After a live interview with an Arab news channel last week, Chris Gunness, the spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine in Gaza, broke down sobbing over the massacre and devastation he had witnessed at UNRWA schools in Gaza by the Israeli war machine.
Mr Gunness couldn’t control himself as he recalled the suffering of children who had sought refuge in the schools. He thought he was off-air, but the images were broadcast.
“Chris Gunness isn’t Arab or Muslim, but he was stunned nonetheless at the targeting of children’s schools despite coordination between UNRWA and the Zionist entity informing them that the refugees in the schools are civilians,” said Abdullah Al Suwaiji in the Sharjah-based daily Al Khaleej.
But, as always, Israel cannot be trusted, the writer said. It has no respect for its commitments. It waited until the schools were full of civilians to bomb them directly to avenge the death of its troops in confrontations with Palestinian resistance fighters.
“Time and again, Israel has demonstrated the extent of its hostility and madness and its total disregard for human rights or international conventions that protect civilians in war times,” the writer added.
It is a war that has been raging for over 25 days, covered by the silence of great powers and mainly the US, which already compensated Israel for any losses to its stockpile of ammunition caused by this offensive. Other great powers – those able to use their veto at the UN Security Council, including China and Russia – didn’t lift a finger and most of them asserted Israel’s right to self defence.
“The movements of Israeli gangs portend even more evil plans for Gaza,” the writer suggested.
He claimed that Israel’s plan is to annihilate the entire strip in order to uncover the resistance tunnels that have so far eluded its intelligence.
Many Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza have collapsed on camera in similar circumstances, but the bitter truth is that Mr Gunness’s tears would have a more significant effect on people in the West, not because those other reporters’ tribulations were less honest, but because Palestinian tears have been shed for more than 65 years and continue to be shed.
“Their impact has waned and they’ve become a familiar sight that doesn’t warrant sympathy or thought,” Al Suwaiji wrote.
In the same vein, the columnist Mohammed Salah asked in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat: “Who changed? Israel or Arabs?”
Judging by Israel’s violent reaction to the kidnapping and killing of three of its youths, it is safe to say that Israel is the same: racial, bloodthirsty and colonial.
The only change may be the types of advanced weapons used in one offensive compared to another.
“It is Arabs who have changed and become weaker and less resourceful. They have turned against themselves,” the writer claimed.
“In their confrontations with Israel, Arabs have never repeated the admirable stance they took in the October 1973 war against Israel,” he noted.
At the height of their unison, Arab governments’ stances never amounted to anything more than official condemnation statements and promises of support to Palestine.
The writer also attacked those Arabs whose allegiance was no longer to a government or a ruler, but to the international Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas is affiliated.
Following its sudden fall from grace following the swift success it achieved during the Arab Spring uprisings, the Muslim Brotherhood feels that it is losing its foothold, the writer said.
For them, enhancing the reputation of the group is a religious duty of the highest priority – more important than the blood of Brotherhood members, be they Egyptian or Palestinians.
Hence, Salah said, it is no wonder that some Arab countries are reluctant to declare a position with or against Hamas in its war with Israel.
“Yes, Arabs have indeed changed with the changing regional and international circumstances,” the writer concluded. “They are more disintegrated than ever as countries have collapsed from within, without any foreign intervention or colonialism.”
rmakarem@thenational.ae
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
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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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
How to volunteer
The UAE volunteers campaign can be reached at www.volunteers.ae , or by calling 800-VOLAE (80086523), or emailing info@volunteers.ae.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
World Cup warm-up fixtures
Friday, May 24:
- Pakistan v Afghanistan (Bristol)
- Sri Lanka v South Africa (Cardiff)
Saturday, May 25
- England v Australia (Southampton)
- India v New Zealand (The Oval, London)
Sunday, May 26
- South Africa v West Indies (Bristol)
- Pakistan v Bangladesh (Cardiff)
Monday, May 27
- Australia v Sri Lanka (Southampton)
- England v Afghanistan (The Oval, London)
Tuesday, May 28
- West Indies v New Zealand (Bristol)
- Bangladesh v India (Cardiff)
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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more from Janine di Giovanni
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
