Yay:
A painting of Julian Assange taking a leak has won this year’s Bald Archy prize.
The caricature by French artist Xavier Ghazi portrays the WikiLeaks founder with his trousers around his ankles, urinating into a top hat with the US flag on it.
The main message from the latest Essential Media polling is that most people don’t really know much about the conflict and remain unsure who is to blame (see here and here).
A few points. Close to a majority said that criticising Israel isn’t anti-Semitic (take note Zionist lobby). Many believed the issue fueled anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia. Most didn’t think Australia should back Israel over the Palestinians.
Public meeting
Boycotting Israel is the right thing to do:
Why Murdoch’s Australian is wrong over BDS
Speakers include:
Samah Sabawi, Australians for Palestine
Antony Loewenstein, author of My Israel Question
Sylvia Hale, former NSW Greens MP
The Murdoch media’s campaign to force Marrickville Council to abandon its support for a global campaign to pressure Israel to abide by international law has been relentless.
This meeting, called by concerned residents, will discuss the issues behind the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign and how we can support justice for Palestine.
Plus a screening of the short video by Anna Baltzer: Life in Occupied Palestine
Organised by Marrickville residents supporting the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Sponsored by the Sydney Peace Foundation.
Friday May 13, 6.30pm for 7pm
Holy Trinity Church Hall
11 Herbert Street
Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Gold coin donation
Libya might soon turn into a goldmine for private security firms. Reports say that the UK is already hiring mercenaries to protect the interests of the big corporations there, once Colonel Gaddafi goes. But the fresh history of the previous NATO-led interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan give a pretty clear picture of how exactly the big men with guns could turn this civil war-torn country into a proper Wild West. To the world, homeless and displaced people, disrupted water and electricity supplies, and decimated infrastructure might be tragic scenes of the destruction of lives, while to Britain’s large private security sector they are nothing but a gold mine…Libya increasingly looks like it will be a volatile state for a good while to come and a new conflict zone means a new cash cow for private security companies.
The Sydney Morning Herald features (gasp!) an Arab in the story:
Marrickville Council’s push for a boycott of Israel is likely to be quashed at a meeting tonight despite an attempt by the mayor, Fiona Byrne, to soften the move by calling for an in-principle boycott only.
The four Labor councillors and two of the five Greens, Peter Olive and Max Phillips, who supported implementing the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign in principle last December, would not commit to continuing that support yesterday. Without their votes the mayor’s new motion for an in-principle boycott will not pass tonight.
Moammar Mashni, of Australians for Palestine, said the withdrawal of support for actual boycotts was disappointing.
”[Critics] have created such a frenzy around this debate that moved away from the central message of what the BDS was all about – it’s about non-violence … a principled stand to deliver both peace and justice,” he said.
A local group, the Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance, said even the mayor’s revised motion should be rejected.
”There’s real healing that needs to be done in our community and just coming in with in-principle support for the BDS movement, that hasn’t been discussed with us or the community,” said the group’s secretary, Janet Kossy.
…
The Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance carried out a phone survey on the campaign in March, and found that two-thirds of residents did not support it.
Ms Kossy called for $12,000 in donations in early March for ”activities that we believe will make a decisive difference” against the boycott. She would not comment yesterday on how much had been spent on the campaign.
A recent blog claimed that when peace is finally brokered between Israel and a Palestinian state, the stance of Marrickville Council will be proudly remembered. We beg to differ, as did voters in the recent NSW election who rejected the Greens’ candidate, the Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne, and council’s proposed boycott of all things Israeli.
The question now is how to heal the rift, especially given that the boycott plan now appears to be in tatters.
When you politicise a protracted international conflict at the local level, the rancour hits hard because it is felt not only in the chambers of government but on our streets, souring relationships between neighbours and community groups.
To argue that a Sydney council is not an appropriate entity through which to express foreign policy is one obvious point, no matter how well-meaning the boycott proposal. The more important issue is that it is time to end the Middle East blame game.
As members of the Marrickville and Leichhardt Jewish communities who have been embroiled in this bitter controversy, we stand for peace building. We support positive actions that both assist the Palestinian people and progress efforts to build a viable Palestinian state. We believe in a two-state solution as the only viable path towards a lasting peace.
Even within local Jewish communities there are many different views on the occupied territories, settlements and the Israeli government’s policies. This conflict is extremely complex, with many different narratives and truths that are also intricately linked to both regional and global tensions. There are no simple solutions and reducing the issues to slogans doesn’t help.
It’s depressing to read how someone with limited facts and a little bit of power can highjack a serious argument such as the boycott of Israel. It’s absurd to liken the Israeli situation to a dispute between Queensland and NSW. It should be obvious that Queensland wouldn’t lob rockets into NSW.
Cr Byrne seems to think Israeli checkpoints are there just to make life difficult for Palestinians. She chooses not to know or maybe doesn’t remember that thousands of Israelis were wounded or killed by suicide bombs over a decade ago. Since then, with stringent border controls and a wall, the number has been drastically reduced.
I’m interested that the Greens are the ones promoting this boycott. I wonder if they know that Israel was the only country that ended the 20th century with more arable land, more trees and more green space than when the century began. Do they know what Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem looked like at the beginning of the 20th century?
Maybe Marrickville councillors need to make a trip to Israel to see for themselves. That might produce a positive outcome.
Howard Gelman Glebe
On the one hand, Fiona Byrne claims that Marrickville Council has an advocacy role on behalf of its residents, and on the other acknowledges that the council ”didn’t have time to educate people about the campaign” (”Backlash forces end to Israel boycott”, April 18). This confirms that the personal views of Cr Byrne and some of her council colleagues were behind the campaign to boycott Israel, as opposed to responding to residents’ requests for action on behalf of the Palestinian people.
Did Cr Byrne have this issue at the centre of her election commitments to the people of Marrickville? Politicians at all levels of government have a duty to deliver as promised to those who elected them, not a right to use that platform for their personal views.
Rob Fraser Drummoyne
Fiona Byrne may like to align her actions with those of Desmond Tutu and Julian Burnside, but to the best of my knowledge neither is head of a local council responsible for rates, roads and rubbish (”Rates, roads – justice in Gaza”, April 18).
Back to your day job, Ms Byrne – or is the mayoralty merely an apprenticeship and media training opportunity for a career in state and federal politics?
Santo Calabrese Cherrybrook
Regardless of the merits of the debate, Fiona Byrne’s reasons for terminating the boycott sound very much like chardonnay socialism. If there is no cost for a supposedly principled decision, can one not query the genuine commitment of the decision-makers?
David Gilfillan Potts Point
Fiona Byrne’s opinion piece serves to remind us that by placing human rights values at the top of all decision-making tasks, whether in families, schools and universities, council meetings, or as part of discussions on carbon-pricing, we can raise and deal with questions ethically.
Marrickville Council’s mayor and councillors followed this model yet have been mocked and vilified for it, standing like David against the Goliath of the Israeli government machine, whose failure to focus upon human rights values has brought international condemnation.
Heather Formaini Balmain
Fiona Byrne is quite right to generally encourage ethical purchasing but her support of the boycott of all things Israel was itself unethical and far from peaceful.
Perhaps she should visit Israel and speak to the many Israelis who work every day for Palestinian rights and then she may realise that boycotting all Israelis was a confrontational and silly idea.
It would be akin to blaming all Palestinians for the relentless rocket attacks into Israel from the Gaza strip.
David Whitcombe Maroubra
Do they absolutely agree, sort of agree, or are they a green house divided? There are now six democratically elected NSW Greens to State Parliament. Prior to the election, not one of them publicly declared their support or opposition to the Israel bans. They hedged – individually and collectively. Now that the election is over, isn’t the public well and truly entitled to know where each of them stands on the issue – or is that still off-limits? At least we know what Bob Brown and Lee Rhiannon think. Before the Marrickville Council vote, isn’t it about time we also knew what our elected NSW Greens parliamentarians think, or will a ”spokesperson” simply continue their invariable tactic of criticism after the event, no matter what?
Peter Bower Naremburn
It is a pity Fiona Byrne didn’t clarify her council’s position on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign before it cost her the election. I worry that this policy has cost the NSW Greens a lot of support at a time when we need to be strong in the face of environmental incursions by our new right-wing government.
Gabrielle Tindall Bellingen
Chutzpah, in the true Hebrew meaning of the word, is not the admirable sort of audacity for which we tend to use the word now. Real chutzpah, it is said, is the sort of impertinence that sees a man accused of murdering his parents beg for mercy on the grounds that he’s an orphan. So the term is apt to describe the brazen way the Marrickville Council, in Sydney’s inner west, has gotten above its station by implementing an economic boycott against Israel.
Section 51 (xxix) of the Australian Constitution makes it very clear that the federal parliament is responsible for foreign policy or, in the jargon of the time, “external affairs”. The local government authority upon which councils such as Marrickville exist is not even mentioned in the Constitution. These are the cold, hard facts that underscore the absurdity of the council and its Greens Mayor, Fiona Byrne, attempting to play their jaundiced role in Middle East power politics. The council’s support for BDS (boycott, divest and sanctions) action against Israel has been condemned by the national leadership of the Greens, the Labor Party and the Liberals. Yet even as she prepares to tear down her metaphorical wall against Israeli infiltration, Ms Byrne continues to argue that her council has a role to play in resolving the intractable dilemmas of international relations. As Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd pointedly put it, she might first concentrate on collecting the garbage and looking after the parks and gardens. Mr Rudd succinctly described this provincial excursion into the heady realms of foreign policy as “just plain nuts”.
While this affair seems ripe for satire, there are serious issues at play. The persistent inconsistency between Ms Byrne, Greens federal leader Bob Brown and senator-elect Lee Rhiannon demonstrates a shambolic policy development apparatus within a party now in a powerful alliance with the Gillard Labor government. Senator Brown needs urgently to assert leadership on foreign policy issues and eliminate the loopy anti-Israel sentiment from his ranks. The Labor Party, unfortunately, is not blameless, with four of its councillors having backed the BDS move. When the council votes to overturn the policy, they intend to put this right, but Julia Gillard must ensure that her party’s strong support for Israel is not compromised again by such jejune antics from elected officials.
Dear Marrickvile councilors,
We the undersigned would firstly like to congratulate the Marrickville Council in Sydney’s Inner West, Australia for their courageous motion (dated December 14, 2010) in support of the Palestinian-led global movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. The BDS campaign is deeply inspired by the South African anti-apartheid boycott and divestment campaign for freedom and equality. We understand the Marrickville councilors have come under immense pressure to reverse their decision. After concerted political attacks laden with misinformation about BDS and its alleged costs to the council, a vote is being held on Tuesday April 19 to attempt a reversal. As supporters of universal principles of human rights, we are writing today to appeal to all Marrickville councilors to uphold their principled motion in support of BDS.
Supporting BDS means first and foremost upholding universal human rights and the just and fair application of international law to end Israel’s occupation and denial of basic Palestinian rights. It does not in any way entail or necessitate adopting sweeping boycott or divestment measures that may have a disproportionately negative economic impact on Marrickville or any other council. BDS is not a one-size-fits-all formula; its endorsers around the world converge on the rights-based approach of the Call but apply context-sensitive measures that best fit their own reality and particular circumstances. Some boycott campaigns, such as the CodePink-led “Stolen Beauty,” focus on one specific company that is implicated in Israel’s occupation or war crimes, while others, like “Derail Veolia and Alstom,” target a number of complicit institutions, companies or products.
The smear and intimidation campaign waged against the brave Marrickville motion and its supporters has neglected to mention that in 2005, an overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society called upon conscientious citizens and civil society groups around the world to implement diverse, creative Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign based on the principles of human rights, justice, freedom and equality for all, irrespective of their identity [1]. The BDS movement appeals to people around the world to heed the call until Israel withdraws from all the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and removes all its colonies and walls in those lands; implements United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees rights; and recognizes the right of its Palestinian citizens to full equality [2]. On this last dimension, it is worth noting that the U.S. Department of State in its annual human rights reports has persistently condemned Israel’s “institutional, legal, and societal discrimination” against its Palestinian citizens. [3] These three demands are firmly based in international law; by supporting this movement the Marrickville Council is expressing its solid commitment to human rights locally and internationally.
In light of the hundreds of UN resolutions condemning Israel’s colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal, and considering the failure of all forms of international intervention and peace-making to oblige Israel to comply with international law, respect fundamental human rights and end its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people, BDS has become the most urgent form of morally-consistent solidarity that can effectively further the demand for implementing Palestinian rights in accordance with international law. Marrickville Council is not alone in taking this moral stand, it has joined a long list of councils, civil society organizations, prominent artists and intellectuals around the world who have taken initiatives to hold Israel accountable similar to those used to end apartheid in South Africa [4].
We understand that some defenders of Israel’s occupation and racial discrimination system have argued that it would be costly and difficult for Marrickville to implement its BDS policy. This is a little more than a cynical diversion by those who wish to protect Israel from being held accountable for its gross violations of international law. BDS need not be unduly costly – councils across the world have taken action in support of Palestinian rights at little or no cost. By being focused, nuanced, and tactical, Marrickville Council can implement BDS in a way that best suits the local context in which it operates while still making an important contribution towards just peace and respect for the rule of international law.
We warmly welcome your solidarity with Palestinians struggling for their inalienable rights. We believe that the time has come to apply BDS as a minimal, non-violent, yet clearly effective form of pressure on Israel, as was done successfully in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Please uphold your boycott policy and stand firm in your commitment to human rights.
Victoria Brittain, journalist and playwright, London
Judith Butler, Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Hedy Epstein, Holocaust survivor and peace activist, Missouri
Chris Hedges, award-winning American journalist and author, US
Ronnie Kasrils, former South African government minister and African National Congress executive member
Naomi Klein, author and social activist, Toronto
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Belfast
Miriam Margolyes, actress, London
Joseph Massad, Professor, Columbia University, New York
John Pilger, journalist and documentary maker
Sarah Schulman, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, City University of New York
Clare Short, former UK government minister, London
Baroness Jenny Tonge, life peer and former UK member parliament, London
Salim Vally, lecturer, University of JohannesburgSouth African Municipal Workers Union
COSATU-led Coalition for a Free Palestine (CFP)[1] http://www.bdsmovement.net/call
[2] Ibid.
[3]http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/nea/154463.htm
[4] http://www.bdsmovement.net/2010/five-years-statemen-4602
Australian Federal Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese cares about Palestinians as much as he loves feral cats. His party’s abiding dedication to Zionism is what matters; words are cheap and actions only say backing for Israeli occupation.
So his latest comments are no surprise (in a party where principle left through the back door years ago):
Marrickville council’s boycott of Israel has been slammed as “costly, clumsy and unproductive” by Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, who says the resolution should be dropped immediately.
Mr Albanese took a swipe at the Greens-inspired policy, claiming it had caused widespread division and had put local Sydney ratepayers out of pocket by more than $100 million.
“It’s time, when the council meets tomorrow night, to put aside this division and to say that the council, should prioritise getting back to basics … not trying to be an alternative foreign government for Australia that has brought the local community I’m proud to represent into a state of ridicule across the country,” said Mr Albanese, who is federal MP for Grayndler, which includes Marrickville.
“This is about self-indulgence and playing politics by the Greens party locally – it’s about time they cut their losses, acknowledge it was a mistake and move on.”
…
Mr Albanese would not say if he too lobbied the local councillors, but said they “had made it clear” they would vote against the boycott.
“The problem with the BDS is that it is a one-state solution, it doesn’t provide a way forward,” he said.
“I think we need policies that promote a win-win – that don’t have to be anti-Israeli to be pro-Palestinian – and I think that is very important in moving forward on these issues.”
John Pilger has sent the following message to Marrickville councillors:
“Sometimes, looked at from the outside, Australia is a strange place. In other ‘western democracies’ the ‘debate’ about the enduring injustice dealt the Palestinians and Israel’s lawlessness has moved forward to the point where the cynical campaign of anti-Semitism smears is no longer effective — in the UK, much of Europe and even the United States.
If Israel’s bloody assault on Lebanon was not the turning point, the criminal attack on the imprisoned population of Gaza certainly was. The same is true of the BDS movement. This eminently reasonable, decent and necessary campaign enjoys a respectability across the world, not least in South Africa, where it’s backed by the likes of Desmond Tutu and especially those Jews who fought the apartheid regime. The University of Johannesburg, one of the biggest universities in South Africa, has just broken all ties with Israel. Justice for Palestine, said, Mandela, is ‘the greatest moral issue of our time’. That’s the company those Marrickville councillors who have stood up for this ‘greatest moral issue’, keep. And those who have wavered and walked away should think again – remembering other waverers who, long ago, walked away from speaking out against what was being done to Jews. The scale is very different; the principle is the same. Do not be intimidated by Murdoch vendettas or by anyone else. All power to you.”John Pilger
The Marrickville mayor, Fiona Byrne, will try to end a boycott of Israel after an intense political and community backlash, death threats and a collapse in support on the council, conceding it is ”impractical and untenable”.
But the mayor, who would not rule out another tilt at state politics, is unwavering in her support for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and will tomorrow call on the council to offer its in-principle support only.
Cr Byrne, speaking publicly for the first time since failing to win the seat of Marrickville at the state election, said she did not think the controversial original motion, which called for a boycott of ”all goods made in Israel and any sporting, academic institutions, government or institutional cultural exchanges”, was wrong.
Following a recent council report showing it would cost $3.7 million to fully implement, Cr Byrne said it was ”impractical”.
”I must be financially responsible to my community, and I certainly would not put my community under a financial burden to implement it,” she said, adding she was proud of the council for supporting the rights of the Palestinian people.
”It has got people talking about an issue that previously was invisible,” she said. ”Is it the right thing to support the BDS campaign? Yes. I think it is.”
…Cr Byrne’s new motion, which calls for in-principle support to be maintained but no practical boycotts implemented, will be put alongside another motion from the independent councillor Victor Macri, who has opposed the boycott from the beginning.
The Greens on Marrickville Council were last night locked in talks on a face-saving measure in its Israel boycott saga.
The measure would enable the inner-western Sydney council to maintain a boycott of Israel without the cost to ratepayers.
The Australian understands that one option under consideration would see an alternate motion put forward that made no specific mention of the global boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement, but instead aligned the council with an 1980 UN resolution critical of Israel.
Greens councillor Marika Kontellis conceded yesterday the proposed boycott — which has drawn condemnation from all sides of politics — had been “unpopular” among the community.
UN Resolution 465 calls upon states to withhold any assistance to Israel that could be used in connection to Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. This option could see the original motion, which called for a “boycott of all goods made in Israel and any sporting, academic, government or cultural exchanges” technically remain on the council books.
A report released by council officers last week showed the cost to ratepayers of the boycott would run to at least $3.7 million.
While acknowledging its unpopularity, Ms Kontellis defended the right of the 12-member council to voice its opinions on matters of principle. “But does being unpopular mean it’s wrong it take a stance?” she said. “That’s the question I’ll ask myself.”
Thankfully, Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne today writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about an issue the corporate media has deliberately avoided; why BDS is so necessary due to Israeli apartheid in Palestine:
It seems that everyone has an opinion at the moment about whether the Marrickville Local Government Area should play a role in trying to create change for the people of Palestine.
In the process, the plight on the ground in Palestine has barely rated a mention. Among others, the Murdoch press, the Labor Party, the Jewish Board of Deputies, and now the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, appear to have enjoyed attacking me and Marrickville Council, in a furore of half-truths and misinformation.
To call this circus ”news” is absurd.
Every day the Palestinian people have their freedom of movement within their own territories restricted. They are denied access to water as the Jordan River and groundwater are diverted to Israeli settlements. Gaza is blockaded, denying people basic supplies such as medicines.
Would we in Sydney live this way? Would we stand for the Queensland government doing these things to us? Wouldn’t we protest for our rights, and if needed call for help from the broader Australian or international communities?
In a community that is so diverse, where multiculturalism blossoms, Marrickville Council is regularly involved in international affairs. We raise the Tibetan and West Papuan flags on their national days to show support for their own struggle for self-determination. We are not the only council in NSW that is a nuclear-free zone, nor the only council working hard to tackle climate change, which will affect every community across the planet. Being involved in international affairs is part of being connected to your community and through it the broader community of the globe.
One of the ways that the council can show our support for these causes is through ethical purchasing. Just as individuals choose not to buy certain goods because of the practices of their producers – like the successful boycott of Nestle products until it changed its practices in Africa – the council, as an organisation that purchases goods and services every day on behalf of 76,000 people, has the right to put criteria in place around who we do business with.
…
Contrary to the heavy-handed statements of the novice Premier last week, councils are about much more than roads, rates and rubbish. On December 14 last year, 10 out of 12 Marrickville councillors expressed support for the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign, to exert peaceful pressure on the government of Israel to honour its human rights obligations to the Palestinians under Israel’s jurisdiction.
The campaign has widespread support from organisations and individuals including the peace activist Desmond Tutu and the human rights lawyer Julian Burnside.
Australian political and media debate remains mired in immaturity. Instead, we have Murdoch “journalists” writing about Marrickville being Jew-free (which thankfully is thoroughly debunked here.)
Any chance of a real debate about Israel? No, didn’t think so.
What a lovely photo of Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s family that appears in the country’s Sunday Observer newspaper today. I wonder if they drink Tamil blood with a glass of red wine.
As the UN releases its report on Colombo’s murder of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians during the country’s civil war – and yes, there are profound issues with the UN investigating itself when there are serious questions about its own alleged complicity in failing to act to protect civilians – Sri Lanka’s largely pro-state media is going into overdrive.
Here’s one article in today’s Sunday Observer:
“The World’s Sixth Most Influential Personality. Isn’t the ideal New Year gift for the leader for his astute political leadership?”
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who proved that nothing is impossible if there is a will and dedication, bridged the gap between the once divided two communities Sinhala and Tamils – and received the prestigious New Year gift the day after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
A poll conducted by the US based magazine TIME – listed President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the sixth out of 100 most influential persons of 2011.
It is a co-incidence where that on the same day the UN Secretary General’s panel, which released its final report on the alleged war crimes during the final days of the end battle against the LTTE in May 2009, drew attention to the government’s accountability in handling the end battle.
According to sources close to President Rajapaksa, the intention of featuring him in the TIME polls was to create a negative image of him.
It is shown clearly in the brief introduction of him, which states: “Since ending Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long war against the Tigers in 2009, and grabbing control over once independent institutions such as commissions on human rights and elections, Mahinda Rajapaksa has come to dominate the institutions of his nation more than any other democratically elected head of State.
He challenged the US., the European Union and the UN to prosecute him for war crimes, confident that Russia, China and India would not support it, the latter two have billions of investment at stake in Sri Lanka.”
The sources said the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora led a secret campaign to make him unpopular to rank him at the lowest position. But, the patriotic Sri Lankans, including the Tamils who were convinced of his endeavours to liberate the country from the clutches of the LTTE terrorism, had voted for him to defeat the pro-LTTE elements.
Being the very first Sri Lankan leader to be featured in TIME magazine’s 100 Top Ten, he reached the sixth position ahead of all powerful and popular figures of the world including famous WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange, who has been ranked 11 in the polls.
Ranking as the sixth among the 203 personalities is not only his personal achievement but a victory for the country itself.
This has endorsed his commitment to eradicate terrorism and also drive the country towards a peaceful new era in the aftermath of a deadly battle against terrorism that plagued the country for nearly 30 years.
The recognition by the TIME polls is also a tribute to a great Asian leader who did not kneel down before the West. It is also a tribute to the leader who trusted and believed in the unity among the Asian region nation.
And this editorial about the nation’s glorious economic growth. Message to the world? Stop bugging us about these war crimes distractions and murder of civilians; we just want to talk about jobs!
Sri Lanka last year registered its second highest economic growth since independence and the highest in 32 years, according to the 2010 Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Annual Report. The CBSL report released on New Year’s Eve was indeed a welcome sign and an indication that the country is marching triumphantly towards further economic prosperity.
Based on the impressive economic indicators achieved during the past few years, Sri Lanka could well consolidate its position to become the ‘Wonder of Asia’ sooner than later. Moreover, the New Year will help bring about a renewal in spirit and fresh expectations.
The Sinhalese and the Tamils all over the country are still in an exuberant mood enjoying the New Year festivities as never before. The peaceful atmosphere to enjoy the New Year in its true spirit sans any fear and security concerns was made possible only after the country achieved its true freedom after the Security Forces freed the country from the clutches of LTTE terror in May 2009.
With the successful economic growth and the people getting about freely for the New Year celebrations, we recall the immense sacrifices made by the Security Forces in vanquishing the LTTE terrorists.
…
All these superlative achievements have been made possible due to the right economic policies implemented under the Mahinda Chinthana. Political stooges who expressed reservations on the President’s ability to manage the economy in 2005 had to eat humble pie eventually.
President Rajapaksa has laid the foundation to take Sri Lanka towards new economic horizons. It is abundantly clear that Sri Lanka could achieve double digit economic growth if the right economic policies introduced under the Mahinda Chinthana are maintained under the President’s illustrious leadership.
