Today, tens of thousands of Palestinians have headed towards the Israeli fence in Gaza to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return.
At the time of publication, two Palestinians had been killed, and many more wounded by Israeli fire.
March 30 also marks Palestinian Land Day, which commemorates a 1976 decision by the Israeli government to expropriate thousands of hectares of Arab-owned land in the Galilee region north of Israel.
One year ago, Palestinians in Gaza launched a series of weekly protests along the Israeli border, in which thousands of demonstrators have gathered every Friday to call for their rights, and an end to a grinding blockade imposed on the territory since 2007. However, after 52 weeks of regular protests, the situation in Gaza seems to have only worsened.
The Great March of Return was initially thought up by young Gazans with a vision to shift the dynamics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The idea was to gather hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who would cross into Israel in a non-violent march, demanding their right of return to their ancestors’ homes and the right to live side by side with Israelis.
Hamas, however, which has led the march since day one, saw the protests as a way to place pressure on Israel and the international community to lift the blockade. The idea of crossing into Israel was ruled out. Other Palestinian activists and thinkers supported the group’s strategy.
Nevertheless, Hamas understood the need for the demonstrations to be non-violent. At first, Gaza’s internal ministry deployed its security officers among the crowd to keep order.
Activists who believed that Israel would not use excessive force against peaceful protestors were gravely mistaken. On the very first day, 15 Palestinians were shot dead and more than 700 were wounded.
As the protests became a weekly event, Israel has continued targeting the protesters using live fire, explosive bullets, tear gas and nerve gas. The total number of Palestinians killed since the start of the Great March of Return, so far, is 275 including 51 children. Around 29,000 have been injured, including more than 7,000 wounded by live fire.
More than 136 have had to undergo amputations and dozens have been paralyzed after being intentionally shot in the spine by Israeli snipers. Israel has never even tried using water cannon or other non-lethal crowd-dispersal methods. Three paramedics have been killed and 670 injured in the protests, while two journalists have lost their lives and dozens more have been hospitalised.
Midway through the protests last year, faced with continued state-sanctioned Israeli violence, protesters began burning tyres, and dispatching incendiary balloons and kites into southern Israel. The hope was that these steps would put pressure on the Israeli government to alleviate its crippling blockade. Despite the efforts of the United Nations and Egypt, just days ago Israel rejected Palestinian demands.
Many residents of southern Israel, meanwhile, have placed pressure on their government to bomb Gaza instead of alleviating its suffering. The Israeli government has been better disposed to the option of war rather than that of ending the blockade. Indeed, in recent months, several attacks have been made on the Gaza Strip.
The March of Return protests have now become an expression of Gaza’s political, humanitarian and social problems. On any given week, the number of demonstrators has corresponded with the humiliations the Strip’s people have experienced. When The Trump administration relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday May 14 last year, over 30,000 Palestinians took to the borders to protest the move. 52 Palestinians were killed, and over 2,400 were injured.
International solidarity with the protests hasn’t reached the level that Gaza’s activists hoped for. What solidarity there has been has largely related to Israel’s violence against protesters than in favour of their aims.
Israel has seized every opportunity to put forward the narrative that Hamas is using the demonstrations as a cover to carry out terrorist attacks. These absurd claims still find their way into some corners of a western media that has largely ignored the reasons why so many Gazans are risking their lives and limbs every week.
Combined with inertia from the rest of the international community, the US’s actions with regard to Palestine have emboldened Israel. It now acts with impunity, in its violence against protesters and in its collective punishment of more than two million Gazans, via the 12-year blockade.
When asked why they take part in the demonstrations, in spite of the dangers, their response is often that a quick death is better than the slow one they are experiencing under the blockade.
However, in the face of international apathy and Israeli intransigence, the number of Gazan critics of the March of Return is increasing, as are their calls for stopping it. But the choice that the leaders of the march face are stark. Continue with the protests, in the hope of an unlikely positive outcome, and risk more losses and possibly a new war on Gaza. Or end the protests and tell their supporters that their sacrifices were for nothing, that their rights have slipped further away than ever, and that the blockade will continue to steal their lives away from them.
Ali Adam is a Gaza-based journalist and researcher whose work focuses on issues linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
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
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Formula One top 10 drivers' standings after Japan
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 82
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 65
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 34
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
The specs: 2018 Maserati Levante S
Price, base / as tested: Dh409,000 / Dh467,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 430hp @ 5,750rpm
Torque: 580Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.9L / 100km
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
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
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
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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
