Solidarity ship launches to Gaza with calls for freedom for Sa’adat and Palestinian prisoners

Solidarity ship launches to Gaza with calls for freedom for Sa’adat and Palestinian prisoners

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 09:51 AM PDT

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine congratulated solidarity activists in Naples, Italy and around the world on the launch of the “Estelle,” the Ship to Gaza organized by Swedish solidarity activists, from Naples to Gaza after a tour of several months through European ports building for its journey to break the siege. The Estelle launched on October 6, 2012 from Naples.

Three days of events took place in Naples leading to the launch of the ship, including marches in solidarity with Palestine and its people, including Palestinian prisoners and in particular Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned Palestinian national leader and General Secretary of the PFLP.

Solidarity activists held a concert in Naples to support the Palestinian cause, in which they raised the images of Palestinian prisoners, including Comrade Sa’adat. Mayor Luigi de Magistres came to the ship’s berthing to show support for the ship and its mission, and evening screenings and discussions brought many people to see the ship before its departure.

On Saturday morning, over 2000 rallied in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in support of the ship’s mission to break the siege on Gaza, as the ship prepared to depart in the evening. 17 activists from Sweden, Norway, Canada and the US are traveling on the ship; it will take approximately one to two weeks to reach Gaza. This is the first attempt to break the blockade by sea since the Tahrir’s sailing in November of last year, and the occupation military is once again threatening to storm the ship and detain its crew and passengers as it has with previous solidarity ships to Gaza. In August and October 2008, two ships successfully broke the blockade; since that time, solidarity ships have been attacked by the Israeli army including the attack on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010, when occupation forces killed nine solidarity activists as they sailed to challenge the blockade of Gaza.

On the Day of the Heroic Guerilla, we remember Che Guevara - PFLP

On the Day of the Heroic Guerilla, we remember Che Guevara
Posted: 09 Oct 2012 01:03 AM PDT

On October 8, 2012, the Day of the Heroic Guerilla, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) remembers Comandante Ernesto “Che” Guevara, revolutionary leader, fierce fighter, and principled struggler whose true commitment to internationalism and liberation lives on in the struggles of peoples around the world for freedom, justice and socialism.

Following the revolutionary victory in Cuba in 1959, Che’s commitment to international revolution did not diminish, and he joined Bolivian revolutionaries in 1966. On October 8, 1967, Che and his comrades were captured and surrounded by the US-backed Bolivian military, and executed.
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“Let us sum up our hopes for victory: total destruction of imperialism by eliminating its firmest bulwark: the oppression exercised by the United States of America…And if we were all capable of uniting to make our blows stronger and infallible and so increase the effectiveness of all kinds of support given to the struggling people – how great and close would that future be!… Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons and other men be ready to intone the funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine-guns and new battle cries of war and victory.”
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Nine days later, Fidel Castro spoke, memorializing Che and commemorating October 8 as the Day of the Heroic Guerilla, saying “Che died defending no other interest, no other cause than the cause of the exploited and oppressed of this continent. Che died defending no other cause than the cause of the poor and humble of this earth … Before history, people who act as he did, people who do and give everything for the cause of the poor, grow in stature with each passing day and find a deeper place in the heart of the people with each passing day.”

In Palestine, Che’s spirit, his commitment to liberation, rises in the streets of our occupied homeland. We mourn and honor our Guevara Gaza, Mohammad al-Aswad, and the thousands of Palestinian Guevaras, the eternal martyrs, who have struggled, fought, sacrificed and died for the liberation of Palestine, and the thousands of Palestinian Guevaras still to come, to hold high the banner of the resistance until the day of victory is ours.

On the 45th anniversary of Che’s death, we remember him as one of the martyrs of Palestine, a great martyr for the freedom of the oppressed of the world. And we continue to live his words: “Let us sum up our hopes for victory: total destruction of imperialism by eliminating its firmest bulwark: the oppression exercised by the United States of America…And if we were all capable of uniting to make our blows stronger and infallible and so increase the effectiveness of all kinds of support given to the struggling people – how great and close would that future be!… Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons and other men be ready to intone the funeral dirge with the staccato singing of the machine-guns and new battle cries of war and victory.”

Che Guevara Presente! Viva viva Palestina!

Murder by drone: the U.S. terror war in Pakistan

''Obama is just as criminal as the terrorists he claims to fight!''

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Murder by drone: the U.S. terror war in Pakistan

8 October 2012. A World to Win News Service. As American drones occupy the skies across Pakistan's North Waziristan, the U.S. is continuing to lie about the many hundreds of ordinary people blasted to pieces or incinerated and the terrorizing of the entire population.

Most recently, an American embassy official in Pakistan insisted that protests against the drone strikes were unjustified in light of "the extreme process that is undertaken to avoid what is very sadly called 'collateral damage.'" Although not allowed to reveal classified information, he said, the number of civilian casualties is "quite low" – "in the two figures." (Guardian, 7 October) This statement was meant to counter international news coverage of a convoy of  hundreds of people from all over Pakistan and dozens of Western antiwar activists (including women from the U.S. group Code Pink) heading for a town in South Waziristan to demonstrate against the drone attacks and the Pakistani government's complicity.

The report Living Under Drones issued by two U.S. academic research groups in September paints a very different picture.

"[F]rom June 2004 through mid- September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562-3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474-881 were civilians, including 176 children... These strikes also injured an additional 1,228-1,362 individuals" (According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, an independent non-profit news reporting agency based at City University in London whose data and methodology the report reviewed and found valid.)

The discrepancy is partially explained by the fact that "for the purpose of tracking civilian casualties, the [U.S.] government presumes that all military-age males killed in drone strikes are combatants." The report demonstrates that this is not true. Yet even the most narrow interpretation of Washington's claim, that it has recorded a "quite low" number of civilian casualties, may be a lie within a lie, since the exact figures, the identities of the human beings they represent and the circumstances of their death are all cloaked in secrecy.

Who was killed and how they died was the aim of an investigation project by law clinics at the Stanford Law School in California and the New York University Law School. Their report (available at livingunderdrones.org) was based on "nine months of intensive research – including two investigations in Pakistan, more than 130 interviews with victims, witnesses, and experts, and  review of thousands of pages of documentation and media reporting".

Their conclusions are moderate to a fault. Instead of calling for an end to the drone war, "this report recommends that the U.S. conduct a fundamental re-evaluation of current targeted killing practices, taking into account all available evidence, the concerns of various stakeholders, and the short and long-term costs and benefits." 

"Costs and benefits" for who and for what goals? By arguing on this basis, the report ignores the question of the purpose and legitimacy of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and the drone war in neighbouring North Waziristan that is a consequence and adjunct to that occupation. It also avoids the broader question of the ensemble of open and covert wars that the U.S. ruling classes are waging or threatening to wage throughout the "Greater Middle East" to protect and extend their global empire, no matter which party is in office.

By way of analogy, if someone were to reason that strikes on civilians in the West go against Al-Qaeda's overall (also reactionary) aims, this would be considered a cynical calculation and few people would be impressed by its moral stance.

But whether those involved in this report really believe in this "costs and benefits" approach or just feel that this is the only way their arguments will have impact, their careful review of the facts and first-hand accounts provide not only a damning account of the cruelty of U.S. conduct, but also evidence that this cruelty has a political purpose – that these deaths are not just "collateral damage" but rather part of a war-fighting strategy based on terrorizing the people of an entire region with no distinctions among them.

Living under drones describes a 2006 drone attack on a religious school in Bajaur that killed more than 80 people, 69 of them children. In another section, it reveals what really happened in what authorities described as a strike against a militant "house" where "a group of some three dozen alleged Taliban fighters were meeting".

"According to those we interviewed, on March 17 [2011], some 40 individuals gathered [in an open-air bus depot] in Datta Khel town centre. They included important community figures and local elders, all of whom were there to attend a jirga – the principal social institution for decision-making and dispute resolution in [the region]... convened to settle a dispute over a nearby chromite mine. All of the relevant stakeholders and local leaders were in attendance, including 35 government-appointed tribal leaders known as maliks, as well as government officials, and a number of khassadars (government employees administered at the local level by maliks who serve as a locally recruited auxiliary police force). Four men from a local Taliban group were also reportedly present, as their involvement was necessary to resolve the dispute effectively. Malik Daud Khan, a respected leader and decorated public servant, chaired the meeting...

"Though drones were hovering daily over North Waziristan, those at this meeting said they felt 'secure and insulated' from the threat of drones, because in their assessment at the time, 'drones target terrorists or those working against the government.' ...the maliks had even taken care to alert the local military post of the planned jirga ten days beforehand.

"At approximately 10:45 am, as the two groups were engaged in discussion, a missile fired from a U.S. drone hovering above struck one of the circles of seated men. Ahmed Jan, who was sitting in one of two circles of roughly 20 men each, told our researchers that he remembered hearing the hissing sound the missiles made just seconds before they slammed into the centre of his group. The force of the impact threw Jan's body a significant distance, knocking him unconscious, and killing everyone else sitting in his circle. Several additional missiles were fired, at least one of which hit the second circle. In all, the missiles killed a total of at least 42 people. One of the survivors from the other circle, Mohammad Nazir Khan, told us that many of the dead appeared to have been killed by flying pieces of shattered rocks.

"Another witness, Idris Farid, recalled that 'everything was devastated. There were pieces – body pieces – lying around. There was lots of flesh and blood.'...'None of the elders who had attended had survived.''' All their family members "could do was 'to collect pieces of flesh and put them in a coffin.'"

Other incidents described involve drones firing at cars and taxis, killing people so often for reasons unknown to local people that any travel is considered dangerous.

People in North Waziristan, a tribal area where most people work in subsistence agriculture or trading, have come to avoid all public gatherings, such as mosques and even funerals, which seem to be a particular target. People are afraid to sit together outside; even children cannot play together and few people venture out at night. Many parents no longer let their children attend school for fear of drone strikes.

A humanitarian aid worker in Waziristan told the investigators, "Do you remember 9/11? Do you remember what it felt like right after? I was in New York on 9/11. I remember people crying in the streets. People were afraid about what might happen next. People didn't know if there would be another attack. There was tension in the air. This is what it is like. It is a continuous tension, a feeling of continuous uneasiness. We are scared. You wake up with a start to every noise."

Not only are people terrorized by what seems like random killings, they cannot forget the danger for a second because of the constant presence of drones, sometimes three or four visible at once. They circle in the sky, buzzing, all day, except when it rains. No one knows when they will fire, nor at whom.

One reason for the relatively low number of casualties in relation to deaths seems to be that the Hellfire missiles these drones shoot are thermobaric, far more destructive than ordinary explosives. The pressure wave produced by the blast alone may blow people apart in a circle as much as 20 metres in every direction, but the spray of burning aluminium and metal fragments can kill at an even greater distance. Often there is little left of the victims.

The nature of these missiles alone discredits the U.S. government's claim that these are "surgical" strikes. But the whole way targeting works also needs to be more widely understood. There are supposedly two types, "personality" and "signature".

"Personality" targets are when the U.S. puts particular individuals on a death list based on all sorts of "intelligence", including paid local informers who may have their own agenda. This was the main focus of drone strikes in Pakistan under the Bush administration.

Since Barack Obama took office, there has been a radical increase in the number of drone strikes (45-52 under Bush in 2001-09, 292 in just three and a half years under Obama). He has taken personal charge of approving who is on the kill list and all decisions to go ahead whenever the CIA does not have "a 'near certainty' that there will be zero civilian deaths."

At the same time, under Obama's leadership there has been what Living Under Drones calls "a reported expansion in the use of 'signature' strikes," which it also calls "profiling" and "guilt by association." Under the "pattern of life analysis", groups of men whose identities are not known but who meet certain "defining characteristics" can be killed on sight. These "signature characteristics" are secret, but seem to involve being "in an area of known terrorist activity", being in the vicinity of someone considered a "top Al-Qaeda operative" (which, as the strike on  the jirga at Datta Khel demonstrates, can include the many, many thousands of people who might find themselves, at one time or another, at a gathering, a market or a street where someone linked to the many armed Islamist groups might also be found), or even, according to knowing jokes repeated in the report, "three guys doing jumping jacks" or "young men with stubble."

There is another element in this picture indicating that civilian deaths are not just accidental "collateral damage" but the deliberate result of U.S. policy: what American authorities cynically call "double tapping", the practice of following up on one missile strike with another one or more, minutes or even hours later, with the clear intent of killing relatives and neighbours frantically searching through the rubble for survivors and loved ones, "looking for the children in the beds", and trained rescue workers.

The report says, "According to a health professional familiar with North Waziristan, one
humanitarian organization had a 'policy to not go immediately [to a reported drone
strike] because of follow up strikes. There is a six hour mandatory delay.' According
to the same source, therefore, it is 'only the locals, the poor, [who] will pick up the
bodies of loved ones.'"

The authors emphasize that "attacks on first responders may constitute war crimes." But their report also provides factual ammunition for the argument that not only this particularly repulsive aspect but the U.S.'s whole drone war in Pakistan in general (along with the use of drones in Yemen and Somalia) is a war crime.

First of all, many careful readers of the report will conclude that killing non-combatants is not just an accidental result of policy but an American policy in itself. Secondly, even if certain known individuals are in some way tied to armed groups, the fact that their names can remain on a "kill list" for a long time means that targeting them runs counter to the international law that apologists for the U.S. government cite to justify these killings. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter considers the use of force in or against another country to be justifiable self-defence only when it is a response to an ongoing armed attack or an imminent threat, which is described as "instant, overwhelming and leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation."

There is no moral justification for the U.S. drone war in Pakistan, and no apparent legal justification for it either. (The Obama government claims that it has a written legal opinion authorizing its actions, but its contents are secret!)  The U.S. is not legally at war with Pakistan. This is why the drone war is being waged by the CIA and not the regular armed forces, and why the American government has to treat it as secret, even though everyone in Pakistan knows, as does everyone in the U.S. and elsewhere who wants to know.

In fact, the U.S. is still mainly allied with the Pakistani government (and especially the Pakistani military), despite serious contradictions. For the first three years of the drone war in Pakistan, then President Pervez Musharraf publicly pretended that the strikes were "either Pakistani military operations, car bombs, or accidental explosions." Since then it has found itself caught between outraged public opinion demanding an end to the strikes and an unyielding U.S. government.

One of the most damning, though little noticed, parts of this report is a timeline that correlates the intensity of U.S. drone activity with friction between the two governments, especially around Pakistan's arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis for gunning down two men in the street. At first the U.S. halted the drones "to avoid angering a population already riveted by Davis' arrest"; then, when negotiations between the Musharraf and Obama governments stalled, it launched 11 strikes in succession until the Pakistani government finally released Davis. Relying on the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the report cites this as one of three incidents in which "[m]essaging to Pakistan appears to continue to be part of the [drone] programme's intent."

In other words, at least part of the reason why the U.S. is killing people in Pakistan has little to with even perceived military necessity but is in fact aimed at pressuring Pakistani "deciders", not because the Pakistani ruling classes and armed forces care about the lives of ordinary Pakistanis or anyone else, but because when the U.S. kills civilians in their country it makes their government look bad and provokes popular anger.

If terrorism is defined as the deliberate killing of civilians for political ends, this is an unmistakable  "signature" of a terrorist operation.

The "cost" and "downside" of the drone strikes, the report warns, is that they "have facilitated recruitment to violent non-state armed groups, and motivate attacks against both U.S. military and civilian targets." This is undoubtedly true. It is also undeniably true, as the report says, that these armed Islamic fundamentalists are doing great harm as they seek to impose their rule over the people.

This report should help us understand that what the U.S. is doing in Pakistan and around the world is actually helping propel the jihadi movement. At the same time, however, although it exposes the harm caused by the U.S. with its drone war, the report does not take into account the even greater harm done by the American occupation of Afghanistan and decades-long domination of Pakistan, including its support for Pakistan's military and ruling classes and the Islamization of the country that was initially meant to make U.S. domination palatable. For both of these reasons, we should be very clear that the U.S. is the biggest terrorist of all.
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பாதுகாப்பு உத்தரவாதத்துடன் கூடங்குளம் அணு உலையைத் திற!

பாதுகாப்பு உத்தரவாதத்துடன் கூடங்குளம் அணு உலையைத் திற!
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``அமெரிக்காவின் உலக மேலாதிக்கத்திற்குச் சேவைசெய்யும் ஒரு எடுபிடி நாடாக இந்தியாவை மாற்றும் இராணுவ ஒப்பந்தத்தை இந்தியா ஏற்ற பிறகுதான், இந்தியாவுடன் அணுசக்தி ஒப்பந்தத்தை அமெரிக்கா செய்துகொண்டது. அணுசக்தி ஒப்பந்தமும்கூட ஈரானுக்கு எதிராக அமெரிக்கா எடுக்கும் நடவடிக்களை ஆதரிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற அமெரிக்காவின் ஹைடு சட்ட நிபந்தனக்கு உட்பட்டே போடப்பட்டது. ஈரானிலிருந்து இந்தியா எண்ணெய் இறக்குமதி செய்வதைத் தடுப்பது; இந்தியாவின் தற்காப்புக்கான அணு ஆயுதத் திட்டத்தைச் சிதைப்பது; இந்தியாவின் சுயேச்சையான அணுமின் திட்டத்தை ஒழிப்பது; இந்திய அணு ஆற்றல் சந்தையில் தமக்குப் போட்டியாக விளங்கும் ரசியா மற்றும் பிரான்ஸ் போன்ற ஏகாதிபத்திய நாடுகளை விரட்டுவது என்பதே அமெரிக்காவின் திட்டமாக உள்ளது.

 ஒபாமா ஜனாதிபதியாகப் பதவியேற்றபிறகு, 2010ஆம் ஆண்டு அமெரிக்கா தனது தேசிய பாதுகாப்புத் திட்டத்தை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. ஜனநாயகத்தை மீட்பது, மனித உரிமையைக் காப்பது, ஊழலை ஒழிப்பது என்ற பேரில் உலகின் எந்த ஒரு நாட்டிலும் அமெரிக்கா தலையிடும் என்றும்; அதற்கு அரசுசாரா தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களை ஈடுபடுத்தும் என்றும் அது கூறுகிறது.

ஏமன், எகிப்து, லிபியா போன்ற நாடுகளில் அமெரிக்காவின் எடுபிடியாக இருந்த சர்வாதிகார ஆட்சிகளை எதிர்த்து மக்கள் போராடியபோது அந்தப் போராட்டங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி அமெரிக்கா “ஆட்சி மாற்றத்தின்- Regime Change” மூலம் தமது பொம்மை ஆட்சிகளை நிறுவிக்கொண்டது. அதற்கு அரசுசாரா தொண்டு நிறுவனங்கள் துணைநின்றன.

அதற்கும் முன்னர் சோவியத் ரசியாவிலிருந்து பிரிந்து வந்த நாடுகளில் பல வர்ணப் புரட்சிகள் எனும் பேரில் தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி
“ஆட்சிமாற்றத்தை” அமெரிக்கா செய்தது. இந்தியாவிலும் அன்னா அசாரே தலைமையிலான ஊழல் எதிர்ப்பு இயக்கத்தினரும், உதயகுமார்
தலைமையிலான அணு உலைக்கு எதிரான இயக்கங்களும் இன்னும் பலவகையான தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களும் “அமெரிக்காவிடம் நிதியுதவிபெற்று அதன் கைப்பாவைகளாகச் செயல்படுகின்றன”.

அமெரிக்காவின் தீவிர விசுவாசியான மன்மோகன் கும்பல் அமெரிக்காவின்
கோரிக்கையை முழுமையாகச் செயல்படுத்தும் முறையில் அதற்கு நிர்ப்பந்தம் கொடுப்பது தற்போதைய போராட்டங்களின் நோக்கமாகும். அமெரிக்க ஏகாதிபத்தியத்தையும், அதன் தாசனான மன்மோகன் கும்பலையும் எதிர்த்து இந்திய மக்கள், புரட்சிகரப் போராட்டத்திற்குத் தயாராகிவிட்டால் அப்போது “அமெரிக்காவின் நேரடிப் பொம்மை ஆட்சியை நிறுவ இந்தத்
தொண்டு நிறுவனங்கள் துணை நிற்கும்”. அதற்காகப் பல்வேறு கோரிக்கைகளை வைத்து அவைகள் போராடுகின்றன. அந்த நோக்கத்தை அடைவதற்கு அரசியல் திரட்டலுக்கான போராட்டங்களில் ஒன்றுதான் கூடங்குளம் அணு உலைக்கு எதிரான போராட்டமும்.``
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கழகப் பிரசுரத்தில் இருந்து: http://samaran1917.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/blog-post.html
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முழு விரிவான கூடங்குளம் குறுநூலைப் படிக்க இணைப்பில் அழுத்தவும். 
http://samaveli.tripod.com/
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YouTube,Facebook blocked on mobile in Kashmir

YouTube,Facebook blocked on mobile
GK NEWS NETWORK

Srinagar, Sep 30: The internet-service-providing companies have blocked social networking sites including Facebook and YouTube in Kashmir without any official directive the state government.
 The cellular companies have also blocked GPRS facilities on the mobile telephones causing immense inconvenience to the subscribers.

 Greater Kashmir received over a dozen telephone calls from different areas of the Valley, complaining that the internet service has been blocked by companies including BSNL, Reliance, Aircel, Airtel and Vodafone.

 “The service is completely down. Apart from jamming the social networking sites, the companies have started to put restrictions on general use like e-mails and on search engines as well,” the callers said.

 They said their internet devices and GPRS service on mobile is not functioning in the wake of jamming of the service by the concerned cellular companies.

 A delegation of businessmen Sunday said the BSNL service on Blackberry was also jammed. “Never has it happened in the past. We are facing huge problems in the communication due to the slow functioning of the service. We had also enquired from the officials of the BSNL but they are not taking our word seriously,” the delegation said.

 General Manager Reliance (J&K) Ataullah Haque told Greater Kashmir that every company has jammed Facebook and YouTube but the rest of the services were functioning.

 “Basically government has issued a directive to block the Facebook but other services are functioning,” he said.

 Asked was the company in possession of the “official directive,” the GM said the document would be with the regulatory department of the company.

 When contracted, a top BSNL official said the services have been disrupted on the directions of the State Government.

 “We have blocked all the websites and services according to the government directive. Blackberry services have also been stopped,” he said.

 However, Minister for Information Technology, Aga Ruhullah has said there is no ban on Facebook and Youtube.

 “There is not any ban on these websites. I don’t have proper information of it. I can’t confirm whether there is any technical snag in it,” Ruhullah said.

The revolution is essentially Syrian rather than a foreign induced one - Former Director General of Al-Jazeera

'' Trying to shape the results of the revolution, does not mean hijack the revolution''!

'' Some world powers are trying to interfere in Syria because they have an interest. The Americans or whoever wants to find a place for them in the revolution are trying to shape the results. This does not mean that they want to hijack the revolution. Ninety percent of what is happening on the ground is determined by the people.''

Wadah Khanfar, former Director General of Al-Jazeera now heads of the As-Sharq think-tank

===================================================

People power for lasting peace
By Ameen Izzadeen

* Former al-Jazeera chief calls for empowerment of civil society

* A world renowned journalist who promotes the ideals of democratic participation, an informed citizenry, multi-stakeholder dialogue and social justice, has warned that wealth and power, when they are in one hand, are scary and dangerous.

Wadah Khanfar, former Director General of Al-Jazeera now heads of the As-Sharq think-tank,
said in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Times that power needed to be diversified and the
marginalised must be brought to the centre so that the common people would be empowered to
promote genuine democracy.

Mr. Khanfar who was in Sri Lanka to deliver the Bakeer Markar memorial lecture gave a in-depth
analysis of the Arab Spring and expressed optimism that the people-power revolution and the
election of true representatives of the people would help bring about lasting peace in the Middle
East and the world.

Excerpts:

The Arab awakening was initially spontaneous, but now it is being directed from various capitals. Has it been hijacked?

 I don’t think anyone can hijack the Arab Spring. It is going in the right direction. However,
certain negativities are normal after the revolution. It cannot be hijacked because it is built on the
people’s power. The Arab masses cannot be deceived. They are politically well informed now. So
no capital can hijack the people’s power.

May be the West had hijacked our land, resources and political will during the past three decades
because of puppet regimes. But those who try to hijack people’s power will not succeed.


Like in Libya last year, various foreign forces are at play in Syria. The rebels are being helped by the US, Saudi Arabia and other countries. They are being armed and trained by western
intelligence groups. There are also foreign fighters among the rebels. In this sense, has not the
revolution been hijacked or is it being directed by outsiders?

We have been monitoring the Syrian revolution since the beginning. It started as a peaceful
revolution. The people of Syria did not resort to violence, although the regime did. This was the
situation for some eight months. But when the death toll climbed to unbelievable levels, sections
of the Syrian army deserted their posts and came forward to protect the civilians. This was how
the revolution turned into an armed resistance.

Some world powers are trying to interfere in Syria because they have an interest. The Americans
or whoever wants to find a place for them in the revolution are trying to shape the results. This
does not mean that they want to hijack the revolution. Ninety percent of what is happening on the
ground is determined by the people.

When we talk about the American support, I want to know what kind of support the US extends
to the people of Syria. I think they are blocking quality weapons such as anti-tank weapons and
anti-aircraft missiles reaching the rebels because they fear that these weapons may end up in the
wrong hands — al Qaeda or those who fight Israel.

The presence of foreign fighters in the Syrian resistance is minimal. I don’t think the Syrian
people are naive or can be deceived by al-Qaeda extremists. The revolution is essentially Syrian
rather than a foreign induced one.

Sectarianism

The Syrian revolution has also taken a sectarian turn. Are we witnessing a Salafi-Shiite conflict in the Middle East? (Salafism is a fundamentalist version of Sunni Islam and is widely practised in and promoted by Saudi Arabia)

Sectarianism is a cause of worry for all of us, because it serves neither the Sunnis nor the Shiites.
However, Iran’s decision to support the tyrannical regime in Syria in spite of the massacre of
civilians has inflamed a lot of sectarian feelings in the region. I hope the Iranians will eventually
reach the conclusion that the regime which is about to collapse is not worthy of their support
which comes at the cost of worsening relations with their neighbours – the Sunni majority in the
Middle East.

The Syrian people have been suffering at the hands of a dictatorship that depends on a minority –
the Alawites. But the Syrian people are not against the Alawites, though we may see some angry
people attacking the Alawites. Overall, the revolution is not against the Alawites or sectarian in
nature. But there are disturbing signs that sectarianism is raising its ugly head in the region. This
needs to be checked by finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.

I hope that Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s suggestion that a quartet comprising Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran be formed to negotiate Bashar al-Assad’s removal from power and
a peaceful transfer makes headway.

Resistance

If the Assad regime falls it will only serve Israel because it will weaken the anti-Israeli axis of
resistance comprising Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Your
comments.

There are two issues here. One is the axis of resistance against Israel and the other is the people’
uprising against tyranny. The regime of Syria is using the excuse of resistance to oppress the
people. Hamas which is fighting for the Palestinian liberation has realised this and moved out of
Syria. The real resistance to Israel is found in the will of the people.

I believe the new regimes in Egypt and elsewhere understand this. It is not morally right to link
any resistance with the oppression of your own people. Resistance derives its moral power from
its commitment to fight injustice. Therefore those who claim to represent resistance should be
committed to justice and democracy.

Bahrain

Why is the struggle for democracy in Bahrain not getting the same sympathy or the attention of
the Arab media that the Syrian conflict is getting?

The Bahraini situation is different from most of the other revolutions in the region.
Unfortunately, the sectarian nature of Bahraini society, which is half Sunni and half Shiite, is a
stumbling block for the progress of the revolution. The revolution in Egypt was inclusive of all
segments of society.

People from across the spectrum — the Muslims and the Christians — took part in the movement
that eventually overthrew the Hosni Mubarak regime. It was same in Libya and Yemen. But in
Bahrain the dichotomy has created some kind of a stalemate with half the population supporting
the regime and the other half opposing.

But in Bahrain, the Shiites are in the majority, aren’t they?

It is not a huge majority. We are talking about a considerable split within society. I want to deal
with the second part of your previous question. Revolutions succeed not because of the media.
They succeed because of the dynamics on the ground — both social and political. It is not the
media coverage that made the Egyptian revolution a success. Neither did the lack of media
coverage make the Bahraini uprising a failure. It is the ground situation that determines the
success or failure of a people’s movement.

Palestinian struggle

We see the United States’ continued and unstinted support for Israel as one of the stumbling
blocks for peace and justice for the oppressed Palestinian people. Yet most Arab rulers are pro-
US, though the Arab masses are not. How do you view this contradiction?

Simply our leaders in the past few decades were not representative of the will of the people. That
was one of the major reasons why the people in the Arab world revolted. The revolution was not
only because of immediate socio-economic issues, but also because of the accumulation of
frustration and anger against regimes that were seen as puppets of the West. The new regimes are
much more aware of the people’s aspirations. They would not engage in international politics
against the will of the people.

The Americans have to realise there is a paradigm shift in the region. If they try to meddle with it,
the consequences would be very risky. They must realise that the Arab Spring has created new
dynamics. They do not have a Hosni Mubarak or an Omar Sulaiman on whom they could depend
on to continue their agendas. They have to deal with the true people’s representatives. If they
don’t try to accommodate this new reality, they will make a lot of misjudgments. They must
understand the new rules of the game in the region. The Palestinians, the Arabs and the Israelis
must all learn to play the game according to the new rules to achieve peace.

Does this mean the Muslim Brotherhood-led regime in Egypt could give hopes to the Palestinian people?

 One of the major shortcomings in the previous relationship between the Arabs and the Israelis is
that the Arabs did not have leaders truly representative of the people. Now we have leaders
representing the people in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries. It is indeed great news for the
Palestinians and the Arabs because the hope for peace will be based on a sound condition that
there are leaders who are truly representative of their nations instead of fake leaders who are
puppets for foreign powers. So yes, I agree with you. Now we have a much better chance of
achieving peace in the Middle East because those who are truly representative of the people will
not take decisions that go against the aspirations of the people.

Iranian-Arab relations
Some analysts say the rise of Iran as a regional power is not to the liking of pro-US Arab states
and Turkey although Iran is standing up to Israel and the US and winning the applause of the Arab street? Do you agree?

The Arabs’ relations with Iran need to be differentiated at two levels. The fact that Iran is building
nuclear capabilities is not a major source of worry for the Arabs. But the Arab people have
serious worries about Israel’s nuclear weapons. We know Israel has at least 300 nuclear
warheads. We believe that Iran is a rationalist state and, therefore, will not go ahead and make
nuclear weapons.

But the major concern for Arabs as far as its relationship with Iran is concerned is Iran’s
hegemonic designs. It is expanding its influence in the region beyond reasonable boundaries. The
way the Iranians manipulated events in Iraq and supported the Shiites to form a so-called national
unity government, the way they have been supporting the regime in Damascus and the way they
have been developing their relations with some groups in the Gulf states are not actually very
promising. Iran’s sectarian approach has a negative impact in the region. This is creating some
kind of restlessness in the region. This is why the West and Israel have worries about Iran. This
does not mean that we share the same foundations of worries. The Arabs have their own worries
about Iran.

But I would say the Iranian nuclear issue and its rise as a regional military power are still a major concern for some Arab states. Didn’t the Saudis ask the Americans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities as a leaked US embassy cable posted on the WikiLeaks website claims?

Whatever the WikiLeaks cables have said, I must say Iran has been our neighbour for the past
3,000 years and most likely this would not change. We will not wake up one day and see Iran’s
border extending upto Africa or Central Asia. Iran is, essentially, an integral component of the
Middle East. Without reaching some kind of agreement with Iran, the Arabs cannot balance their
interests. In the absence of such cooperation, the region will continue to suffer a lot of
consequences.

 I don’t promote political tension with Iran; Iran should realise the boundaries of its powers and
should moderate its ambitions if they contradict the profound interests of the people and the
region. If Iran realises this, then I think having an agreement with Iran is not difficult for the
Arabs. This is the only way forward.

Islam and modern state

Some promote Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey as a model for post-revolution Arab states such
as Egypt – a model that blends liberal values with Islam. But the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
and the Salafi-led rebels in Syria are much more inclined to strict Shariah-based governance.
Your comments.

I think political Islam as a phenomenon is not an accomplished one. It is not something you could
say that this is political Islam with specific criteria and definition. Political Islam is a living
project, an evolving project. At this stage we have witnessed the arrival of Islamists into power in
Egypt and Tunisia. But with it has come a major debate within Islamic circles as to what form of
political Islam we are going to implement.

The Turks started this discussion may be some 20 years ago. So they have developed paradigms
of thinking about the relationship between Islam and modern state much earlier than the
Egyptians or the Tunisians.

The Erdogan government could represent the final quest for a balance between the modern state
and Islam. In this balance, you believe in a democratic process, you work for a prosperous
economy and you do not interfere in the personal preferences or commitment of the public. This
is quite in contrast to the Taliban and other Islamic models. This might be the way the Islamic
movements are heading both in Egypt and other places. The state will be different from what the
Islamic tradition might dictate to the public. Islam itself is dynamic and could grow inside society
but the state has its own interests with many other agendas. The modern state cannot be Islamised.
But could inject to it universal values based on Islam such as social justice. But to say that the
state could be Islamised in a way that brings to us historical models that we had in the Ottoman,
the Abbasid and the Umayyad civiliastions, I am not sure that this could happen.

But the values one finds in Islam and the liberal modern states are sometimes contradictory.
There are areas of conflict. But there are areas of cooperation like social justice, redistribution of
wealth and individual freedom. There are ways of transcending contradictions. I don’t believe that
any ideology or any philosophy if it forces itself on the people would do a lot of good for itself.
Using the state to dictate religious values on the people is very scary. Because once the state
owns this mammoth weapon in its hand it might use it against the people. I do believe in the
separation of the state and religion for the sake of religion. Do not allow the state to use the
religion. It might become a huge dictatorship that could be anti-freedom.

Do you mean that the early caliphates which are based on Islam were against freedom?

No, not at all. The khilafah (the Islamic caliphate system that existed after the death of Prophet
Muhammad) is different from the modern state. Within the khilafah there were checks and
balances between civil society and the centres of power. The caliph and his court did not
monopolise power. The judiciary and the scholars who were independent from the state checked
the caliph’s power.

But the modern state has the tendency to control. It wants to be in control of society much more
than any other previous governmental model. I have never seen in history more centralised model
of governance than the modern nation state. So what I am calling for is empowerment of civil
society. Dismantle or redefine centres that have monopolised power in democracies for the past
several decades. Wealth and power are scary when they are in one hand. So we need to diversify
power and spread it around and bring the marginalised into the centre to create the balance.

Al-Jazeera

I wonder whether it is morally right to ask you a question regarding Al-Jazeera because you have left the station. Al-Jazeera is run by funds from the Qatari government, an ally of the West. The Orwellian question is: Is Aljazeera real?

 Yes, Al-Jazeera is real. It is performing a balancing act between the aspirations of the people and
the necessities of the institution within the framework of independent journalism. We are
enjoying great independence that no other network in the region enjoys.

The type of journalism al-Jazeera practises has created a new phenomenon in the Middle East. Al
-Jazeera is a trailblazer. When the region was witnessing the public uprising against tyrannical
regimes, al-Jazeera was there in the moment of history. Public interest is its priority. You may
call its role as activism-based journalism. We are balancing the professional standards in
journalism with activism. We have paid a huge price. The type of journalism we practise has led
to our bureaux being bombed in Afghanistan and Iraq and our journalists being killed, wounded
or jailed.

I don’t dispute it. But I believe of late the channel has compromised its independence and is
practising what is widely called in the media circles as ‘embedded journalism’ whereby you
discreetly serve the rulers and their cause.

No. I do still believe my former channel is maintaining the highest professional standards in
journalism.

Credit: Sunday Times LK

Water crisis in Mahaweli zone deepens

Water crisis in Mahaweli zone deepens
By Hansani Bandara

National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) chairman Karunasena Hettiarchchi said the water supply to the Northern and North Central provinces had been badly hit because of the low water levels in reservoirs.

The water levels in the reservoirs in the Mahaweli zones are dangerously low, officials have
warned.

They said the low water levels were posing a threat not only to agriculture but also to drinking
water supplies.

The Mahaweli Authority said the levels in reservoirs in the North Central and Central provinces
had dropped drastically with the active storage level or the usable water capacity of the Kotmale
reservoir being 33.9 per cent, Victoria 6.3 per cent, Randenigala 9.5 per cent, Rantembe 10 per
cent, Rajangana 7.3 per cent and Huruluwewa 0.6 per cent.Meanwhile, National Water Supply
and Drainage Board (NWSDB) chairman Karunasena Hettiarchchi said the water supply to the
Northern and North Central provinces had been badly hit because of the low water levels in
reservoirs.

He said the NWSDB was making optimal use of the available water resources to provide an
uninterrupted water supply, adding that a 20 per cent water tariff aimed at curtailing water
consumption would come into effect from tomorrow.

 For domestic users, the revised tariff will be Rs. 16 for 6-10 units, Rs. 20 for 11-15 units, Rs.
40 for 16-20 units, Rs. 58 for 20-25 units, Rs. 88 for 26-30 units, Rs. 105 for 31-40 units, Rs.
140 for 41-50 units, Rs. 130 for 51-75 units and Rs. 140 for units above 75.

`காணாமல் போனோர்`- தொடரும் தமிழர் அவலம்

MR says TNA can join the UPFA

MR says TNA can join the UPFA
September 27, 2012

President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the door is open even for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to join the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Speaking to newspaper Editors at a breakfast meeting today, the President said that his main aim is to form a united Sri Lanka.

He says he wants to develop the country and is not interested in taking political revenge on anyone.

The President said that he has always maintained that any political party can join the UPFA and that offer stands even for the TNA.

He noted that during the recent provincial council polls the UPFA had obtained votes, not just from the Sinhalese but the Tamils and Muslims as well.

The President says it signified the confidence the people have in the government. (Colombo Gazette)

பெளத்த சிங்கள விவசாய உழைக்கும் மக்கள் மீது சிங்களம் நடத்தும் படுகொலை.

வடமத்திய மாகாணம் அனுராதபுரம், பொலநறுவை ஆகிய இரு மாவட்டங்களை உள்ளடக்கியுள்ளது.இவை இலங்கையின் பண்டைய தலைநகரங்களுமாகும். எனினும் இம் மாகாணத்தின் பெரும்பகுதியும் நாட்டின் உலர்வலயப் பிரதேசத்திலேயே அமைந்துள்ளது. இதனால் இப் பகுதிகள் சனச் செறிவு மிகக்குறைந்த பகுதிகளாகவே அமைந்தன. 1977 ஆம் ஆண்டுக்குப் பின் மகாவலி அபிவிருத்தித் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் இப் பிரதேசங்களில் பெருமளவு குடியேற்றத் திட்டங்கள் உருவாக்கப்பட்டன.இத்திட்டத்துக்கமைய பொருளாதார உலகமயமாக்கல் கொள்கையைச் சார்ந்த விவசாயப் பயிர்ச் செய்கை ஆரம்பமானது.புதிய குடியேற்றத் திட்டங்களின் பின்னால் இம்மாகாணம் 91% சிங்களவர்களைக் கொண்ட மாகாணமாக்கப்பட்டது.[சனத்தொகை எண்ணிக்கை 1,105,663 சிங்களவர் 1,002,009 (91%), முஸ்லீம்கள் 88,775 (8.0%), இலங்கைத் தமிழர் 12249 (1%)]

வேறு விதமாகக் கூறினால் 91% சிங்கள மக்களைக்கொண்ட, இரு புரதான பெளத்த தலைநகர்களைக் கொண்ட ஒரு முக்கியமான மாகாணத்தில் சிங்களம் தனது உலகமயமாக்கல் விவசாயத்திட்டத்தை அமூலாக்கியது.

இதன் - அதீத அந்நிய உரப்பாவனையின் விளைவான மாசடைந்த குடிநீரை அருந்துவதன் - விளைவாக இன்று சுமார் 30 வீதமான உழைக்கும் விவசாய மக்கள்-4 இலட்சம் பேர்!- சிறு நீரக வியாதிக்கு உள்ளாகியிருப்பது உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.இவர்களில் சுமார் 22 ஆயிரம் விவசாயிகள் கடந்த 20 வருடங்களில்  பலியாகியுள்ளனர்.இன்னும் 18 ஆயிரம் பேர் வைத்தியசாலையில் இந்நோயினால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றனர்.

இது ஒரு விவசாயிப் படுகொலை!

பெளத்த சிங்கள விவசாய உழைக்கும் மக்கள் மீது சிங்களம் நடத்தும் படுகொலை.

வடமத்திய மாகாணத்தின் இப்படுகொலைத் திட்டம் நாடு தழுவி அனைத்து விவசாயிகள் மீதும் பாய்கிறது.வி்வசாயிகளை இன மத ரீதியில் மோதவிட்டு சிங்களம் ஏகாதிபத்திய உலகமயமாக்கல் விவசாயத் திட்டத்தை அமுலாக்குகின்றது. இனசமத்துவத்துக்கான சுயநிர்ணயக் கோரிக்கையில் விவசாயிகளை ஒன்றுபடுத்துவதே உலகமயமாக்கல் விவசாயத் திட்டதை முறியடிப்பதற்கான ஒரே பாதையாகும்.மாறாக தமிழின ஒடுக்குமுறைக்கு துணைபோகும் வரையில் சிங்கள உழைக்கும் விவசாய வெகுஜனங்கள் தமது சுருக்குக் கயிற்றை மேலும் இறுக்கிக் கொள்வார்கள்.சிங்களமக்களுக்கு கோட்பாட்டுச் சலுகை அளித்து பிரிந்து செல்லும் உரிமையை எதிர்க்கும் `சமதர்ம`வாதிகள், சுருக்குக் கயிற்றை இறுக்கும் பணியில் சம பங்கு அளித்து  சிங்கள மக்களுக்கு உதவுகின்றார்கள்!
========================================================
Report:

Sri Lankan farmers face heavy-metals fear

By Amantha Perera

COLOMBO - A new report links the high prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka's main agricultural production regions with the presence of heavy metals in the water, caused by fertilizer and pesticide use.

Over the past two decades, dozens of studies have been conducted on the large number of kidney patients in Sri Lanka's agro-rich north-central region. However, none had conclusively identified a clear cause.

On August 14, a group of Sri Lankan doctors released a report that they said was compiled as part of a joint research project bythe Sri Lankan government and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report states that: "Exposure to a combination of factors that are toxic to the kidneys (rather than one single factor) seems to cause this kidney disease. Toxic factors identified up to now include nephrotoxic agrochemicals, arsenic and cadmium."

Cultivating toxic crops

As many as 400,000 people in the north-central region may be suffering from kidney disease, said doctors taking part in the release of the report. They added that in the past two decades, as many as 22,000 people may have died as a result.
"The reason for the spread is heavy metals in the water caused by the unregulated use of fertilizer and pesticides," Dr Channa Jayasumana, from the Faculty of Medicine at the Rajarata University in Anuradhapura, told IPS.

Jayasumana was on the team of doctors who released the report. They said they had handed the study over to the government last year, and accused the authorities of failing to release it to the public, and of failing to take action on the results.

So far neither the government nor the WHO country office have acknowledged or denied its contents. WHO sources confirmed to IPS that a researcher cited in the report, Dr Shanthi Mendis, works for the international organization. But they said some of the details reported in the media differed from those in WHO reports. They declined to go public, and said the research was still inconclusive.

Sources closely associated with WHO research said the organization has in fact made a recommendation to the Sri Lankan government to regulate and standardize fertilizer and pesticide imports - the doctors' main demand.

However, another report, published just one day after the study's release, dismissed heavy metals as the main cause.

The report, "Environmental Contamination and Its Association with Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in North Central Region of Sri Lanka", released by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), identifies poor water quality as the main reason for kidney failure in that region.

The report says: "Heavy metals in drinking water are not related to chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka. If heavy metal is responsible, then there is a different source for it than drinking water, and that should be explored."

CSE deputy director Chandra Bushan told IPS "The problem is with the quality of the groundwater. It is contaminated due to geological and environmental reasons."

But, he said, if fertilizers and pesticides were the main cause, then the disease should also be visible in other agricultural areas of the country with equally heavy use.

The CSE report also found that dug wells and tube wells were much more dangerous than natural springs.

The report stated that "The affected area covers approximately 17,000 square km, with a population of about 2.5 million, in which more than 95% live in rural areas."

Citing the main hospital in the North Central Anuradhapura District, the report said that in 2010 there was "a 227% increase in live discharge patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease, whereas the death rate increased by 354% during the last few years."

According to the numbers cited by the CSE report, which was released in Anuradhapura, more than 10% of the island's population of nearly 21 million lives in these high-risk areas. The regions most in danger are the north-central, eastern, southeastern and central, as well as parts of the northern provinces - Sri Lanka's main agricultural production areas.

Despite the different conclusions reached by the two reports, researchers involved in each study acknowledged that the issues raised by the other were significant.

"We have always said that fertilizer and pesticide use should be regulated," CSE's Bushan said.
"There is no question that the water quality is bad, we agree with that," said Jayasumana, whose research was cited in the CSE report as well.

Both studies also called for immediate action to stem the spread of kidney disease.
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"What to do? We have to use fertilizer and pesticide if we want to get a good harvest, we have to drink the water if we don't want to die of thirst. No one has told us what to do and what not to do," 
- Karunarathne Gamage North Central province.

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The statistics show that male farmers, who spend much of their time outdoors in the fields, are struck down most often. The CSE report says it is male farmers between the ages of 30 and 60 who are at highest risk.

The Sri Lankan research shows that at least 15% of men between the ages of 15 and 70 were affected in the north-central and southeastern provinces. "Men over the age of 40 years, who have been engaged in farming for more than 10 years, are at higher risk of developing this disease," it states.
Despite the clear danger for men in the high-risk age bracket, especially those engaged in agriculture, options are few and far between.

"What to do? We have to use fertilizer and pesticide if we want to get a good harvest, we have to drink the water if we don't want to die of thirst. No one has told us what to do and what not to do," said Karunarathne Gamage, who lives in the country's North Central province.

Bushan said the CSE study also emphasized the poor quality of medical services available in the region. One session of dialysis costs the Sri Lankan government around US$90, and most regional hospitals lack staff and facilities to carry out such procedures regularly.

(Inter Press Service)