Watching live images of the 300,000 Palestinians crossing from southern Gaza to the north, one word came to mind: “sumud”, which means steadfast while enduring hardship in Arabic.
By the terms of the three-phase ceasefire deal, day seven was the day Gazans could go home. And so, they began their Biblical walk along the coastline: the elderly limping home on their sticks; crying children carried by parents; disabled in wheelchairs being lifted by teenagers across sand. They carried mattresses, sacks, toys – small remnants left from lives ripped apart.
There were tears of mourning but also shouts of joy at being reunited with family members.
Above all, there was the collective sense of deep grieving for the nearly 47,000 Gazans who lost their lives since Israel’s war began. There is also an existential grieving – for a life that many will not be able to rebuild, at least not in their lifetimes. It will take years to get Gaza back to where it was from the infrastructure point of view – it is estimated that at least 70 per cent of the structures are destroyed and more than 80 per cent of municipal buildings.
Far more challenging is how to repair the destruction of the fabric of Palestinian society. For that could take many decades.
First, however, Gazans must find a home. Since November 2023, when Israeli troops entered Gaza, the Strip was split in two. Most of the people in the north chose to flee the terrifying missile attacks to Rafah, in the south, but some – an estimated 65 per cent – chose to stay. No one was able to get back and forth across the military line known as the Netzarim Corridor, so families were separated.
The challenge of how to repair the fabric of Palestinian society could take decades. First, however, Gazans must find a home
Many of the returnees packed up their tents in Rafah and set out for Gaza city with the hopes of finding something, anything left from their previous lives. But the reality is that most will be pitching a tent over the rubble of what once was their home. The Rand Corporation told NPR that at least one million Gazans will have lost their homes.
Many are going back to find the bodies of their loved ones under rubble with a specific mission to bury them. But where? Contractors are speculating that since the Israelis used such high-intensity bombs, and most Gazan dwellings were made of concrete, a slew of cranes and bulldozers are going to be necessary to just shift the rubble.
Then there is the issue of repairing families and patching society back together. Palestinian society has taken a greater hit than Hamas’s military and political capability. And Palestinian resilience and family structure are themes I have studied and reported on since 1990: their unusual and extraordinary ability to restructure after destruction. Speaking to economists, political scientists and sociologists over the years, we have always agreed that what enables Gazans to go on are their incredibly strong family and community ties.
But entire families have been wiped out. I know friends who lost 21 family members in a single afternoon. There are 19,000 orphans. My young Gazan friends who had careers that were taking off – like the rock musician Raji Al Jaru, frontman for the Gazan band Osprey V – must begin again. His family owned the beautiful music store in the centre of Gaza city, now gone. His band was beginning to get offers to travel and record in Europe and abroad. Now, Raji must start from scratch.
Or the award-winning poet Mosab Abu Toha who laboured to create the Edward Said Library in Gaza city, a wonderful place that was not only an oasis of books and music, but trained young artists, musicians and writers. Gone, the books in ashes, the lovely drawings and paintings that adorned the wall in ashes.
Other friends say they feel they lost their identity. “I love my refugee camp,” one young Palestinian writer told me back in 2022. “It taught me who I am.”
But Jabaliya, the largest and oldest refugee camp that he was talking about, has been destroyed. So has Beit Hanoun, a town in the northern tip of Gaza where I had spent time with a family who had a beautiful solar-panelled green farm, now destroyed.
US President Donald Trump’s comments that he will help clean up Gaza by sending them to Egypt or Jordan add to the anxiety and collective trauma that Gaza has already suffered.
And what of Gaza’s future? It’s not surprising that recruitment for Hamas went up during Israel’s brutal assault. Whatever one’s opinion of the group, what better way to grow momentum for a political movement than to see your land stolen, destroyed and your people annihilated? They saw the death of too many children. These societal challenges will be greater than getting electricity and water restored, and hospitals rebuilt.
For the moment, people need the basics. Sam Rose, from UNRWA, the UN-embattled agency for Palestinians, told the BBC earlier this week that aid is flowing in but it only meets the “bare minimums in terms of food, water, blankets, hygiene items. But beyond that, this is a long, long road”.
The one thing I know is that Gazans will rebuild painfully, but quickly. In the many places I have worked, I have never found more steadfast and resilient people than the Palestinians. Surviving a nakba, or catastrophe, several wars and attempts to exterminate them, they have been wounded but never broken.
Education is the core of Palestinian values. They are among the most educated people in the Middle East so schools must be rebuilt because education strengthens society. According to the World Health Organisation, about half the hospitals are out of service and others are only half functioning. Temporary clinics need to be set up immediately to control disease outbreak and malnutrition.
There must also be an immense need for psychological support, but Gaza had excellent mental health facilities. One of the first was set up during the first intifada by the late great psychiatrist Eyad Al Serraj, the Gaza community mental health centre. Juzoor for Health and Social Development is an NGO, providing help to healthcare workers, who witnessed horrors. But similar initiatives must be set up at a grassroots level for community strengthening.
Most of all, the youth will need to be empowered again. During the Israeli-enforced blockade that began in 2006, many young people still found ways to develop and thrive. But without universities and schools, without workspaces and libraries, without electricity, it’s going to be a momentous task. This is another place the international community must focus – to encourage and empower youth.
The UN speculates that Gaza needs $50 billion to rebuild the Strip. Who will do this? Mostly likely key Arab countries. The US is unlikely to supply funds, given last week’s huge cuts of foreign spending at USAID and the freezes at the State Department. The EU will help, so will the Scandinavian countries.
And the Gazans will need a workable government, and partners. The Palestinian Authority has little legitimacy among the people and suffers from mismanagement and corruption. Without a solid government in place to help rebuilding, there will be more chaos.
This is a bittersweet moment. The bombs have momentarily stopped. Fathers who stayed in the north to work as rescue workers or journalists or doctors are hugging their children again as they arrive home. But everyone in Gaza has lost someone or something; everyone is suffering from trauma.
The hallmark of the Palestinian people, however, is that they emerge from tragedies and survive. They have done it before, and they will do it again. But this time, the international community cannot turn its back on them. It must help them to rebuild their ancestral land and to give them back the dignity they have lost.
This time they need, and deserve, our help.
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Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
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1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
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The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
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Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
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The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
