If Chamal becomes the president , it is certain he will never give prominence to Namal Rajapakse and will only propel his own son , Sashindra Rajapakse .Mahinda , Shiranthi  and Namal are aware of this much more than us. An interesting  incident that happened some time ago bears testimony to this…

During the time when Mahinda Rajapakse became the president , Sashindra Rajapakse was his private secretary. Mahinda and Shiranthi came to know that Sashindra is possessed of rajayogya  according to his horoscope which  was more powerful and eclipsing  Namal . Mahinda and Shiranthi who strongly believe in horoscopes and myths immediately removed Sashindra from the post .Though other reasons may have had an impact  the main reason was this rajayoga threat .

Mahinda Rajapakse who is famous for his cunning and crookedness , while steering Namal into Parliament  shunted Sashindra to the provincial councils. That is, if any day Sashindra is to become a political leader , Namal will have  a more senior  position and suitability .Today , it is the objective of Mahinda to hold on without lagging behind until Namal reaches the age to contest presidential elections.

If Mahinda has thought that far  way back  in 2005-2007 , surely , he is not going to give in to Chamal Rajapakse and make him the presidential candidate now when he knows Chamal is  digging the grave for Namal  , though the ‘old goat’    Vasu the clown  thinks otherwise.

Under the constitution Mahinda who crows any diddle will  do cannot contest presidential elections again. Gota the American citizen who crows yankee doodle too cannot be a presidential candidate .Basil who is also an American citizen too cannot field as presidential candidate. But because Sashindra Rajapakse has the rajayogaya , Chamal who is his father will also not be granted  the presidential candidacy.  In the circumstances , the pro Rajapakse opposition which has countless lackeys hasn‘t a ‘jockey’  for the presidential elections.

It is a well and widely known fact , at  the local elections ,by saying   Mahinda will be the prime minister  votes were collected by the Lotus Bud for its victory .Though  we need not say it  , Basil  the founder of the Lotus  bud and Mahinda Rajapakse are of course fully aware, at  the  presidential elections which is without Mahinda,  votes cannot be won via  the  subterfuge claiming , ‘Mahinda  says.’

The true length,  breadth and depth of  Rajapakse’s insoluble dilemma  …

Vasudeva in the  final stage of his interview said ,though not in so many words that Rajapakses are in a deep quandary when it pertains  to the next presidential elections.  According to him ,  before the 2020 presidential elections , through a head count subterfuge in parliament , Mahinda Rajapakse must be made the prime minister , then via a constitutional amendment the presidential elections shall be cancelled , and by going for a general election , they can clinch the advantage.

 In other words it is very obvious from his enunciations ,  they have no confidence at all that they can win the presidential elections . Therefore Vasudeva has finally via his speech   proved one simple  truth beyond all doubts -  how monumental  the  fear of the Opposition is in regard to the next presidential elections !

Chandra Pradeep

Translated by Jeff

Video footage of Vasu’s interview and opposition views are  hereunder 

---------------------------
by     (2018-07-30 02:47:54)

Economic Crime & The P118 Of Sri Lanka

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera –ULY 30, 2018

Asanga Abeygoonasekera

“If the top beam is askew, the bottom beams will be crooked.” ~ Chinese proverb 

There is a plague in the streets of Sri Lanka. If this plague has not entered your door steps, your family will still pay an indirect price. Most of us were aware of what ruffled the normal tenor of our lives but had no idea how to fight the plague. The plague is known as “Corruption”, and it might be inimical to the stability and integrity of the economy, which now threatens the entire nation. 

President Sirisena explained that he is not in a position to open the newly built hospital in Hambantota, which he laid the foundation for several years ago when he was Minister of health. “The building is completed but the hospital equipments has gone missing and all funding has been utilized, certain people who where after my term at the Ministry are directly responsible”, said President Sirisena to the Director General of Bribery and the Key Note speaker Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda after a discussion on fighting corruption in Colombo.

Whoever is responsible for robbing public goods should be arrested regardless of their political hierarchy or affiliation. If the powerful (top beam) in society could commit economic crime of this nature, one may wonder how we create a society free of corruption, and instill such values within the entire community. The President will need to take strict measures to arrest the culprits and strengthen weak government institutions, in order to fight corruption. 

According to Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe, “More than half the state officials would be in jail by now if they were dealt with in the manner in which former presidential secretary Mr.Weeratunga was dealt with and sentenced to prison on charges of misusing State funds”. Due to the large scale corruption, Auditor General suggested the new Audit Bill as a solution to ensure financial discipline in the State sector under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Such measures should be given utmost government support and top priority, especially considering the events which unfolded in the recent past. Passing the Audit Bill is not sufficient, but getting it implemented should be the key, explains former Auditor General Mayadunna.

Economic crime such as leasing the entire fishery harbour in Modara (Mutwal) Colombo a few years ago by a powerful Minister for a nominal fee was never investigated by the Bribery Commission. It is the duty of the commission to carry out investigation of all crimes, regardless of the culprit’s social standing. According to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the JVP, “The Bribery Commission has summoned him on two occasions to appear before it to inquire into the harbour tender, but the Minister had not gone there. Instead he influenced the President to remove the Director General of the Bribery Commission”. The rule of law should apply equally to all citizens. 

According to Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, a new “Perpetual class” has emerged in the Sri Lankan society. This constitutes a  new rich middle class, who are much more sophisticated when it comes to influencing politicians, political parties and campaign funding. There are evident differences between this new rich middle class and past businessmen. This Perpetual class exercises control and influence over ministers, high ranking officials and decision making of the state using their financial power. Prof. Uyangoda further explains that there is a need and it’s worth researching to understand the influence of such new middle class in our society. 

The practice of political funding and lobbying  has changed in many societies including in the United States. As Francis Fukuyama rightly identifies in his book ‘Political Order and Political Decay’ that there were only 175 lobbying firms in 1971, in 1981 number reached 2500 and by 2013 a whopping 12,000 firms spent $3.2billion on lobbying, according to Fukuyama “its these firms that distort American public policy across many different areas”.

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A glaring geopolitical contest

Meera Srinivasan

-JULY 28, 2018


The geopolitical contest between India and China in Sri Lanka is no secret, but it has never been as blatant as was seen in developments last week.



Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne, in a recent media briefing, spoke of Sri Lanka having to “balance” the two powers, in the context of China holding a majority stake in the southern Hambantota port, and a proposed joint venture giving India a 70% stake in running the nearby Mattala airport.

Sri Lankans were hardly surprised by Mr. Senaratne’s comments, which simply reflected Colombo’s challenge in this “balancing act” with its immediate neighbour and a willing lender. How this played out at the Cabinet meeting the previous day is more significant.

In the wake of India raising concern with Sri Lanka about a Chinese project to build 40,000 homes in the north, President Maithripala Sirisena is said to have advised the Cabinet to take a decision after consulting India and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents northern Tamils. New Delhi had earlier complained about the “opaqueness” in choosing the builder, reportedly without a competitive bidding process.

Days after the Cabinet meeting, the TNA urged the government to award the contract to India, sources in Colombo told The Hindu. The TNA conveyed to the Indian mission here that the people of the north would like brick-and-mortar homes, rather than the controversial pre-fabricated homes that they rejected when the Resettlement Ministry earlier pushed the idea.

India, which has already built 46,000 houses in the north through a grant of $270 million, has suggested the option of a loan through its Export-Import Bank for the alternative it can offer.

As many as 1,65,000 houses are still needed in the north and east, nearly 10 years after the war. As for the people living there, all they need is a suitable home after decades of displacement and destruction. Who builds it is hardly their concern.

From their point of view, it would be rather unfair if Colombo further delayed addressing this basic requirement, that too because of a geopolitical tussle.

In recent times, India and China appear keen on a wider presence in the island. While Prime Ministers Ranil Wickremesinghe and Narendra Modi (who joined him through video-conferencing) flagged off the expansion of an India-aided ambulance service in Jaffna last weekend, President Sirisena launched the construction of a China-funded hospital in his constituency Polonnaruwa, some 300 km away, in the North-Central province.

New gift

While Mr. Modi said that “In good times and bad, India has been, and will always be the first responder for Sri Lanka”, Mr. Sirisena announced receiving “another gift” — a fresh $290 million grant — from China for “any project of my wish”.

With the coming projects and new grants, the strategic competition is no longer confined to the Southern Province, home to Hambantota and Mattala. China has begun moving northward and India southward, building 1,200 homes, in addition to model villages, though negotiations on New Delhi’s ‘pet projects’ of further developing the Trincomalee oil tank farm and the East Container Terminal in Colombo have not progressed.

As Mr. Senaratne noted, it is surely a balancing act for the government. However, it is not just about managing the two powers. Balancing the people’s interests and its own foreign policy priorities is the real challenge.

Meera Srinivasan works for The Hindu and is based in Colombo

The rise of Amarapura

• This school of thought discounts the Buddhist revival of the 19th century on the basis that it did not do away with the separation between the clergy and the laity
• Secondly, the Amarapura Nikaya was the first sect to emerge from an entrepreneurial class
• Even with the setting up of the Amarapura Nikaya, its primary objective was to reform the order in line with the historical antecedents of Buddhism

2018-07-31

It’s a mistake to suggest that the British did away with feudal structures in the societies they colonised. Far from it. In societies advancing towards capitalism, as Marx correctly surmised, such archaic structures would give way to an industrial class, which is why and how the Tories yielded to the Whigs. Such a transformation didn’t come about in the colonies. The reason is obvious. The British didn’t want to be the catalyst for the sort of change that would empower a nationalist bourgeoisie in the countries they had conquered. The one link with the past that those countries had which would hold back such a transformation was those feudal structures. In India, Africa, and of course Sri Lanka, the conqueror resorted to them, and in resorting to them, he found the perfect way of keeping us locked in the past. Those who believe that feudalism is retrogressive would be surprised to learn that the British didn’t really combat it. Instead, they encouraged it. That was their game, after all. Divide and rule.   

I was thus a little wrong to suggest in my article on the Amarapura Nikaya (“Sketches from the South: A history of schisms”) that caste militancy figured in the politics of this country even before the arrival of the British. Prior to the annexation of Kandy, caste structures derived from one source; the whims of the kings. But while it’s true that these structures existed and had a decisive influence on the lives of the subjects of those kings, it’s nevertheless a fallacy to suggest that feudalism in Sri Lanka was the foundation of a harmonious utopia (which is what historians opposed to colonialism, particularly the romantic historians, contend). A more balanced and moderate reading of the processes which engulfed this country after the Kandyan annexation, especially in relation to the shifts in the Buddhist order, is called for. Since I stopped or paused in my earlier article at the point of the founding of the Amarapura Nikaya, what is now needed is an exploration into how that Nikaya itself fell victim, at least for a brief period of time, to the same caste politics that had earlier invaded the Siyam Nikaya.   

New sect inaugurated

To recap; in 1799, a contingent of monks from the Salagama caste, financed by a leading Salagama entrepreneur, Dines de Zoysa, and led by Ambagahapitiye Nanavimala, set off to Amarapura in Burma, where the new sect was inaugurated. They returned four years later. However, given that official recognition from the Colonial Office was not forthcoming, another monk, Ven. Kapugama Dhammakhanda Thera, financed by another Salagama entrepreneur, Adrian de Abrew, set off to Amarapura, to return two years later in 1809. By the time official recognition did come, through an Act of Appointment issued in 1825, Ven. Dhammakhanda Thera, nine years earlier, had renounced Buddhism and accepted Christianity. This is where we should resume.   

Historians and sociologists tend to view colonial Sri Lankan society in terms of a series of encounters between Govigama and Karava, or between the landowning aristocracy and the arrack renters. Consequently, the evolution of the Salagama as a distinct caste has been neglected in scholarship, with the result being that even such seminal works as Kumari Jayawardana’s Nobodies to Somebodies fails to account for the rise in Salagama consciousness during the Dutch occupation. This is a rather curious omission, and reasons for it are hard to find. Regardless of those reasons though, I believe that such an omission is unpardonable when assessing the divisions of the Buddhist order during the early decades of British rule. Since the Siyam Nikaya were adamant on not opening the Upasampada to members of outside castes, two upasampada ceremonies predating the Amarapura Nikaya were conducted in 1772 at the Thotagamuwa Raja Maha Viharaya in Thelwatte, Galle, and in 1798 at Tangalle.   

What was so significant about the Amarapura Nikaya, then? First and foremost, it marked the first time that a rebel sect had been inaugurated with the express consent of the powers at the time. It’s reasonable to assume that the British would have had a vested interest in segmenting the Buddhist order, in the hopes of fragmenting a belief that had already taken on a caste-ist character, but it is a mistake to think that such an act of segmentation would not have occurred without British intervention. Even without them, the pressures on the order from caste interests could not be withstood.   

Secondly, the Amarapura Nikaya was the first sect to emerge from an entrepreneurial class. Those who view colonial history in terms of a rift between Govigama and Karava fail to consider or omit altogether the fact that the Salagamas forged ahead as a “capitalist class” long before the Karavas began to prosper through the arrack rent. What this obviously necessitated was a shift in the way the new Buddhist order, built on the patronage of powerful Salagama headmen and entrepreneurs, especially with regard to its complete autonomy from a monarch, Sri Lankan or British. Given this autonomy, it had virtual carte blanche to move forward with a reformist agenda. In other words, as Prof. Kitsiri Malalgoda has argued in his book ‘Buddhism in Sinhalese Society’, “It successfully questioned for the first time the right of secular authorities to regulate the affairs of the order.”   

Changes in economic landscape

It was as reformist as it was sectarian, and like the Protestant Reformation in Europe, it coincided with changes in the economic landscape; the decline of the traditional elite (soon to morph into a landowning class courtesy of the British), and the rise of a new elite (though the Salagamas had more or less consolidated economic power before British rule).   

Where it differed from the reformist and sectarian movements in Christian Europe, however, was that it wasn’t inaugurated with the objective of establishing a religion and priesthood “for all”, i.e. for the peasantry. It was defined in relation to and against the Establishment, but this didn’t mean that it flirted with radicalism the way that, for instance, Thomas Müntzer did when he rebelled against both the Catholic Church and Martin Luther. In fact, as Regi Siriwardena argued in a reply to Kumari Jayawardana, it is difficult to ascertain whether the Buddhist priesthood in Sri Lanka ever produced the equivalent of a Müntzer or for that matter Martin Luther. Even with the setting up of the Amarapura Nikaya, its primary objective was to reform the order in line with the historical antecedents of Buddhism, as reflected (or refracted) through its tenets. “Where are the radical Buddhists?” Siriwardena once asked. It is a question which has invited both censure and praise, and has divided scholars over the decades.   

From one standpoint, it has been argued that Buddhism here was infected with the remnants of feudal society. This school of thought discounts the Buddhist revival of the 19th century on the basis that it did not do away with the separation between the clergy and the laity. Personally, I do not think that the contention that Buddhist radicalism as understood by Western scholars didn’t come about totally is reason enough to conclude that the Buddhist order sought to preserve feudal structures at whatever cost. This is where we must credit the Amarapura Nikaya, because for the first time in the history of the Buddhist order, it brought forth (as Professor Malalgoda observes) “closer cooperation between the monks and their devotees.” This had less to do with an overt objective by those monks to erase caste distinctions than with the fact of their own meagre historical condition; given that it had no royal patronage, the Amarapura Nikaya was compelled to rely on the lay devotee. As an anthropologist once wrote, moreover, this had an impact on the way even the Govigamas saw it: “I know many villagers of the Govigama caste who prefer to give alms to monks of the Amarapura or Ramanya Nikaya rather than those of the Siyam Nikaya because they believe that the former are less worldly.” Here, then, was a Buddhism that promised people salvation in this present birth, as opposed to the more conservative Buddhism which gained prominence among urban followers in the latter part of the 19th century.   

 Salvation, in other words, would come about through this birth and this world, not one’s next birth. It encouraged affirmative action and dissension, gave equal weight to prathipaththi (principles) and amisa pooja (making offerings), and encouraged a new spirit and culture of revivalism. It’s here that we see the seeds that were later sown by the Anagarika Dharmapala, with a monastic order that, while certainly not radical like its counterparts in the West, sought to combat the other-worldliness the domineering sects had encouraged in their devotees. What this resulted in was a sharp awareness of the need to oppose external forces which had harmed the faith, and the Amarapura Nikaya took this point to heart so much that one Christian missionary contended that it was “At present the most prominent in controversy, street preaching, and all that is aggressive.” But long before this anti-imperialist streak came about, the Amarapura Nikaya had to wade through decades of infighting; something I intend on exploring in my next piece on the subject.   

UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COM   

Israel seeks to isolate Palestinians from global support

Israel’s policy is to isolate Palestinians from the outside world and obstruct the work of human rights defenders who document violations.

 Najeh HashlamounAPA images

Adri Nieuwhof- 30 July 2018

Two Dutch researchers were detained, subjected to humiliating treatment and abuse and then deported by Israel earlier this month.

Their experience is part of Israel’s policy to isolate Palestinians from the outside world and obstruct the work of human rights defenders.

Israeli security forces took Lydia de Leeuw for questioning immediately after she landed at Ben Gurion airport on 20 July.

Before the interrogation started, she was handed a file with personal details and other information already completed, including a decision by the interior minister to deny her entry.

Handcuffed and abused

Over four hours, de Leeuw was strip searched, deprived of her phone and other property and denied access to the Dutch embassy or legal assistance. She was then deported.

Her colleague Pauline Overeem experienced even more severe treatment.

She was detained for 24 hours during which she was “handcuffed and subjected to verbal abuse, including threats that the Israeli authorities would use force against her,” according to PHROC, a coalition of Palestinian human rights groups.

“They handcuffed me, verbally abused me and left me alone for hours in a room,” Overeem told the Dutch daily De Volkskrant.

Overeem was also denied consular or legal assistance before she was put on a flight back to the Netherlands the next day.

Lydia de Leeuw@LydiaDeLeeuw

Our denial of entry fits into the pattern: anti-#BDS legislation is designed and used to suppress free speech and prevent #HumanRights research in #Israel #Palestine #oPt. Targets prior to @SOMO: @OmarSShakir of @hrw and @ArielElyseGold from @codepink. http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/targets/palestinian-human-rights-organizations/1292-phroc-condemns-israels-latest-deportation-of-eminent-dutch-human-rights-defenders-lydia-de-leeuw-and-pauline-overeem- …

10:20 AM - Jul 24, 2018

PHROC Condemns Israel’s Latest Deportation of Eminent Dutch Human Rights Defenders, Lydia de Leeuw...

alhaq.org

• 8
• See Lydia de Leeuw's other Tweets

De Leeuw and Overeem are senior researchers at SOMO, a Dutch research center on multinationals founded in 1973.

Israeli media reported de Leeuw’s expulsion around the time she was taken in for questioning, mentioning details from her file – indicating that the media worked in coordination with the government.

“This suggests that the decision to deny her entry was made before she even landed in Israel,” according to PHROC. “Therefore, the treatment de Leeuw received at the airport, including her interrogation, was solely inflicted to harass and humiliate her.”

The interior ministry banned de Leeuw’s entry on the recommendation of Gilad Erdan, Israel’s strategic affairs minister who is in charge of the government’s global crackdown on supporters of Palestinian human rights.

Facebook “evidence”

The researchers appear to be the first Dutch citizens to be denied entry under Israel’s anti-BDS law, which targets the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.

SOMO is not on the Israeli government’s blacklist of 20 organizations whose members are banned from entry because they work to end Israel’s human rights abuses.

However, Erdan nonetheless used Israel’s anti-BDS law to ban the two Dutch researchers.

SOMO said it was “incomprehensible and unacceptable” that its employees were denied entry over alleged BDSwork.

The group stated that it is “not active in the BDS movement” and that “boycott falls outside the scope of SOMO’s work as a research organization.”

Erdan was however bothered by SOMO’s report about Dutch agricultural imports from Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law.

The report served as proof that de Leeuw promotes BDS, Erdan’s ministry told the Dutch newspaper NRC.

De Leeuw told NRC that an Israeli interrogator presented additional “evidence” that she supports BDS in the form of two Facebook posts from 2015 and 2016. At the time, the law to ban to BDS organizations from Israel was not in force.

Criminalizing BDS

SOMO sees Israel’s denial of entry to its staff as part of the “ongoing trend toward shrinking space for civil society and the freedom of expression.”

The group says it is “extremely concerned about the criminalization of individuals and organizations that have called upon countries and businesses to promote and respect human rights.”

SOMO is urging the Dutch government to demand an explanation from Israel and condemn the treatment of its researchers.

The group noted that the Dutch government has explicitly defended BDS activism as protected free speech and association, a position also held by the European Union.

“I am not active in the [BDS] movement but fully support people who choose to enjoy this right,” de Leeuw told NRC.

European complicity

The Dutch foreign ministry – a donor to SOMO – told NRC the entry ban was “regrettable,” while recognizing the right of any country to determine its admission policy.

The ministry repeated its position that BDS activism is protected by freedom of expression.

The Dutch government’s surrender to Israel’s “right” to determine who can enter is identical to the apathetic response of the French government after Israel barred the entry of a number of French elected officials last year.

But what these governments are dangerously ignoring is that Israel is not merely barring entry to its “sovereign” territory. It is especially barring entry to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and isolating millions of Palestinians living there from the outside world.

Israel is obstructing the ability of international organizations to monitor its compliance with its obligations as an occupying power under international law. Therefore by refusing to stand up to Israel’s entry ban, European governments are helping Israel conceal its abuses from the world and giving it cover to commit more violations.

Dutch lawmaker Sadet Karabulut has asked the foreign ministry to look into the case.

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Ahed Tamimi released from Israeli jail, vowing to continue resistance

Teen says she will now seek to become a lawyer to help further the Palestinian cause, paying tribute to the women still incarcerated

Ahed Tamimi (centre) following her release from Israeli jail. (MEE)

 

Monday 30 July 2018

Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian girl jailed for slapping an Israeli soldier and an icon of resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, was released on Sunday after eight months.

Tamimi, who was 16 at the time of her detention, vowed to continue her struggle against the Israeli occupation.

"I will continue my university tuition and I will study law so that I can address the cause of my country in all of the international forums and to be able to represent the prisoners' cause," Tamimi said at a news conference following her release.

"Prison taught me a lot of things, I was able to figure out the right way to deliver the message of my homeland," she added, stood beside a two-pronged tree which was mocked up as a slingshot with a tyre at its base - symbols of Palestinian resistance.

"Of course I am very happy that I came back to my family, but that happiness is partial because of the prisoners who are still in prison," she said.

Earlier, as she left Israeli custody, Tamimi paid tribute to all the Palestinian women currently incarcerated by Israel.

"All the female prisoners in jail are strong, and I thank everyone who stood by me while I was in prison," she told reporters, wearing the trademark Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

All the female prisoners in jail are strong, and I thank everyone who stood by me while I was in prison

- Ahed Tamimi

Tamimi’s case made headlines around the world when she was arrested following an altercation with Israeli soldiers who refused to leave her home in Nabi Saleh, a village in the West Bank.

Just hours before the soldiers arrived at the Tamimi home on 15 December, the family were informed that Israeli forces had shot Ahed’s 15-year-old cousin Mohammed in the head.

Distressed, the family demanded that the soldiers leave its home. When they refused, Ahed lashed out.

Her mother live-streamed the event on Facebook, and when the Israeli authorities used the recording as evidence to arrest Tamimi the teenager became a cause celebre for supporters of the Palestinians.

Media scrutiny

Tamimi has garnered support from around the globe.

Amnesty International condemned the arrest, saying it violated international law and underlining that the detention of minors should be used only as a last resort.

Israel is at present detaining some 300 minors.

Human Rights Watch's Omar Shakir tweeted on Sunday that "Israel's jailing of a child for 8 months - for calling for protests and slapping a soldier - reflects endemic discrimination, absence of due process and ill-treatment of kids.

"Ahed Tamimi is free, but 100s of Palestinian children remain locked up with little attention on their cases," he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Ahed Tamimi after she was released from an Israeli prison (Reuters)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has hailed the teen, while soon after her detention a cross-party group of British MPs released a statement saying she had been "targeted" and decrying the Israeli tactics.

In the face of such media scrutiny and criticism, great tension surrounded Tamimi’s release.

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We are all Ahed Tamimi

Keen to avoid the press, the Israeli authorities changed the location and time of her release three times.

Originally she was due to be set free at the Jibara check point near Tul Karem. Israel finally settled on saying it would release her at the Rantis checkpoint, an hour's drive from there, leaving her relatives scrambling to reach the location in time.

Dozens of relatives, her immediate family and her friends, had waited for Tamimi since early on Sunday, along with many journalists.

Opponents of Tamimi gathered too, with Israeli settlers, who live illegally in the occupied West Bank, appearing to wave the Israeli flag.

Resistance icon

When Tamimi was finally released, her father Bassem put his arms around her and led the teenager through the crowd of journalists and supporters, who chanted: "We want to live in freedom".

From the Rantis checkpoint, Tamimi headed to the tomb of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, where she laid some flowers.

Then she visited the home of a relative who had been shot dead by Israeli forces during a demonstration.

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Poster near her home reads “One thousand congratulations on your freedom, the icon of popular resistance Ahed Tamimi”

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Tamimi also met Abbas, who described her subsequently as "a model of peaceful civil resistance..., proving to the world that our Palestinian people will stand firm and constant on their land, no matter what the sacrifice".

On Saturday, Israeli police detained two Italian artists and a Palestinian for painting an enormous mural of Tamimi's face on the Israeli separation wall at Bethlehem.

According to an Israeli police statement, the three were arrested "on suspicion of damaging and vandalising the security fence in the Bethlehem area".

The statement said the three, who were masked, "illegally drew on the wall, and when border policemen took action to arrest them, they tried to escape in their car, which was stopped by the forces".

The Israeli police intervened despite the four-metre mural being painted on the Bethlehem side of the wall, which ostensibly is supposed to be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Painting on the wall is a common occurrence, with icons of the Palestinian resistance such as Arafat and Leila Khaled being depicted by artists.