Ghaleb Darabya was still a child when he was arrested and imprisoned for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
At first he was frightened, but the feeling was quickly replaced by pride.
"You don't know where you get this energy from, but you get this energy of being proud that you are doing something for your people and your country," says Mr Darabya, who went on to become a Palestinian Authority diplomat in Washington before later studying at Harvard University.
Now a leadership consultant based in Dubai, he describes growing up in Gaza as the most remarkable experience of his life, which shaped who he is today.
His parents were forced to flee their home during the Nakba, or catastrophe, of 1948, and lived in a tent near the border for about a year, when they gave up hope of returning and settled in Gaza.
By the time Mr Darabya was born, his father had managed to reestablish himself, becoming a business owner and the head of the trade unions in Palestine.
Mr Darabya was just turning 14 at the time of the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
"To live in a society when you always have fear, where you are deprived of your most basic rights, the right to be free was really an eye opener for me," he says. "I was questioning all the time, why don't I have a normal life like everybody else? Why do we have these people in army suits inside our streets all the time?"
Mr Darabya immediately signed up to the Fatah movement. It was during the first month of the Intifada that he was arrested and held for 10 days - despite an international agreement banning the incarceration of children.
"At the very beginning, the first day of the arrest … different groups came and beat me and asked me to do stupid things like tear the Palestinian flag. I didn't," he says.
He and six other youngsters were eventually released with the help of the Red Cross.
He remained in the movement, but his father became concerned he was getting "too carried away" with the resistance and sent him abroad to study when he was 17. Could his life have been different if he had stayed? "Probably," he says, although he does not know how.
Once in London, Mr Darabya's father wanted him to study law or business administration, but he went against his wishes and opted for political science.
"For him it was shocking. We were part of a nation that didn't have a state, didn't have a country, so why was I studying politics? Politics is for people who want to work for a government. And we didn't have one, so the logic was stupid. It was different for me. It was a risk worth taking," he says.
He went on to earn a master's degree in diplomatic studies after completing his undergraduate course and later worked in media at the Middle East broadcaster, MBC.
After nine years away, he decided to return home and joined the Palestinian Authority, where he initially worked as the executive director of diplomatic training.
But after the September 11 attacks on the US, the Palestinian Authority decided to ramp up its operation in the US and Mr Darabya was selected as the first to go there.
Working in Washington was unlike anything he had ever experienced, he said.
"It is where decisions are made over coffee or dinner. You make policies. You know the headlines almost a week ahead of time," he says.
But it was not easy, and although he refuses to reveal the specifics of discussions, he describes the posting as five "tough years".
You would be forgiven for thinking he holds a deep personal dislike of George W Bush, the former US president, who he met as part of a Palestinian Authority delegation, but that is not the case, Mr Darabya says - even if he does strongly disagree with his politics.
"He is so friendly on a personal level, so down to earth, so simple," he says. "The problem is that he lacks a lot of knowledge. He doesn't see the bigger picture and long-term.
"He could have diverted all this energy towards something positive, not wars. The first thing that came to his mind [after 9/11] was war: we will teach them a lesson. He was doing exactly what Osama Bin Laden wanted him to do."
A few months after Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian leader, died, Mr Darabya quit his job and accepted a full scholarship - which was partly funded by the Dubai Initative - to pursue a master's degree in public administration.
Not sure what courses to pick, he asked the programme director for advice and was directed towards a course which would be the start of a new career.
"She said 'Ghaleb you have to decide this. But I advise you there is one course that you cannot afford to miss and that is the leadership course'."
"I said 'what are you talking about? Is this an American thing, leadership'? I have always believed that leadership is something you're born with. It's not something you can learn in a classroom."
Mr Darabya said he took the course and never looked back.
After working at the Dubai School of Government for a time, he decided to go out on his own and set up a branch of Cambridge Leadership Associates, a company owned by two Harvard University leadership professors. He describes setting up the Dubai arm, which teaches leaders how to adapt in challenging environments, as his proudest achievement.
There is no doubt Mr Darabya, who is also a managing partner of the leadership organisation Dynargie Middle East, has had a remarkable life, but he is genuinely surprised to learn that people may be interested in hearing about it.
He is a devoted family man who is creative, ambitious and charming, says Marty Linsky, co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates.
"Coming from Palestine and having worked for the Palestinian Authority, he has a remarkable strength of optimism and a willingness to engage and be open," Mr Linsky says.
"Having gone through a lot of bumps in the road, he is still optimistic and believes he can change the world."
gduncan@thenational.ae
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
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.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /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
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
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
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS & THE ECONOMY
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
