Bonded Beyond Belief: The Forgotten Great Bank Heist

First anniversary of presentation of Bond Commission report

Then: “Why only my father?” - Onella K 

Now: “…my son was made to look like a criminal” - Charlie M 

country was  driven back to pre-2015 days
 

Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe knew little about the scandal 
 

PCoI report recommends legal action against Ravi 
 

Long way to go for justice to take place 
 

What is at stake is the honesty of the person who was the guardian of public finances of this country

 2019-01-12

The daughter of Minister Ravi Karunanayake, 15 months ago rushed to defend her father in an impassioned post: she said it was unfair for people to blame her father alone for the CB bond fiasco. “My father is a victim of character assassination,” Onella Wiranthi Karunanayake in a lengthy Facebook post lashed out at media reports on her father, saying they were “paid” by those who wanted to bring her father into disrepute. 

What she conveniently forgot was to clear the air on how they resided in a ‘luxury penthouse’ allegedly funded by Aloysius, but continued, “Does everyone really believe for the last couple of years everything in the government is just one man?” 
We all knew it was not Onella’s father alone who was involved in it. But a whole lot wanted to sacrifice her father. So it is up to him, better late than never, to spill the beans that he was only a cog in the wheel. Yes, others are not saints, but that doesn’t prevent anyone else from doing wrong. Everyone involved must be brought to justice. What is at stake is the honesty of the person who was the guardian of public finances of this country. 

Ravi K’s denial of knowing who and how his rent was paid is inexcusable. 

CHARLIE SPEAKS UP FOR HIS SON
Quoting Cassandra, ‘The Bourne Identity,’ Cato the Elder, Lucretius, Dhammapada and Buddha; UN Special Rapporteur; Arjuna Mahendran’s father in a letter given wide publicity in social media says; 

“I have watched with bemusement the drama that has unfolded in the past four years around my son, Arjuna Mahendran… certain political operatives and their media backers have spent the past four years using Arjuna Mahendran as the mantra to impose a shroud of corruption on one, deflecting attention from the misdeeds of the other,” he continues, “Not a shred of actual objective evidence was produced to prove Arjuna passed information. It makes no sense for Arjuna to have engaged in conduct that would jeopardize an unblemished and highly-remunerative career,” it further says, “It is not surprising that international legal experts have expressed concern over the politicised nature of the legal process in Sri  Lanka.” Let’s reflect on excerpts from the PCoI report: Mr. Mahendran has repeatedly assured the Prime Minister that Mr. Aloysius “would not under any circumstance play any role in the business activities of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. It appears that the Prime Minister has relied on those assurances given by Mr. Mahendran. Although there may have been good reasons requiring an urgent adjustment to the interest rates paid on overnight standing deposit facility, Mr. Mahendran acted improperly and in excess of his authority when he, unilaterally and without prior approval of the Monetary Board, issued a direction on February 27, 2015 to withdraw or remove the two-tier interest rate structure of the overnight standing deposit facility and to direct that only the single interest rate of 6.5% per annum be applied. The forum which Mr. Mahendran chose to issue that directive – i.e. the meeting of the Market Operations Committee – was a forum which had nothing to do with the determination of the interest rates applicable to the overnight standing deposit facility/standing lending facility. As a result of Mr. Mahendran’s directive, overnight interest rates in the market increased significantly for a period of time. This increase in the overnight interest rates would have influenced the short-end of the yield curve of the Treasury bond market to move upwards. This consequence becomes especially significant in the light of the subsequent events which took place on February 27, 2015 and the issue of 30-year Treasury bonds to the value of Rs.10.058 billion at a weighted average yield rate of 11.7270% which moved the long-end of the yield curve of the Treasury bond market upwards, too. 

Corruption has become part of the political culture of all developing nations and Rajapaksas perfected it in Sri  Lanka in their decade-long rule, but no one thought Ranil Wickremesinghe would stoop to that level. Public debt increased, rupee depreciated, inflation higher, tightened monetary policy and growth retarded; country driven back to pre-2015 days

Readers may refer to the following sections in the report which is now in public domain 
Sec. 19.2.4 – The meeting of the Market Operations Committee on 27 February 2015-19.2.5 – The Treasury Bond Auction held on 27 February 2015 and Arjuna Mahendran’s intervention in that Auction --19.2.6 – The decision to stop direct placements -19.2.8 – The Prime Minister’s Statement in Parliament on 17 March 2015 

19.2.15 – Did the Treasury Bond Auction held on 27 February 2015 cause a loss to the Government? If so, how much was it?
19.5.6 – The Treasury Bond Auction held on 29 March 2016

Chapter 20 – Perpetual Treasuries in the Secondary Market
Chapter 21 – The Employees Provident Fund in the Primary Market and Secondary Market in Treasury bonds Arjun Aloysius and CEO Kasun Palisena released the primary dealer, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. (PTL) owner Arjun Aloysius and CEO Kasun Palisena, who were arrested by the CID in February last year over the Central Bank bond scam have been ordered to be released on exceptional bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate after being in remand custody for more than ten months. Requesting bail on humanitarian grounds, the lawyers defending Aloysius and Palisena had told court that the wives and children of their clients were not well. PTL, according to the report, had made an excessive profit of Rs.11 billion in the secondary market. In this, EPF and other State institutions have lost more than Rs 8.5 billion. They made a profit of over Rs.688 million on the first day itself. 

The PCoI report covering the period 2015 and 2016, comprising 1,257 pages recommended that action should be taken against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake under the Bribery and Corruption Act, as they found he was responsible for the allegation regarding the payment of rent for an apartment belonging to the Aloysius family and their company, Walt and Rowe. It also recommended further legal action against Karunanayake for giving false evidence at the commission. 

The release of Aloysius and Palisena coincided with the first anniversary of the presentation of the Bond Commission report that inquired into the issuance of Treasury bonds to the President on December 30, 2017. The Chief Magistrate granting them bail stated that the main suspect, former Central Bank Governor, Singaporean, Arjuna Mahendran hadn’t been taken into custody and when the case would be concluded was doubtful. Being in remand for more than a year makes no sense, as charges have not being filed. Will this case end up dead? No doubt it is another victory for democracy and independence of judiciary; but will Arjun Aloysius soon follow his father-in-law’s footsteps to an unknown territory? 

The commission was authorised to inquire into the bond issuance from February 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 to find out actual facts and to make recommendations on the steps to be employed in the future. Commission recommended that the CBSL should conduct on priority a forensic audit with regard to the fraud and corrupt acts from 2008 and legal steps be taken against those responsible, based on such findings, through the Criminal Investigations Department and the Bribery or Corruption Commission. The President submitted the report to the Attorney General exactly an year ago. The report states that PTL made profits through unlawful means with the participation of Governor Arjuna Mahendran, senior bank officials and some outside individuals. The commission recommended that legislation could be passed for the speedy recovery of monies manner, instead of filing civil action. 

HOW IT ALL STARTED - PRIMARY DEALERS AND CB BONDS
There were no Treasury bonds prior to 1997 and the State relied on Treasury bills (TBs) to secure loans from public and corporate bodies. Attractive interests were offered. Anyone could buy TBs through a nominated commercial bank and it was a popular investment for them. 
Unlike TBs, bonds could be bought only by a selected few called primary dealers (PDs) who offered billions of rupees to CB. It was revealed in investigations into the bond scam that PDs did not possess funds but borrowed from government banks to offer loans back to the CB. Unlike an ordinary citizen who is unable to get a loan of Rs.50,000 from a State bank, they received loans running into billions overnight -- these dealers were in a position to do so by offering ‘santhosams’ to officials as revealed in the investigation. The PD, Aloysius, Governor Mahendran’s son-in-law was the highest single profit earner from the two transactions. 

Some senior officials of the bank, according to the report, were inactive before the Governor, Mahendran, who interfered with bond auctions through unconventional methods. The commission has made him responsible for leaking information to outsiders. One such party has used them to obtain undue profits. 

IS THERE A WAY TO GET OUT OF THE MUDDLE?
The UNP leader has been accused of providing political patronage for the multimillion dollar bank heist by an equally-corrupt group of his opponents. However, the report says the PM’s responsibility in the appointment of Arjuna Mahendran was proper, they are of the opinion that the PM made a statement in Parliament regarding the appointment trusting the facts presented by Mahendran and Samarasiri, especially the promise by Mahendran that conflict of interest would be sorted out. They think the PM should not have done that. Thieves who robbed workers’ savings in the EPF go scot-free; while corrupt politicians of both the divide are the winners. It has been revealed that politicians in all parties who received contributions to varying degrees out of this scandal are being honoured with Cabinet portfolios, deputies, non-Cabinet ministers and appointed as party general secretaries, enjoying their lives to the maximum with ill-gotten wealth until the day all fun will come to an end. 

The cost of the presidential campaign ran into a few billions. The international community invested heavily to cause a regime change, but the organisers fell short of the target. Party chairmen and leaders who handled the funds begged and borrowed to keep the campaign buoyant. At the end, there were unpaid bills. Back in power, they could not dishonour obligations, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Kabir Hashim, the then Highways Minister, Treasury Secretary, UNP Chairman, Malik Samarawickrama met Mahendran, CB Governor, on February 26, 2015 and decided the government needed urgent funding of Rs.15 billion for the resumption of highways and road building tasks, while CBSL announced interest rates would remain unchanged for the month. The dishonest son-in-law of Mahendran, Arjun Aloysius, a friend of Rajapaksa, off springs was asked to bid. Ravi Karunanayake played a role in restricting the involvement of State banks in bidding. Arjun Aloysius earned a little over Rs.12 billion and campaign debts of Yahapalanaya were settled and some leftovers sent to enhance Sirikotha funds for general elections. The masterminds filled their pockets too before ‘santhosams’ were paid to government ‘foot-note’ types and opposition’s vociferous young Turks. 
Accordingly, on February 27, the 30-year auction for Rs.1 billion was opened with Rs.20 billion worth of offers received from 36 offers enabling the Governor to accept Rs.10 billion. Pre-auction advice has been the usual practice; CB officials gave an indicative rate of interest of 9.5 per cent. 

PM BEFORE COMMISSION 
The PM was given a list of questions in advance so as to facilitate him to present answers by way of an affidavit. He was at the commission for an hour to ‘clarify’ matters arising from his answers to the questionnaire; just a few questions were put to him unlike in the case of others like Ravi Karunanayake who was examined by Yasantha Kodagoda and Dappula de Livera, ADG and Senior ADG. Instead, the AG himself led evidence though he was not involved in the inquiry up to that point. In his affidavit, the PM says, “…Upon the formation of the new government in January 2015, there was a general consensus within the government that Mr. Mahendran should be appointed to the post of CBSL Governor.” 
The ‘general consensus’ that he mentioned was not investigated? 

WAY TO GO FOR JUSTICE
Long way to go for justice to take place. Did the President conceal the COPE report prepared by D.E.W. Gunasekara by dissolving Parliament a day before it was scheduled to be presented in August 2015 to help UNP’s election campaign? In a connected feat, Sujeewa Senasinghe, Deputy Justice Minister moved court to prevent Mr. Gunasekera from releasing his report to the media. Later realising the folly that the respondent would table the report in court, which would automatically get exposed, he withdrew the motion. The President removed Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission from the PM’s purview only on March 28, 2018 -- three years after the first bond scam and 700 days after the second. Why did he wait for so long to act? He owes an explanation too. 

True, those responsible have been named and shamed, but where is action? It was the same AG’s Department that filed indictment against RK for money laundering with a technical hitch to prevent the judge from continuing with the case, but the HC ordered the AG to file a fresh indictment. They have so far failed to carry out the order. People celebrated the dawn of New Year with good news in January 2018, thinking the culprits are trapped and also bringing to light the other rogues of the Rajapaksa regime. Will we ever see the light clearing at the end of the tunnel? Rogues will never be thrown to jail. The UNP/SLFP leaders came to power, swearing to take action against the corrupt Rajapaksa men and eliminate corruption. True, some action is being taken against them, but their cronies involved in corrupt deals have been above the law. The writer suggests that a presidential commission, with adequate powers and a mandate covering years 2000 to date be appointed to probe allegations of corruption as regards all big projects including those under construction. 

Both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe probably knew every little detail about the scandal. Corruption has become part of the political culture of all developing nations and Rajapaksas perfected it in Sri  Lanka in their decade-long rule, but no one thought Ranil Wickremesinghe would stoop to that level. Public debt increased, rupee depreciated, inflation higher, tightened monetary policy and growth retarded; country driven back to pre-2015 days. The assets are being sold off cheap to reimburse cost of luxury lifestyles of dishonest politicians of the UNP, SLFP, JO, JVP and their political allies, families and cronies. The State coffers are being emptied by thieves who take turns in governing. Criminals are allowed to loot and plunder national assets. Shame on the brainless supporters of all political parties! 

Beyond MeToo

by  Slavoj Zizek- Jan 13, 2019

Jan 13, 2019

Ethical and political “correctness” have reached extreme levels recently. This suits the powerful perfectly right now, but may come back to bite them soon.

In a recent commentary, writer Laura Kipnis addressed the ethico-political implications of film critic David Edelstein’s recent travails. Apropos the death of legendary Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, Edelstein made a tasteless “joke” on his private Facebook page: “even grief is better with butter.”

The statement was accompanied by a still of Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando’s infamous anal rape scene from Last Tango in Paris. Edelstein quickly deleted it (before the public outcry broke out, not as a reaction to it!) but actress Martha Plimpton had immediately tweeted it to her followers, demanding “fire him. Immediately.”

Of course, this happened the next day: NPR’s Fresh Air announced that they were cutting ties with Edelstein because the post had been “offensive and unacceptable.” Especially given Schneider’s traumatic experiences during filming, which left her battling depression and drug addiction.

So what are the implications (or, rather, the unstated rules) of this incident? First, “there’s nothing inadvertent about inadvertent offence,” it cannot be excused as a momentary mistake since it’s now treated as revelatory of the true character of the offender.

This is why one such episode is a permanent mark against you, however apologetic you might be. “One flub and you’re out. An unthinking social media post will outweigh a 16-year track record.” The only thing that might help is a long permanent process of self-critical self-examination: “Failure to keep re-proving it implicates you in crimes against women.”

Thus, you have to prove it again and again since, as a man, you aren’t trusted: “men are not to be believed, they will say anything.” And this leads to Kipnis’s bitter conclusion: “maybe it’s time to stop hiding behind the ‘speak truth to power’ mantra, when women have power aplenty – we can wreck a guy’s career with a tweet!”

Different Levels

Naturally, one has to introduce some further specifications here: WHICH women have the power to wreck WHICH guys’ careers? But the fact remains that we are witnessing a tremendous exercise of power unchecked by what would have been otherwise considered reasonable (a fair trial, the right to reasonable doubt…), and if someone just points this out, they are immediately accused of protecting old white men.

Plus the barrier that separates public from private space disappears here: recently, several Icelandic MPs faced calls to resign after they were recorded using crude language to describe female colleagues and a disabled activist. They did this in a bar, and an anonymous eavesdropper sent the recording to Icelandic media.   

The only parallel that comes to mind here is with the brutal swiftness of revolutionary purges – and, effectively, many MeToo sympathizers evoke this parallel and claim that such excesses are understandable in the first moments of radical change.

However, it is precisely this parallel that we should reject. Such “excessive” purges are not indications that the revolutionary zeal went too far – on the contrary, they clearly indicate that the revolution was redirected and lost its radical edge.

In short, one should struggle to refocus MeToo onto the daily suffering of millions of ordinary working women and housewives. This emphatically can be done – for example, in South Korea, MeToo exploded in tens of thousands of ordinary women demonstrating against their sexual exploitation.

Only through the link between sexual exploitation and economic exploitation can we mobilize the majority: men should not be portrayed only as potential rapists, they should be made aware that their violent domination over women is mediated by their experience of economic impotence.

So, the truly radical MeToo is not about women against men but also about the prospect of their solidarity. 

Migrant motives   

And exactly the same holds for our other big ethico-political problem: how to deal with the flow of refugees?

The solution is not to just open the borders to all who want to come in, and to ground this openness in our generalized guilt (“our colonization is our greatest crime which we will have to repay forever”). Such a stance provides a clinically perfect example of the superego paradox confirmed by how the fundamentalist immigrants react to left-liberal guilt feeling.

Here, the more European Left liberals admit responsibility for the situation which creates refugees, and the more they demand we should abolish all walls and open our gates to immigrants, the more they are despised by fundamentalist migrants.

There is no gratitude in it – the more we give, the more we are reproached that we did not give enough. And it is significant that the countries most attacked are not those with an open anti-immigrant stance (Hungary, Poland etc.) but precisely those which are the most generous.

Sweden is reproached that it doesn’t really want to integrate immigrants, and every detail is seized upon as a proof of its hypocrisy (“You see, they still serve pork at meals in the schools! They still allow their girls to dress provocatively! They still don’t want to integrate elements of sharia in their legal system!”), while every demand for symmetry (but where are new Christian churches in Muslim countries with a Christian minority?) is flatly rejected as European cultural imperialism.

Crusades are mentioned all the time, while the Muslim occupation of large parts of Europe is treated as normal. The underlying premise is that a kind of radical sin (of colonization) is inscribed into the very existence of Europe, a sin incomparable with others, so that our debt to others cannot ever be repaid.

However, beneath this premise it is easy to discern its opposite, scorn – they loath us for our guilt and responsibility and they perceive it as a sign of our weakness, of our lack of self-respect and trust in ourselves.

The ultimate irony is that some Europeans then perceive such an aggressive stance as the Muslim “vitality” and contrast it to Europe’s “exhaustion” – again turning this into the argument that we need the influx of foreign blood to regain our vitality.

In other words, we in Europe will only regain the respect of others by learning to impose limits, to fully help others not from a position of guilt and weakness but from a position of strength.

Hopeful Gamble

What do we mean by this strength? Precisely such a strength was displayed by Angela Merkel when she extended the invitation to refugees to come to Germany. Her invitation exuded trust that Germany can do it and that it’s strong enough to retain its identity in accepting migrants.

By this thinking, although anti-immigrant patriots like to pose as strong defenders of their nation, it is their position which betrays panic and weakness – how little trust they must have in German society when they perceive a couple of hundred newcomers as a threat to German identity? Crazy as it may sound, Merkel acted as a strong German patriot while anti-immigrants are miserable weaklings.

If we remain at the level of self-reproach and guilt, we serve perfectly the interests of those in power who foment the conflict between immigrants and the local working class (which feels threatened by them) and retain their superior moral stance.

Indeed, the moment one begins to think in this direction, the Politically Correct Left instantly cries Fascism (see the ferocious attacks on Irish writer Angela Nagle for her outstanding essay ‘The Left Case against Open Borders’.)

To put it in old Maoist terms, the “contradiction” between advocates of open borders and populist anti-immigrants is a false “secondary contradiction” whose ultimate function is to obfuscate the need to change the entire economic system itself. Which, in its present form, encourages migration by creating vast regional inequalities and an endless search for “growth.”

Slavoj Zizek is a cultural philosopher. He’s a senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana and Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University.

Gaza patients neglected in Egypt

A wounded Palestinian protester arrives at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 19 October 2018. Mahmoud AjjourAPA images

Sarah Algherbawi The Electronic Intifada 11 January 2019

For Saied Abu Asker, 2018 will be remembered as the year he was shot with two explosive bullets.
He is among numerous Palestinians to have been injured while taking part in the Great March of Return. The protests – held on a regular basis since late March – have been called to demand that the rights of Palestine’s refugees be upheld.

Abu Asker has paid a heavy price for demanding his basic rights. The Israeli snipers who fired at him caused serious damage to the pelvis area of his body while protesting east of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on 1 June.

He was sent to intensive care at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and underwent three surgeries.

When Abu Asker’s health condition deteriorated, he needed a medical transfer out of Gaza. The 24-year-old’s family submitted his medical reports to Gaza’s health ministry. He received approval for treatment in Egypt under the sponsorship of the Palestinian Authority.

Hospitals in Gaza are running at minimum capacity. Palestinians injured during protests are consequently struggling to secure proper medical attention. With treatment in Israel and the occupied West Bank hindered or outright blocked by Israeli authorities, those traveling to Egypt for help have been shocked at the delays and shoddy treatment they have faced there.

Abu Asker arrived by ambulance in Egypt almost three weeks after his injury and headed to the Nasser Institute for Research and Treatment in Cairo, where he was told to wait in the hospital’s garden and only allowed to enter the facility for a preliminary examination nine hours after his arrival.

A doctor examined Abu Asker and told him to return to the hospital the next day to schedule surgery.
“I was shocked at the way doctors treated me. After nine hours of waiting, they told me to return on the second day,” Abu Asker told The Electronic Intifada during a phone interview.

Abu Asker then contacted the Palestinian Authority embassy in Cairo to ask about where he’d stay during his treatment, as PA sponsorship is supposed to include medical care as well as housing expenses for patients.

Abu Asker was told that his case would be reported and that the embassy would be in touch with him soon. This, however, did not mean same-day resolution.

“I was shocked that there was no place to spend the night,” Abu Asker said.

He arranged for his father to rent for him a small apartment near the hospital, where he invited two other injured youths he met in the hospital garden.

“I thought that my suffering ended when I arrived in Egypt,” Abu Asker told The Electronic Intifada. “But from the first day, I knew that it was only a new chapter in my suffering.”

As his desperation grew, Abu Asker sought out and received two private surgeries in November. These were undertaken at financial hardship to himself.

He then traveled to Turkey for further surgery with Gaza’s health ministry covering both his hotel and medical expenses. One surgery was performed in November; two further operations are scheduled for the next 12 months.

Losing limbs

Ibrahim al-Balawy, 28, may lose his left leg after continuous delay in treatment.

Al-Balawy was injured in his left knee on 14 May during Great March of Return protests in eastern Gaza. He was transferred to Egypt one month after the injury.

“I asked one of the injured with me in the room to change the dressing of my injury. I was shocked by the smell coming out of my leg. At that moment, I knew that I may lose my leg soon,” the father of three told The Electronic Intifada.

Some patients protested the PA’s neglect of their needs in front of the Nasser Institute for three days, but to no avail. Al-Balawy hoped that the protest would accelerate his treatment, but he only secured some painkillers without determining a date for his surgery.

Mohamed Elsharawy, 29 – al-Balawy’s roommate in Egypt and a volleyball player at the Jabaliya Youth Club in Gaza – was injured in his foot during his participation in the protests on 4 May last year.

Elsharawy wrote about the trials of injured Palestinians seeking treatment in Egypt on his Facebook page.

“Some of the injured in Egypt sleep in front of mosques or hospitals because they can’t pay rent, while others can’t find anyone to change the dressing for their injuries,” he told The Electronic Intifada. “Some of the injured can’t afford to buy medicine, and we had to ask for help from pharmacies to provide some medicines for free.”

Elsharawy said that he visited the Egyptian hospital more than 40 times in order to expedite his needed surgery. After repeated delays, the hospital recommended that his foot be amputated.

Instead, Elsharawy traveled to Turkey to seek better treatment and so far doctors there have not resorted to amputation.

He is not alone. Some of Gaza’s injured have been able to travel to Turkey after they experienced medical neglect in Egypt.

One of those neglected was Deya al-Borey, 28, who was injured in both his legs during a protest held on 6 April 2018.

Al-Borey was able to travel to Turkey with the help of a relative to undergo 10 surgeries after he spent a month in Egypt without any surgery.

Medical crisis in Gaza

Gaza’s healthcare system has been overwhelmed lately.

Approximately 24,000 Palestinians have been injured during the Great March of Return, some 6,000 of them by live ammunition. Scarce fuel, electricity and water resources have added to the challenges faced by Gaza’s hospitals.

By the end of November, “60 percent of the total number of injured – a massive 3,520 – will need further surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation,” Médecins Sans Frontières has stated.

“This many patients would overstretch the best healthcare systems in the world. In Gaza, it is a crushing blow,” Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, head of mission for Médecins Sans Frontières in Palestine, has said.

Thousands of surgeries were postponed at al-Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, due to fuel shortages in recent months, according to Ayman al-Sahbani, head of the emergency department at the hospital.
The fuel situation only started to improve in Gaza after Qatari-funded fuel was imported to the territory in October.

The United Nations monitoring group OCHA reported that “Despite this, basic health, water and hygiene facilities continue to rely on UN-assisted emergency fuel to operate backup generators and vehicles during power cuts.”

Ashraf al-Qedra, the Gaza health ministry spokesperson, told The Electronic Intifada in December that approximately 265 Palestinian patients were transferred to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey since the launch of the Great March of Return. He noted that some 480 others are still waiting for approval.

Israel’s state violence inflicted enormous pain on Gaza during 2018. The suffering has been worsened by how the wounded often have to overcome huge hurdles before they receive essential treatment.
Sarah Algherbawi is a freelance writer and translator from Gaza.

Hamas says botched Israeli Gaza raid aimed to bug communications

Hamas promises million-dollar reward to anyone who can reveal identities of Israeli special forces team

Operation claimed lives of seven Palestinians, including local Hamas commander, and Israeli officer (AFP/file photo)

Saturday 12 January 2019 

The military wing of Gaza's Hamas rulers said on Saturday that the aim of a botched undercover Israeli operation in the Palestinian enclave was to to plant spying devices in their communications network.

The 11 November special forces operation, which Israel said was an intelligence-gathering mission, turned deadly when the undercover soldiers were spotted near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The ensuing firefight claimed the lives of an Israeli army officer and seven Palestinians, including a local Hamas military commander.

The force entered Gaza from Israel through an opening in the fence on a foggy night in an undisclosed wooded area, after almost a year of training, from January to October of 2018. They allegedly used fake Gazan IDs and had forged documents of humanitarian workers, Haaretz said.

A spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said the 15 members of an elite Israeli military unit travelled in the enclave using cars disguised as vehicles belonging to a local charity, according to AFP.

Haaretz.com

✔@haaretzcom

"Israel should be concerned about the trove of information we have"https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/hamas-elite-israeli-commandos-tried-to-bug-hamas-communications-in-botched-gaza-op-1.6830074 …

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12:53 PM - Jan 12, 2019

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Elite Israeli commandos tried to bug Hamas communications during botched Gaza op, Hamas says

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Their goal was "establishing a spy system to eavesdrop on the communications network of the resistance in the Gaza Strip", Abu Obeida said, showing video footage of what he said was the soldiers in action.

Hamas also managed to capture equipment used by the group, Abu Obeida added, promising a million-dollar reward to anyone who would supply Hamas with the identities of the Israeli special forces team.

Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh said last month that his organization obtained “a security technology asset that is a real treasure” when it disrupted the Israeli operation. Haniyeh said that what Hamas captured exposed the Israeli military's operating methods, which will have “implications in the war of minds” between Israel and Hamas, Haaretz reported.

The Israeli soldiers had been in and out of Gaza several times, Hamas said, and operated not only there but in other countries in the Middle East. According to Abu Obeida, one of them had stayed in Gaza for several days before the operation under the guise of an aid worker, Haaretz reported. They had rented a guest room near the Khan Yunis beachfront, in southern Gaza, which they used as their assembly point.

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Israeli censor warns media after Hamas publishes photos of Gaza raid 'fugitives'

On Tuesday, Hamas said it had arrested 45 Gazan "collaborators" with Israel after the Khan Yunis incident.

Hamas already published photos of eight people and two vehicles it said were linked to the operation, prompting the Israeli army censor to appeal to the public and media not to republish the images.

Israel's military has not released details about the operation that led to the heaviest round of cross-border fire, including Hamas rockets and Israeli airstrikes, since a 2014 war between the two sides, the New York Times said.

A 13 November ceasefire brokered by Egypt ended the fighting that had raised fears of another war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Hamas and its allies have fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and the Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for more than a decade.

Israel says the measure is necessary to isolate Hamas and prevent it from obtaining weapons, though critics say it amounts to collective punishment of the territory's two million residents.

Gaza rocket

In a related development, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at Israel late Saturday, Israel's army said, as tensions rose after another day of violent border clashes.

A statement from the army said that "one launch was identified from the Gaza Strip towards Israel", without providing further details.

The rocket comes a day after a Gaza woman was shot dead by Israeli forces during weekly protests and clashes along the Gaza border.

Nepal: Oli has nothing to show

by S.Chandrasekharan-Jan 11, 2019

Jan 11, 2019

On 6th January, Prime Minister K.P. Oli addressed the winter session of the Parliament for the first time. His intention was to impress the Parliamentarians and his own Party Seniors of his achievements during his first-year rule.  He said that the country was moving towards a higher trajectory, corruption was under control, law and order had improved etc. etc. When the opposition members wanted to question him on various issues, he refused to take questions and walked away.  The opposition members surrounded him and did not let him go for a while.

Significantly, Oli failed to make any reference on some of the longstanding issues as well as other controversial current ones.  He did not make any reference to the ongoing and biggest corruption scandal in Nepal’s history involving over 4 Billion Rupees, regarding the purchase of two Air Buses.  He made no mention about the Constitutional Amendments he had promised from the beginning to the Madhesi Groups. He has not yet decentralized the powers to the Provinces and the federal system continues only on paper.  Still missing are the laws, infrastructure, fiscal regulations, staff, names of States, Capitals and many more.  There is no progress in transitional justice  and victims continue to go from pillar to post to get justice.  In the tragic case of “Nirmala” the culprits are yet to be identified.

Instead Oli painted a ‘rosy’ picture of the country’s economy when the trade deficit has ballooned in the first four months of the current fiscal year.  There has been decline in foreign investments also.

This is not the first time that Oli has misrepresented the facts.  Towards the end of last year Oli’s Office gave the contract to build an “Action Room” with facilities for video conferencing among others to the Chinese Mega firm Hua Wei technologies for a huge sum without having any competitive bidding.  When asked about it, PM Oli insisted that that it was done through competitive bidding!  Having the Chinese build a sensitive action room attached to the PM’s Office is a matter of serious national security issue.  It may be recalled that Nepal declined the Indian offer of upgrading the immigration services at the Thirubhuvan Airport and even the US offer of providing a software to keep track of the tourists at the immigration has been put on hold!

In the case of both the major Madhesi Groups, Oli persuaded them to support the Government as that would give him a two third majority for making  constitutional amendments.  They were promised that it would be done soon.

One Group- the RJP- N had been threatening to withdraw support to the Government for the last six months and still has not done, though no move has been made to change the Constitution.  It has since become the laughing stock of the people.  The other group led by Upendra Yadav who was clever enough to get the post of Deputy Prime Minister in return of on oral assurance from Oli that the amendments would be gone through,  now finds himself isolated.  In desperation his group has presented a fifteen-point demand that includes revising provincial boundaries, enforcing past agreements, forming of a Constitutional Commission etc. but Oli does not appear to have any intention to meet the demands of his Deputy Upendra Yadav!

While Oli bravely declared in the Parliament that corruption is under control, he is now facing the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Nepal.  It relates to the purchase of two wide-bodied second-hand Air Bus Aircrafts from an allegedly fictitious company by name Hifly and in the process over 435 crores have been siphoned off.  The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee headed by KC Rajan of Nepali Congress has submitted a report to the House.  A sitting Minister, two former Ministers, a sitting Secretary and two former Secretaries and many more have been specifically named in the report.  The Current Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari has been indicted for clearing the last payment to the sellers without checking the details.

 Massive irregularities have been noticed and even the parameters for the aircrafts were unilaterally changed to suit the seller ( one is reminded of Augusta in India).  Oli had no choice but to form a High-Level Commission consisting of a former Chief Justice, one former Deputy Attorney General and an Auditor to probe into the irregularities mentioned and come up with their findings within 45 days!

Many in the Government, the party and the opposition have begun to openly criticize Oli for his style of functioning.

He is not serious when he has to and becomes acerbic and sarcastic when serious questions are asked by the opposition or the Press.

Oli had to face strong criticism from his own erstwhile colleagues of the UML over his style of working in taking unilateral decisions on matters of Governance.  In the Standing Committee meeting of the party (NCP) held 28th December most of the members particularly the faction led by Madhav Nepal were severely critical of Oli’s style of functioning and decisions taken by him without consulting senior leaders of the Party.  Dahal who is anxiously waiting in the wings to replace Oli, made a sarcastic comment that is the Government that is leading the Party and not the other way.  Dahal acted like a wise moderator, in keeping the tempers down though inwardly he must have been happy.  It is said that Dahal is winning over some of the senior leaders of the UML like Jhalanath Khanal, BamDev Gautham etc. to undermine Oli in due course and replace him.

Oli is still the best bet for Nepal and for the region.  He is still popular with the masses and unlike other leaders has not amassed any wealth. If he had distanced himself from India, it is only the latter that has to take the blame for bringing in unnecessary  misery in encouraging an economic blockade that affected the common Nepali.

If Oli is not doing well, the opposition Nepali Congress led by Deuba is not doing  better either.  The party had a Mahasamithi meeting in mid-December for almost ten days and it was expected that Deuba will apologize to the other cadres and the masses for the poor showing of the party in all three tiers of elections held last year.  This was not to be.  At least the two top leaders who lead the two top factions Deuba and Paudel should have offered step down and give a chance to the younger leaders who are more competent and have the energy to win over the public.  This was not to be.  The younger lot were disappointed and all they could do is to get the two top leaders to patch up their differences and carry on.  It was “business as usual” for the Party.

The Indian establishment who seem to be close both to Deuba and Dahal should be aware that both cannot deliver the goods for the people of Nepal.

U.S. not looking to grant further Iran oil sales waivers: U.S. official

Oil takners pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

JANUARY 12, 2019

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States is not looking to grant more waivers for Iranian oil imports after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. special representative for Iran said on Saturday, underlining Washington’s push to choke off Tehran’s income.

“We are not looking to grant any waivers or exemptions to the import of Iranian crude,” Brian Hook told a industry conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.

Washington granted waivers to eight major buyers of Iranian oil - including China, India, Japan and South Korea - after restoring energy sanctions in November.

Hook declined to say what the administration in Washington would do when those waivers end in May.

“Iran is now increasingly feeling the economic isolation that our sanctions are imposing ... We do want to deny the regime revenues,” Hook said.

“Eighty percent of Iran’s revenues come from oil exports and this is (the) number one state sponsor of terrorism ... We want to deny this regime the money it needs,” he added.

Tensions between Iran and the United States have increased since May, when U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers, saying the accord was flawed in Tehran’s favor, and reintroduced sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the pact.
“We want a new and better deal (with Iran) but in that process we are denying the Iranian regime billions and billions of dollars and they are facing a liquidity crisis,” Hook said.

The Islamic Republic, he added, would not return to the negotiating table without pressure.

Tehran has refused to renegotiate its nuclear accord and says its ballistic missile program - another source of concern for Washington and its regional allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia - is solely defensive and untouchable.

Hook said Washington was pleased with China cutting its oil imports from Iran, and that he expected much deeper reductions in Iranian oil exports. “We are just getting started,” he said.

Iran’s crude exports will be severely curtailed for a third month in January as it struggles to find new buyers amid the sanctions, according to tanker data and industry sources.

Separately, Omani Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi told the conference that Washington had not asked the Gulf Arab state to stop a gas pipeline project with Iran and that talks were continuing.

He said some partners for the project had pulled out because of the risk of punishment by Washington for dealing with Iran but that some other Asian firms were willing to take part.

Israeli sniper kills Gaza woman in first fatality of 2019

An injured protester east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 11 January.

 Ashraf AmraAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability 11 January 2019

A woman shot during protests in the occupied Gaza Strip on Friday is the first Palestinian fatality at the hands of Israeli occupation forces in 2019. A Palestinian man was shot and seriously wounded by Israeli forces in the West Bank the same day.

Amal al-Taramsi, 44, died after she was shot in the head by live fire during Great March of Return protests east of Gaza City. She was 200 meters away from the boundary fence at the time of her injury, according to the Gaza-based human rights group Al Mezan.

Al-Taramsi is the third female to be killed during the protest series that was launched on 30 March last year. 

The other two female fatalities were medic Razan al-Najjar and 14-year-old Wesal al-Sheikh Khalil.

More than 180 Palestinians have been killed in the context of Great March of Return protests held along Gaza’s eastern and northern boundary.

Israeli forces also aimed tear gas canisters at the bodies of Palestinians during Friday’s protests, injuring 68 people with them, according to Al Mezan.

Paramedic, journalists targeted

Volunteer paramedic Mustafa al-Sinwar, 22, was seriously injured when he was hit in the neck with a gas canister while on duty during protests east of Khan Younis in the south of Gaza.

Husni Salah, 25, a photojournalist working for AFP news agency, was hit directly in the face with a gas canister while covering protests along the eastern boundary of central Gaza.

Another journalist, Hussein Karsou, 44, was also hit in the face with a gas canister east of Gaza City.

Nearly 150 Palestinians were injured during Friday’s protests. Graphic video shows one person said to be seriously injured after being shot in the head.

Gaza’s health ministry has said that some 14,000 persons have been hospitalized for injuries sustained during the Great March of Return demonstrations since their launch.

Protesters are calling for an end to Israel’s siege on the territory while demanding that Palestinian refugees be able to exercise their right to return to the lands from which their families were expelled around the time of Israel’s founding in 1948.

Two-thirds of Gaza’s more than two million residents are refugees, many originally hailing from lands just beyond the Israel boundary fence.

An Israeli settler displays an image of Ghazi Skafi being evacuated by Israeli forces on his phone after Skafi was shot and injured in Kiryat Arba settlement on 11 January.

 Wisam HashlamounAPA images

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian man was shot by an Israeli civilian and soldiers.

The Israeli military claimed that Ghazi Skafi, 35, was attempting to stab soldiers at a military outpost in the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron.

Video shows the man being shot twice, first by a man in civilian clothes and then by a soldier in uniform:

“Kill him,” an unseen man says in English in the video.

Spectators are also heard stating “God is good, God is good” and “Burn in hell you little bitch” in North American-accented English.

The below video shows Skafi lying on the street with a blanket on top of him. The camera pans to the right and shows what appears to be a small knife on the ground.


Skafi was being treated at hospital for wounds to the abdomen and legs, according to media reports.

Last year, Israeli forces and armed civilians killed 15 Palestinian perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of attacks against Israelis in the West Bank.

Ramallah raids

Israeli forces raided Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the adjacent town of al-Bireh, five consecutive days this week.

The raids took place in the context of a manhunt for a Palestinian who opened fire at a bus carrying Israeli settlers last week, injuring one.

Occupation forces stormed businesses and confiscated security camera footage.

A Ramallah resident took to Twitter to describe how the raids affected her family life:

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