Railway strike and foolish Sirisena’s betrayal to entire country’s detriment !

-Visal’s analysis

(Lanka e News 16.Aug.2018, 6.00PM) The leaders of the striking trade unions issuing a statement on the 12 th announced they have decide to call off the railways strike following discussions held with the president. Now the strike is over and as usual the trains are plying . However it is deemed that the indiscretion committed by the president in the final decision in this connection merits a dissection …

This unjustifiable strike can be identified as one against which the biggest opposition was mounted by the enraged people in country’s history and the strikers were at the receiving end of an assault in public and had to face an opposition which was most humiliating to them. The resentment against the railway drivers was so bitter and fierce , according to reports they were forced into a situation where they were even frightened to stay in their homes.

It was the view of not only the railway commuters but even the general public that stern action should be taken against these saboteurs . Besides it was the majority opinion that the government should not capitulate to these trade union terrorists and they should not be permitted to emerge victorious in their dastardly and disruptive activities. They also insisted that a solution should be found for this strike by other methods rather than by negotiation with the callous striking trade unionists who are saboteurs and plunderers. An alternative proposal too was made in consonance with the opinion of the majority, and the bus service of the forces as well as the CTB services were deployed.

These services deployed were in operation without bus fares. The service was run for and on behalf of the GCE advanced level exam students , and therefore there was not a single incident reported that students could not attend the exams. Moreover , the assistant train drivers came before the media and said , they are able to run the trains. In addition , when the deputy minister Ranjan Ramanayake was met by them they said , if they are provided with the opportunity to run the trains they would never engage in strikes which would inconvenience the public , and they are prepared to vouch for that by writing in blood.

Meanwhile proposals were made that a group of the railways be sent to India for train driver training assisted by Indian train drivers. There was also a strong proposal from the public that the railways department shall be privatized. It is significant to note that in SL’s history of strikes , never was such a proposal made by the public against strikers .

Conspiracy- the background …..

The conspiratorial background to this strike was the publicity given to an un-proposed salary increase . It were the political conspirators behind the strike who gave this publicity , and Dinesh Gunawardena the mischief maker at the party leaders meeting said , when the salaries of judges are raised , during the Mahinda Rajapakse era the salaries of the parliamentarians were also increased commensurate with that .The party leaders interpreted that statement as a joke , and did not consider it . Though he did not make any concrete proposal in that regard ,a specific newspaper started concocting stories and reported MPs salaries are going to be increased by this percentage and that .Even after the speaker confirmed there is no such move , it was reported to give a mischievous twist that if the salaries of MPs are increased , there will be an annual expenditure of so much, solely to mislead the people. These were all newspaper canards.

Sirisena alias Sillysena too made a statement in Polonnaruwa fuelling the fire .When this became widely known among the people , in pursuance of the conspiracy enlisting the henchmen, a sudden railways strike was staged demanding a salary hike. It was the calculation of the conspirators , if the MPs are going to raise their salaries so much and the railway demands a salary rise vis a vis the MPs salary hikes , the public will view that as reasonable and be patient . Unfortunately for the conspirators , the people were not that foolish . They proved that beyond doubt by mounting the most gigantic protest in SL ‘s history against the strikers in the Fort.

Mangala’s unerring and meaningful stance…..

Finance minister Mangala Samaraweera of course took a firm stand that salaries cannot be raised in the way the railways trade unions demand. If the salary increases are granted , the entire salary structure of the state employees will face anomalies , leading to a series of strikes , the minister pointed out. In the end , he was pushed to the point to say the cabinet has no backbone.

Mangala’s stance was right both from an economic as well as political standpoint. If strikes are to be staged as and when they want , no government can carry on. Rajitha who usually takes correct political decisions too backed this view. He stood by Mangala.

We have already pointed out , the unjustifiable series of strikes which cause hardships to the people can be stifled and strangled if at least one strike can be comprehensively and decisively defeated. Mangala the saner and sensible politico was toeing that line undeterred and undaunted.

Mangala clearly said , call off the strike and come for discussion. Minister of transport Nimal Siripala De Silva too took that view . He said , until the strike is called off , there is no room for discussion. The deputy minister of transport Asoka went even beyond and insisted , the houses of the strikers should be traced and given retaliatory answers.

While Sagala was saying the trade union terror should be defeated , Ajith Perera too holding a separate media briefing objected to salary increases being granted only to the railways. These views can be construed as the official stand of the UNP. Neither the JVP nor any Leftist group which shouts and screams even for nothing did not stand by the strikers while the ‘Bud’ Buddies remained silent. Besides when the public opinion mounted against the strikers and turned violent , none was ready to go forward and provide protection or avert it . That is, in the overall picture there was nobody to support the railways strike .

Golden opportunity

In the circumstances the government was offered a golden opportunity on the platter . Even the GCE adv. Level students who suffered abysmally owing to the unjustifiable strike took the stand the strikers should be taught a lesson. The parents of the students too were not of the opinion that the strike must be ended by giving in. Therefore every circumstance was in favor of the government and what the government should have done then was exploited the opportunity to the full.

In this climate if the government had expelled the strikers ( laws could have been evoked because the strike was staged without giving notice) the public would have been most delighted. In addition the government could have implemented the alternative proposal that was before it , and tried to restore the railway transport to normalcy while also streamlining the bus transport services.

Simultaneously with the blessings of the people the strike and the strikers could have been brought under control. If the railways was made an essential service through a gazette notification , and the strikers were incarcerated , nobody from any quarter will oppose it for such action is not undemocratic at all.

The government has a right to take measures on behalf of the convenience and comfort of the people .Hence there was no necessity to continuously tolerate the arbitrary actions of a few . If such measures were taken seizing that golden opportunity, a new chapter could have been opened in SL’s history

Sirisena the foe of good governance….

While the golden opportunity was knocking at the door , and all the odds were in government ‘s favor , what did president Sirisena do ? He gave a chance to the heratless striking villains to come for discussions with him following the intercession of a media acting as a ‘broker’. He granted this opportunity after grossly betraying his own government’s finance minister and transport minister to the detriment of the entire country. Sirisena who boasts of a long 50 years political experience by this action demonstrated again he is a Sillysena who hasn’t even the political acumen of an ordinary pradeshiya sabha member. Little wonder the country has been driven into chaos and confusion.

If Sirisena alias Sillysena had even a trace of gray matter he would not have agreed to discuss with the callous strikers at this juncture since the desperate strikers who were eagerly waiting for such a face saving opportunity to get back to work without further self disgrace took advantage of the offer.

If he is an intelligent sagacious president , he would have instead told the strikers to discuss with the minister in charge instead of himself going for negotiation.

If he had done taken that course of action , it would have created a most salutary precedent while the repute of the government , finance minister and the transport minister could have also been safeguarded without taking over a burden which was not his . Instead of that, the president by holding discussions with ruthless callous villains who were acting based on a conspiracy , made a hash of the whole issue.

Sirisena agreed to discuss in keeping with his overriding selfish self seeking traits only to achieve cheap popularity and score political plus points .Thereby, he not only grossly betrayed the cabinet , government and the masses who stood by him but also gravely jeopardized their precious interests while also securing minus points for them by playing into the hands of the cunning and callous strikers whom the whole country was disdaining and detesting.

Therefore the time is ripe for the UNP at least now to think seriously whether it can still go on further with such a rudderless , policy-less , aimless and above all brainless Sirisena alias Sillysena a confirmed proven enemy of good governance.

Visal Karunaratne

Translate by Jeff

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by     (2018-08-16 12:40:07)

Hot seat on the fast track

 Wednesday, 15 August 2018


I want to buy a chair. Not a fancy one with all the bells and whistles. There is such a thing after all as a sense of proportion in the purchase of furniture. Just check out what the Western Province Chief Minister’s office is ordering and you will get a sense of how it is not kosher into the bargain.

But still it is a chair of some character and circumference – mine is. It may not cost Rs. 650,000 – or a mere 640-thousand quid, according to the Western Province spokesperson’s prompt correction of the media’s mistakenly overblown estimate! And I don’t want 107 of them, as the Western Provincial Council (WPC) does… just one – but no pomp and circumstance, as with a WPC model. There are, however, some accoutrements attached. As you know, Mr Chief Minister, a chair is not just a chair – it’s a place to park your brain, brashness and bumptious ego.

Sorry to say, though, that the ‘domestic powers that be’ (mine) don’t quite see eye-to-eye with me. They – or she, if you insist – think a chair is a functional piece of furniture and must not be ‘a machine for living in’. (She likes Le Corbusier less than I do – oh, look it up!) So just like the kerfuffle on today’s free press a.k.a. untrammelled social media has led the WPC to “temporarily suspend” plans to import 107 chairs at 650K a pop – sorry, ‘only’ 640 – my own WPC (Wifely Provisional Chairperson) has stymied my own purchase of a brain or ego case.

So not at all in high dudgeon, I flung myself out of our ‘machine for living in’ (viz. – a house, according to Le Corbusier) and hied my sorry fundament down to the beach. Where sun sea sand and sky – in addition to sundry passing trains – tend to soothe my sorrows in time of Sturm und Drang (oh, do look it up). My intention was to mull over the conundrum of how much a chair must cost and other such mundane matters.

Train of thought

Sadly there were no trains to be had for love or money. At the time of writing, it was the third day of the strike. And then there was no solution to the trade union action impasse in sight. Many commuters were severely inconvenienced, among them over an estimated 350,000 workers who ride the rails into and out of the country’s commercial capital on a daily basis. If there is one lot of people clinging on for dear life to what is precious with whom I sympathise more than a chair-less WPC chief minister, or a man by the sea whose WPC-less chair has been vetoed, it’s these commuters who risk life and limb everyday just to get to their bread and pol sambol.

There is, of course, also the bigger picture of the economy and our national work ethic to consider. To date, the railway trade union action has cost the government Rs. 70 m in passenger transit revenues. Last year, a less crippling two-day strike set state coffers back by Rs. 30 m. These estimates don’t factor in losses caused by absences at work, attendant drops in productivity, etc. Six years ago in early 2012, I noted this in an analysis of the then railway strike crippling a key transport sector service:

Back to the future

“The recent wildcat strike by a collective of railway unions caught both commuters and the authorities napping, to judge from their respective responses. Stranded rail passengers grew restive at the unannounced strike and demonstrated angrily at the Colombo Fort and Maradana Railway Stations, necessitating that the army be called in to occupy these premises to prevent a riot. The government for its part, bolstered by vocal members of the cabinet, was quick to condemn the island-wide strike which effectively crippled the railway system for over four hours on February 1st.”

(Then, as now, the armoured corps did not actually substitute for errant engine drivers – whose salaries top off at Rs. 250,000 a month. But the game to train them to do so is afoot. About time… some would say – but a more nuanced view has it that with a basic salary in five figures, much of this big pay packet reflects the inordinate amount of overtime drivers and guards as well as stationmasters have to put in to keep the trains running.)

“Significant in the paralysing strike action was demonstrable unity of railway unions across the board – including stationmasters, guards, and signalmen – which united in the face of their obvious vocational and political differences to force the government’s hand in settling a host of issues, principal among which were anomalies in railway workers’ salaries.”

(Today, I’m not sure the same unity prevails. Or whether the state’s moves in re the railway have driven a wedge between unions! Or whether in fact the government has cornered the unions into striking to achieve such a negative image of the railways as to garner support for privatising this national asset post-haste?)

“In this regard the writing has been on the wall since 2008, when a major railway strike first alerted the incumbent administration to the power of this particular set of trade unions. Minor work stoppages since then have failed to see the rail transit authorities develop contingency plans for just such a strike – one aspect of which could well have been the deployment of suitably trained army personnel to ensure that the trains run – and run on time.”

(See recent press reports on how the government has taken up this idea.)

“Even the usually apathetic or possibly sympathetic public (an estimated 350,000 of who use over 315 trains daily) sent out a strong signal against the legitimacy of such a lightning strike. More worrying to the government at the moment may well be the proliferation of volatile trade union action. In the meantime Sri Lanka Railways, a valuable national asset at Rs. 6.6+ billion estimated revenue and 14,400 employees in 2016 with around 325 stations along over 1,500 kilometres of track, continues to underperform, be underinvested in and under threat of possible future unannounced strikes.”

Fast forward to stationary

For a ‘trinitarian’ train buff like me (spotter, traveller, modeller), the present crisis in the Sri Lanka railway comes with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the potential of this national asset – if managed adroitly – makes it worth keeping in state hands in some shape or form (an Authority, a GOBU, etc.). There is also the vexed issue of subsidised rail fares, among the lowest in the world, with the state having to prop up a service that has not made a profit since 1943 – in fact, for a sense of what government pumps in, in May 2017 an estimated Rs. 3 b in revenue was overshadowed by a subsidy of seven billion LKR.

On the other, chronic strikes brought on by a chimerical mix of genuine grievances and political motives alike compel government, as a savvy manager, to seek to divest it. So much more can be done to streamline plebeian passenger transport services as much as boost super-luxury tourism potential with the right mix of state track ownership, private investment in services and rolling stock, and international aid to fast-track a colonial relict into the 21st century.

In-between is a gamut of subpar options on the table to reject. As well as a spectrum of stakeholders to consider: some of whom may be in play on the never-never – e.g. thugs employed by heaven-knows-who to curb strikers appear to be ‘pros’ who have seen action on other trade union fronts; brandishing iron poles and cracking skulls to disperse nuisance dissenters who put a spoke in this or that government’s wheels.

Then there is the national interest to square against the derailed socio-political ethic. While privatising the railway seems the most attractive option to neoliberal conservatives subscribing to ‘trickledown economics’ popular Stateside, there are equally cogent arguments from Nordic countries among others. And the latter militate in favour of strike action being leveraged to push Sri Lanka in the direction of a more ‘socially-democratic’ Democratic Social Republic in more than name.

Other hot seat stuff

While watching empty trains parked forlornly at termini or in the yard – with some driverless engineers’ seats littered with shattered window-glass from stones thrown by more aggressive strikers, or perhaps politically motivated thugs – my mind idled over another hot seat and its incumbents. Because while locomotive chairs remained empty pending the deployment of trained army personnel, the executive hot seat continues to be occupied by a succession of presidents who strike while the iron is hot. Thanks to a vision inherited from a democratically frustrated leadership of the past and bogged down in present concerns, the mercurial presidency will no doubt imperil our experiment with republicanism until the next round of constitutional reforms springs us free of its shackles.

In the interim, given the state of the nation and its strikers, the only light at the end of the tunnel may be the Down Express of privatisation of the railway – heading for a collision with our social-democracy at high speed. If only I had a cosy comfy cushioned chair to sit in rather than on this jagged edge of a seaside rock where no trains run, I’d be able to see a solution more clearly now that the train strike is ‘temporarily’ gone.

(Journalist | Editor-at-large of LMD | Writer #SpeakingTruthToPower.)

Regional integration 

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By R. M. B Senanayake-August 17, 2018, 10:22 pm

Regional Integration is a controversial subject amongst Sri Lankans who seem to dislike big brother India perhaps because of the history of repeated South Indian invasions we faced in the past. But the world has changed and South India today is very much integrated with the omnibus State of India. South India cannot take unilateral actions to invade Sri Lanka as in the past unless the whole State of India decides to do so. The regional states of India are very much under the central control of the greater Indian State. So we must look at the case for regional integration through trade at least from a different perspective.

We must form a single trading market with India and get the benefits of a single large market where we can expand our production facilities to supply the larger Indian market. This will enable us to specialise to a much greater extent since our products would be saleable without facing tariffs duties, cess etc on our exports to India, which is the closest and nearest market where the costs of transportation are a minimum and where our products could be most competitive vis-a-vis the rest of the world.

Look at Europe which earlier consisted of a multitude of economic regions but is today integrated into the European Union where goods move freely without the different States of the EU imposing tariffs each time the goods cross the frontiers of each nation state. This enables larger trading regions with a common single tariff for entry into any constituent State without additional tariffs being imposed by the separate nation states which form the EU. So, a single large market with a single tariff is created and is imposed only once at the initial point of entry to any of the constituent states of the EU and any movement thereafter within the constituent states is free of tariffs. Contrast this with a situation where each time the goods cross a frontier of a state forming a single region such as the EU, tariffs are imposed at every national border. National borders would still exist and operate. if there was no free trade and payments union like the EU.

Small countries like ours can’t easily obtain the economies of large scale operations since our domestic market is small. In order to specialize in the production of goods at lower prices we need large scale operations which generate economies of scale. Large scale production generates economies of scale which reduce the unit cost of production which enables such production to be competitive on the world market. This is one of the reasons for the movement towards regional integration observed in Europe and the Far East. The Indian sub-continent has failed to realize such economies since the region is politically divided into India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

If we can produce for a larger tariff free market and import therefrom goods which are also tariff free, our costs will go down and we can be more competitive in the worlds markets and also enjoy cheaper living conditions. Immediately after Independence we made a big mistake in failing to take notice of the need to relate our domestic costs to world market production. There was no scope for deficit financing and money creation, a point unfortunately promoted by some economists too who derided traditional economics. Their wrong ideas were taken up by SLFP governments from 1956 onwards.

But our policy makers did not understand the need for relating domestic cost to the world market costs and prices which definitely excluded domestic deficit financing by the government. Earlier the domestic money supply was linked to the Pound Sterling and the Foreign Reserve was held in Sterling Pounds. When the foreign Reserve increased due to a surplus of exports over imports the country's Reserves increased making it possible to increase the domestic money supply when the Reserves declined the money supply automatically declined. But with the establishment of the Central Bank this close connection of the domestic money supply to the Foreign Reserve was done away with;paving the way for irresponsible political leaders to engage in money creation through the Central Bank buying government securities and allowing for excessive import expenditure with such created money. some economists had argued against a domestic central bank for this very reason. But a domestic central bank came to be identified as a mark of national independence and it was allowed to lend to the government.

Initially, there was a limit of Central Bank lending to the government, but the limit was raised several times presumably to assist domestic economic growth which would otherwise be constrained by lack of money supply. But since much of our domestic expenditure was on imported goods and services the relaxation of the link between the domestic money supply and import expenditure was removed with deficit financing and money creation permitted to the government by the establishment of a central bank. The public did not understand these ramifications and their implication for policy making but blindly trusted their political leaders and SWRD proved a disaster for prudent public finance. We have had to go to the IMF several times owing to the irresponsible conduct of the public finances by our political leaders. The IMF of course takes charge of the fiances when they grant loans. we are still under IMF control and unfortunately so far our political leaders cannot act prudently even when they know the adverse consequences because the people expect free lunches from the government and rival politicians pander to their desire in our flawed and irresponsible democracy. It seems to me that it is better for us to be under IMF control than give power to our politicians.

Astroturfing With Glyphosate ?

By Ranil Senanayake –AUGUST 16, 2018

Dr Ranil Senanayake

The recent ruling in California that provided financial relief to a patient who had been affected by the controversial chemical ‘Glyphosate’. It also has a bearing on the meeting summoned by the President to re-examine the proposal by the Ministry of Plantation Industries to revoke the ban on the use of Glyphosate for the tea and rubber plantation sector. The committee was given the assurance that the plantation industries will assure no leakage into the black market or into the waterways. The last, is a very important and critical aspect of protecting public health. Thus the following consideration was accepted if ban was to be revoked.

The report of the committee stated thus :

“Revoke the ban imposed on Glyphosate ONLY for Tea and Rubber Sectors for a period of 36 months, effective from the date that the TRI and RRI design and develop an effective mechanism to ensure strict control of its use and the follow up monitoring mechanism in consultation with Registrar of Pesticides (ROP) and other relevant regulatory bodies (CEA, NSWDB, Health Department, etc.), to prevent the misuse and overuse of Glyphosate, especially the illegal transfer of issued Glyphosate to other crop sectors and environmental leakage to the water bodies;”

This meant that that the TRI and RRI first had to develop monitoring protocols to test if there is any leakage of Glyphosate into water bodies once the industry uses it. After all they argued that ther will not  be leakage into the waterbodies  Monitoring protocols will help address concerns such as: Who is responsible if a leak of Glyphosate has been detected outside the area of application? Further, if leakage is detected, what should be done ? All this must become a part of any license given to use Glyphosate. To lift the ban without clarifying these questions is going forward without fulfilling the requirements of the Presidential Committee.

Thus the gleeful announcements that the ban on Glyphosate was lifted seems to be a bit of ‘Astroturfing’ by some of the compliant media, because the committee report clearly states that the ban will be lifted “ Only for Tea and Rubber sectors and effective and only AFTER the date that the TRI and RRI design and develop an effective mechanism to ensure strict control of its use and the follow up monitoring mechanism.” As this has not yet been done one would expect that the ban has not been lifted as yet.

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Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of UN, dies at 80

The Nobel Peace Prize winner served as a special envoy to Syria.

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(Aug 18, 2018

 August 18, 2018, Boston, SriLanka Guardian) Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan died on Saturday. He was 80.

An official statement from The Kofi Annan Foundation was shared on Mr. Annan’s Twitter handle: “It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully on Saturday 18th August after a short illness.”

The Nobel Peace Prize winner served as the U.N. special envoy to Syria, and was the first black African to be appointed as Secretary-General. He served two terms in the post from 1996-2006.

In 2016, Mr. Annan was named by the Myanmar government to head a panel to find “lasting solutions” to the conflict in Rakhine state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses against the minority Rohingya Muslims.

Under his leadership, the UN introduced the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, in which countries of the world committed to ending poverty within 15 years. Under his leadership two intergovernmental bodies, the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council, were established. In 2001, Kofi Annan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace along with the United Nations.

Mr. Annan played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He launched the Global Compact initiative, the world’s largest effort to promote corporate social responsibility, in 1999.

“His wife Nane and their children Ama, Kojo and Nina were by his side during his last days,” said the statement on Mr. Annan’s Twitter handle.

‘Global statesman’

The statement said:

“Kofi Annan was a global statesman and a deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world. During his distinguished career and leadership of the United Nations he was an ardent champion of peace, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law.

“After stepping down from the United Nations, he continued to work tirelessly in the cause of peace through his chairmanship of the Kofi Annan Foundation and as chair of The Elders, the group founded by Nelson Mandela. He was an inspiration to young and old alike.

“Kofi Annan was a son of Ghana and felt a special responsibility towards Africa. He was particularly committed to African development and deeply engaged in many initiatives, including his chairmanship of the Africa Progress Panel and his early leadership of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

“Wherever there was suffering or need, he reached out and touched many people with his deep compassion and empathy. He selflessly placed others first, radiating genuine kindness, warmth and brilliance in all he did. He will be greatly missed by so many around the world, as well as his staff at the Foundation and his many former colleagues in the United Nations system. He will remain in our hearts forever.

“The family kindly requests privacy at this time of mourning. Arrangements to celebrate his remarkable life will be announced later.”

Siege stops chemotherapy in Gaza

Palestinians gather at the ruins of a five-story building housing the prominent Said al-Mishal cultural center, destroyed by Israeli bombing on 9 August.Mohammed ZaanounAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy-15 August 2018

Israel reopened Gaza’s sole commercial crossing on Wednesday, one month after shutting it down in an act of collective punishment inflicting millions of dollars of additional economic damage on the besieged territory’s long-suffering population.

Meanwhile a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Egypt and the United Nations, was approvedby the Israeli government.

Hamas had been observing a unilateral ceasefire after Israel bombed more than 150 sites across Gaza last Wednesday and Thursday, killing a pregnant woman, her toddler daughter and a Palestinian fighter, as well as destroying a prominent cultural center.

Three Palestinians in Gaza were fatally wounded by Israel on Friday.

Details of the reported agreement are scant but the Israeli daily Haaretz states that they are based on the ceasefire that ended Israel’s brutal 51-day assault on Gaza in 2014.

Negotiating basic rights and obligations

Those principles include lifting Israel’s restrictions on Gaza’s commercial crossing, increasing the Gaza fishing area that Israel enforces with live fire, and the rebuilding of infrastructure in the territory.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has previously affirmed that Israel’s blockade on Gaza – imposed after Hamas won legislative elections and began administering the internal affairs of the territory in 2007 – “constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.”

Israel’s limitations on fishing off of Gaza’s coast violates the terms agreed to in the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s.

The targeting of civilian objects such as homes and water and sanitation infrastructure has “become a feature of Israel’s military engagement in the Gaza Strip,” according to Al Mezan, a human rights group based in the territory.

The deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure including water wells destroyed by Israel last week is “a serious violation of international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime,” Al Mezan states.

Israel’s obligations under international law, and the basic needs of Gaza’s population, are being treated as negotiable.

Survival

Negotiation of the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza – where hospitals have faced shutdowns for lack of fuel and the unemployment rate has soared above 50 percent – shows the fundamental inequality between the occupier and the occupied.

More than 180 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year, at least 125 of them during the Great March of Return protests beginning 30 March.

There has been a single Israeli fatality related to Gaza during that period, a soldier killed by sniper fire last month – the first Israeli death due to fire from Gaza since the 2014 ceasefire.

Israel banned the movement of goods including UN-funded emergency fuel at Gaza’s commercial crossing last month after flaming kites and balloons launched from Gaza caused hundreds of fires in the south of the country.

Israeli leaders have admitted that the tightened restrictions were a form of collective punishment on Gaza’s two million residents intended to put pressure on Hamas.

Collective punishment is a violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The closure of Gaza’s commercial crossing has reportedly caused $100 million in damage to its economy.

That is on top of the “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” resulting from more than 11 years of Israeli blockade and the bitter impasse between the Palestinian governments in Gaza and the West Bank, as stated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In July, Palestinians in Gaza endured the searing summer heat with only five hours of electricity per day on average.

That same month there was only 10 days worth of emergency fuel available in the territory, precipitously down from 150 days in March.

Some 40 percent of the population borrowed money from friends and family to pay for food.

Of the more than 2,300 applications made by Palestinians in Gaza to receive medical treatment outside the territory in July, Israel rejected 40 percent of them.

More than 20 Palestinians died of injuries caused by Israeli occupation forces, and more than 1,850 were injured.

About half of essential drugs were at zero stock level in July, meaning there was less than a month’s supply remaining.

Chemotherapy drugs at zero stock

Gaza’s health ministry announced on Sunday that chemotherapy would no longer be available due lack of supplies from the Palestinian Authority.

“The growing shortage of medicines in general, and of medicines required by cancer patients in particular, due to Palestinian Authority measures compounds the suffering of patients and their families who are attempting to navigate an already crippled healthcare system,” Al Mezan stated Tuesday.

“The Israeli authorities’ restrictions on the entry of medical supplies and equipment into Gaza within the context of closure, and on doctors traveling outside Gaza to pursue further medical training and specialization, means that Gaza’s hospitals are severely hindered in providing care,” Al Mezan added.

The human rights group noted that the irregular supplies of medicines sent to Gaza by the PA from the West Bank “serves to compound the issue by forcing more cancer patients to be referred outside of Gaza for treatment.” Many then face Israel’s rejection and such referrals drive up costs.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas “lashed out at the United States over its proposals to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Abbas called US officials “liars.”

Egypt reportedly seeks the involvement of the PA in long-term truce talks indirectly held between Hamas and Israel, seemingly with the belief that the PA would sabotage any such agreement if it is not involved.

But on Wednesday PA leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his position that Hamas must hand over full control over Gaza to the West Bank government.

Abbas has previously demonstrated that, in tandem with Israel, he is prepared to maintain sanctions on Gaza even at the expense of Palestinian lives.

Lessons to learn from B’desh turmoil Roots of Bangladesh turmoil lie in economic issues

 2018-08-14 

Peace has returned to Bangladesh after ten days of a student agitation, which was brutally quelled by the police and club-wielding thugs of the ruling Awami League.

But the issues underlying the stir remain and might re-surface in other forms as the country heads towards parliamentary elections likely to be held between October 31 and December 31, this year. And the roots of the trouble could be traced to economic issues.

Bangladesh has been experiencing an impressive 7.5 % GDP growth, but the growth has benefited only the rich. It has not given the expected returns to the upwardly-mobile middle classes in the urban and rural areas

Lessons to learn from B’desh turmoil Roots of Bangladesh turmoil lie in economic issues.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Human Extinction by 2026? A Last Ditch Strategy to Fight for Human Survival

Adversely impacting this circumstance is that the sea ice continues to retreat as the polar ice cap melts in response to the ongoing temperature increases. Because sea ice reflects sunlight back into Space, as the ice retreats more sunlight hits the (dark-colored) ocean (which absorbs the sunlight) and warms the ocean even more.

by Robert J. Burrowes-Aug 14, 2018

( August 14, 2018, Victoria, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is almost unanimous agreement among climate scientists and organizations – that is, 97% of over 10,000 climate scientists and the various scientific organizations engaged in climate science research – that human beings have caused a dramatic increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide released into Earth’s atmosphere since the pre-industrial era and that this is driving the climate catastrophe that continues to unfold. For the documentary evidence on this point see, for example, ‘Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature’, ‘Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming’ and ‘Scientists Agree: Global Warming is Happening and Humans are the Primary Cause’.

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Body count rises in Jakarta’s crime sweep ahead of Asian Games

 17th August 2018

Police officers walk past the front of the main stadium ahead of the upcoming Asian Games at Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 16, 2018. Source: Reuters

A HUMAN rights group said Indonesian police have shot dead more than 70 people in an “escalating” crackdown on petty criminals ahead of the 2018 Asian Games that opens Saturday.

Amnesty International (AI) said at least 77 people have been gunned down across the country, nearly half of whom were shot in the games’ host cities of greater Jakarta and South Sumatra.

Many of the killings, AI said, occurred during police operations explicitly devised to prepare the cities for hosting the multisport event scheduled to be held between Aug 18 and Sept 2.

AI Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said the figures reveal a clear pattern of “unnecessary” and “excessive” use of force by the police.

SEE ALSO: 5 police killed during Islamist riot in prison near Jakarta 

“In the months leading up to the Asian Games, the authorities promised to improve security for all. Instead, we have seen the police shooting and killing dozens of people across the country with almost zero accountability for the deaths,” Usman said in a statement.

“The killings must stop and all deaths must be promptly and effectively investigated,” he said.

Usman said the killings also reflected a constant “veil of impunity” that taints public security institutions.

Indonesian soldiers gather at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium, ahead of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia Aug 16, 2018. Source: Reuters

“The hosting of an international sporting event must not come at the price of abandoning human rights.”

AI pointed out that the killing peaked from July 3 and 12. In the short time frame, 11 people in greater Jakarta and three people in South Sumatra were shot dead by the police during a series of operations.

A further 41 were shot in the legs, while more than 700 of 5,000 people arrested were charged with a criminal offence, the group said.

SEE ALSO: Indonesia’s cops kill 11 in Asian Games anti-crime ‘shooting spree’

A spate of violent crimes in the Jakarta has raised public concern and police were using it to justify the killings, AI said.

The crimes, called “begal”, involved criminals who carry sharp weapons or guns and use motorbikes to rob and attack people.

The group said the deaths represent a 64 percent increase in the total number of those killed for committing petty crimes compared to the same period for 2017.

“The police are clearly exercising a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ policy,” Usman said, adding the government should launch investigations in the killings.

The games will witness a 20 percent increase in participation compared to the Incheon Games four years ago.

Security concerns for the event increased after suicide bombings claimed by Islamic State killed more than 30 people in the country’s second-biggest city of Surabaya in May.

America Is Committing War Crimes and Doesn’t Even Know Why

The United States has spent far more time obscuring its role in the Saudi-led war in Yemen than in explaining any rationale for it.

Yemenis gather next to the destroyed bus at the site of a Saudi-led coalition air strike, that targeted the Dahyan market the previous day in the Huthi rebels' stronghold province of Saada on August 10, 2018. (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

By Micah Zenko- August 15, 2018, 9:44 AM

By any reasonable assessment, the U.S. government should have stopped providing direct military support to the Saudi Arabia-led air campaign in Yemen on the day after it started. Washington’s participation began on March 26, 2015, when a White House spokesperson announced, “President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to [Gulf Cooperation Council]-led military operations.” On March 26, toward the end of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) asked U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Lloyd Austin what the ultimate goal of the GCC air campaign in Yemen was, and for the general to estimate its likelihood of success.

Gen. Austin answered with refreshing honesty: “I don’t currently know the specific goals and objectives of the Saudi campaign, and I would have to know that to be able to assess the likelihood of success.” Gillibrand replied, “Well, I do hope you get the information sooner than later.” In other words, the military commander responsible for overseeing the provision of support for a new air war in the Middle East did not know what the goals of the intervention were, or how he could evaluate whether it was successful. The United States had become a willing co-combatant in a war without any direction or clear end state.

Two inevitable results have followed. First, there have been a litany of war crimes of the sort perpetrated last weekend, in which Saudi planes, using American munitions, bombed a school bus killing dozens of Yemeni schoolchildren. Second, the U.S. government has responded to these crimes with silences that might seem chastened, but in truth must be classified as defiant, given the bureaucratic maneuvering undertaken to obscure the United States’ unthinking complicity both to outsiders and to itself. (The U.S. military claims not to even track the results of the Yemeni missions that its forces are involved in.) Neither President Donald Trump, nor Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has publicly addressed this latest massacre. A Pentagon spokesperson only requested that Saudi Arabia “expeditiously and thoroughly investigate this tragic incident.”

Three years into Yemen’s ever-worsening humanitarian nightmare, Congress and the American people have never received a clear response to Gillibrand’s preliminary and prescient question about whether the war has ever had a strategy at all. Civilian and military officials, for their part, have long since stopped pretending to clarify or defend America’s co-combatant status. Rather, they have highlighted their support for successive U.N. special envoys to broker a diplomatic peace process between the warring parties. Instead of clarifying U.S. policy, or acknowledging U.S. culpability for the indiscriminate air campaign that it facilitates, American officials have successfully offshored the problem to the United Nations.

There is a simple reason officials from both the Obama and Trump administrations have made no public efforts to justify the material support provided to the Saudi-led intervention: It is unjustifiable. Less than a month into the U.S. role, an anonymous Pentagon official provided what is probably the most sincere answer: “If you ask why we’re backing this … the answer you’re going to get from most people—if they were being honest—is that we weren’t going to be able to stop it.” This constitutes gross strategic negligence: effectively allowing the poor decisions of Gulf monarchies to determine U.S. military policy.

In off-the-record comments, Obama officials would try to make a policy rationale for participation in the Yemen war, connecting U.S. aid to Gulf militaries with their leaders’ support for the Iran nuclear deal. Since President Trump declared withdrawal from that deal three months ago, this already-tenuous justification no longer holds.

About the Author

Micah Zenko is Whitehead Senior Fellow at Chatham House and is the author of Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy

Now, some Trump officials I have spoken with make an inherently weak argument to rationalize the continued backing of the air war: that it serves to “check Iran’s malign influence” in the region. This might be true were it not the case that whenever the United States intervenes in the Middle East, or supports others’ interventions, it creates the chaotic conditions that amplify Iran’s malign influence. Moreover, it is preposterous that backing a horrific and indiscriminate bombing campaign, which primarily targets Iranian-supported Houthi forces, will compel any change in Iran’s behavior outside of its territory.

The only reason that I can guess why the United States continues to arm, train, and provide essential logistical support for the air campaign in Yemen, is that this support has occurred during both Democratic and Republican administrations; as we learned in Vietnam previously and Afghanistan every day, where poor strategic decisions are made and sustained by administrations of both major political parties, there is no political advantage for the party out of power to critique current policy.

The elected leaders—in the White House and on Capitol Hill—of both parties are deeply implicated and responsible for each new civilian fatality from a U.S.-made munition that makes the news. But when we are all morally stained, it is easier to echo some version of the stunning claim made by Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Sunday: “We are not engaged in the civil war. We will help to prevent, you know, the killing of innocent people.”

The United States has been directly engaged in the civil war since March 25, 2015, and its support has not prevented the killing of innocents. It is time to phase out and terminate America’s support for the Saudi-led component of this civil war, and, more importantly, never again go to war, or support other’s wars, without purpose or objectives.