Palestinians have been set back by their leaders because of a lack of elections and democratic processes, the UK's Minister for Middle East and North Africa, the UN and South Asia has said.
"What's important in the Palestinian territories is that there have been no elections there for years and people feel disenfranchised," Lord Tariq Ahmad told The National.
"Democracy and its fundamentals are key and people have to feel that the leaders that serve them are people who are able to make their representations true and reflect their concerns and priorities."
Lord Ahmad said he had spoken to Palestinian children in the occupied territories during a recent visit.
"I asked them for two requests: one for the Palestinian government and one for the Israeli government. One of them said that they understand the need for security around their school and sometimes see Israeli police having to use equipment like [tear] gas canisters.
"We'd like it if they didn't throw them in front of our playground, they said. What an innocent request."
He said the child requested that the Palestinian government show the same kind of care that Lord Ahmad showed them during his visit.
The Palestinian Authority was expected to hold elections in 2021, but the vote failed to go through despite enormous expectations of change and a lack of trust in the country's leaders, polls showed.
Lord Ahmad visited Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House before speaking to The National. He said Christians, Muslims and Jews are "joined at the hip".
"We've got to make sure those fundamentals come together and the political will is created [for the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict].
"That requires the efforts of near-neighbours of Israel and the Palestinians and key partners around the world, including the UK."
Lord Ahmad said it is not up to the international community to negotiate on behalf of the two sides.
"The role of the international community is to create the space and facilitate those negotiations, but the political will itself must come from the Palestinians and Israelis."
Violence has been escalating in the West Bank among Palestinians and Israelis in recent months.
Seven Palestinians were killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin. Palestinian 15-year-old Sadil Naghnaghia was shot in the forehead and later died.
Israel also used Apache helicopters to launch an air attack for the first time in 20 years.
On Friday, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned against Israel's use of this type of machinery.
“This week’s violence in the occupied West Bank risks spiralling out of control, fuelled by strident political rhetoric and an escalation in the use of advanced military weaponry by Israel,” he said.
Lord Ahmad recalled words said to him at a young age by his mother, when he came home from his Catholic school, as a practicing Muslim, and asked her about Judaism.
"When we build a house, we lay the foundation and the walls go up and the roof completes the house, and there are doors and windows," he said.
"As Muslims, we believe the foundations of our faith are Judaism and without the foundation of Judaism, the walls of Christianity wouldn't have been erected and without the walls of Christianity, the roof of Islam wouldn't have completed what we know as the House of Ibrahim."
For Lord Ahmad, the solution is not only tolerance, but "respect and celebration of differences".
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LIVERPOOL%20TOP%20SCORERS
%3Cp%3E(Premier%20League%20only)%3Cbr%3EMohamed%20Salah%20129%3Cbr%3ERobbie%20Fowler%20128%3Cbr%3ESteven%20Gerrard%20120%3Cbr%3EMichael%20Owen%20118%3Cbr%3ESadio%20Mane%2090%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Results
6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 I 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 I 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm The Entisar Listed I Dh250,000 I 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
9.25pm The Garhoud Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,200m I Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
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Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
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Tuesday, Oct 1
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IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
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Chennai win by eight wickets
THE%20SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
