“For light relief I read medieval history to get my mind off the present,” says Rashid Khalidi.
The award-winning scholar and prodigious Palestinian-American writer has built much of his career trying to "shift the whole framing" of the conflict as a tragic war between two peoples fighting over a long-contested piece of land to what it really is: a colonial war by Israel on the indigenous Palestinian population.
The Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and editor of the Journal of Palestinian Studies is regarded as one of its foremost academic authorities.
His latest book, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, has coincided with US President Donald Trump's controversial Deal of the Century, and now, Israelis going to the polls for the third time in a year.
Does the world really need another book on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Given that Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and the architect behind the "peace proposal", sought to assure critics of his credentials by stating that he had read "25 books on it", many would reply, "Absolutely".
While this marks Khalidi’s eighth book on modern Middle East history, and fourth specifically on Palestine, it is different from its predecessors, he says, “in that it is much more personal”. He is the latest from a long and distinguished family of academic and religious scholars, whose roots stretch back centuries to the Old City in Jerusalem. The book’s introduction provides a quick and fascinating insight to many historically note-worthy and prominent members of the al-Khalidi family – and beyond this it includes memories of and stories shared by his more contemporary relatives.
“There is a lot of family and history, a lot of accounts from people who were involved within my own family and things that I witnessed or was involved in,” and altering his usual “authorial” and purely academic tone took a lot of effort, he says.
“It was very hard to decide what voice to use and where to go into the personal and not to. Historians use other people’s memoirs all the time. But I was talking about my aunt, my uncle, materials from people in my own family, about whom I knew a great deal; so it wasn’t like just taking a book off the shelf by a woman who wrote about her experiences as a kid in Beirut and then in Palestine later on – she was my aunt, she talked to me about stuff and sometimes I’m relating those things. That was very different than anything I’d ever done before and very hard,” he adds, with a laugh.
While the sheer duration of the war and the completely asymmetrical power balances that have shaped it for over a century might make for sobering reading, Khalidi is hopeful that Palestinian resistance in its myriad forms and global grassroots support will eventually sway “the arch of justice”.
Over the past two decades, many accessible and ground-breaking academic books have been published by Palestinian and ‘New Historian’ Jewish Israeli academics that set out to reframe Palestine-Israel as an indigenous people engaged in a brutal settler-colonial conflict.
Contemporary Palestinian literature and cinema are vibrant and acclaimed. In America, “the Squad” of Democratic Congresswomen, including Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, have opened a new and potent political space where the truth about Israel and Palestine is being openly and fiercely debated. There too, four of the candidates in the Democratic leadership race – Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg – dared to distance themselves from the powerful pro-Israeli lobby group, AIPAC by skipping its annual conference this week.
The United States is where the battle for Palestine needs to be waged, and while a growing number of academics are reframing the narrative on Palestine, Khalidi says that he is kept optimistic by a growing tide of young Arab-Americans and Jewish Americans who are markedly different from the two generations before them in terms of their identities and outlooks.
“Something more profound is going on with the younger generation of Arab-Americans, who are more integrated than any generation before them, and more assimilated and self-confident, and more knowledgeable about their constitutional rights than any Arab-Americans ever were. This generation of kids, they’re Americans: they were born and educated here, they know their rights, they know their language, their Constitution, many are becoming lawyers and becoming prosperous. And they are contributing to political campaigns, running political campaigns and acting like everyone else in American society.”
Whereas middle-age and older generations of Jewish Americans were traumatised by the horrors of the Holocaust and saw 1967 as a moment of potential annihilation for Israel, young Jewish Americans don’t have that same connection with, or view of, Israel, Khalidi says. He says the current perception of Israel among other young Americans has also shifted.
“They look at what’s happening and they don’t see Israel as David and the Arabs as Goliath. First of all, they don’t see the Arabs involved – there are no Arab armies fighting Israel, there hasn’t been since 1982, almost 40 years ago. Secondly, they see the Palestinians as weak and Israel as overwhelmingly powerful.
"They see it as unfair and there’s no reason why America should put its big thumb on the scale of the dominant actor in this scenario. Certainly people feel this injustice and respond to it, so there’s a change going on.”
Khalidi’s latest book also concludes optimistically on the note that a society founded on settler-colonialism in the early part of the 20th century, in a century that saw many liberation struggles overcoming their colonial manacles, must inherently come with a ‘best-by’ date – and that Israel, and particularly its Western supporters, sense this.
“I take comfort from the fact that this has always been a project, that is largely dependent on the outside; and that what has happened in Israel and what Israel represents and does in some key respects in anathema to certain democratic liberal values that still exist in many parts of Europe and the US – in spite of countervailing tendencies. In the long run that’s not sustainable: you can’t rule over that many people without rights and be this dependent on the outside world.”
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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The biog
Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran
Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
