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The US government has not responded to a letter signed by five Nobel laureates and hundreds of prominent figures, asking President Joe Biden to halt support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza, a scholar said.
American Jewish history professor Shira Klein emailed the letter to the White House in December. “I never heard back,” she told The National.
Among the signatories Christopher Pissarides, a 2010 Nobel economics prize winner, filmmaker Ethan Coen, best known for making 1996's Fargo with his brother Joel, and Stanford Emeritus professor Joel Beinin, a prominent historian.
Their efforts came as the Gaza war sharply dented popular support for Israel, particularly in the US, where most of the signatories are from.
Many of those who signed are also Jewish.
Israel, they wrote to Mr Biden, commits “apartheid” and other transgressions in the West Bank because the US allows it to flout UN Security Council resolutions.
Pointing out that ideas to solve the conflict abound, they called for a policy shift in Washington from managing the conflict to “solving it within a short and reasonable time frame”.
“Two peoples live and will continue living between the Jordan river and the sea,” they wrote.
“The only way forward is recognising the right of both to self-determination and full equality.”
But the group is facing a struggle, and in some ways a dilemma, on how to make their ideas politically relevant.
“What we have is our words, our brains, our connections and our ability to articulate things well, which we are using to try and influence public opinion,” Prof Klein said.
She teaches Holocaust history and other topics at Chapman University in California.
One of only a few Arab signatories is Lebanese law professor Chibli Mallat, who has published a plan on how to end the conflict.
His proposal is based on treating the conflict as a century-old civil war between Israel and Palestine, which could help “seek the accommodation of two people fighting over the same land”.
First, the two sides would need to agree on non-violence as the “exclusive means” to solving the conflict.
If peace talks convene in a post-Gaza war scenario, each side should be allowed to choose their own representatives, even if hardline Israelis or members of Hamas are among them, Prof Mallat said.
The process has to encompass all Israeli and Palestinian factions, with the aim of an end to the conflict “under the two-sovereign-states banner, or one federalised system”.
Prof Mallat said the group of more than 2,000 signatories can play a role as soon as there is a ceasefire in the Gaza war because “the next day people will be looking for a political solution”.
Their approach, however, needs to become “a little bit more political”.
“The jump into the political arena is one which it seems to me worth trying,” Prof Mallat said, suggesting approaching US Senate members critical of the Biden stance on the war.
Prof Beinin mentioned Jeff Merkley, the senator from Oregon, where the professor lives.
In January, Mr Merkley visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where aid to the besieged enclave is mostly stuck because of Israeli restrictions.
He later called for an end to US “complicity in this humanitarian catastrophe”.
Prof Beinin, a specialist on the history of labour movements in modern Egypt, has campaigned for years for equality of education in Israel. In retirement, he has helped mobilise synagogue congregations in Oregon against the war.
After witnessing an unprecedented level of support for Palestinian rights in the US, he is sanguine about the prospects of a fundamental change.
“There is a tremendous opening,” Prof Beinin says, citing strong backing, particularly in among under-30s, for a ceasefire.
But he does not “get excited about positive things that could happen because things have gotten progressively worse”.
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Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
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In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
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- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
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The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
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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.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
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Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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F1 The Movie
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