On Sunday, an Iraqi friend emailed me pictures of a Christian family in Mosul, slaughtered in their home because they hadn’t fled after its takeover by the fanatics of the Islamic State and because they had refused to abandon their faith.
They are among thousands of other Iraqis, of all denominations and sects, who have died in the conflict of recent weeks. Sectarian hatreds and corrupted forms of religion, practised by individuals of the type once dubbed by the late Sheikh Zayed as “apostates from Islam”, have led to innumerable crimes against humanity.
Such crimes are not only happening in Iraq. They’re commonplace in Syria, where well over 150,000 people have died in the past three and a half years. Since the removal of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has become the world’s latest failed state as the bloody conflicts between militias of tribal, jihadist or other origins tear the country apart.
Much of the suffering has arisen because of a complete breakdown of state institutions or because regimes challenged by non-state forces have resorted to barbaric depths in their efforts to retain control.
As we have seen in recent weeks, this disregard for humanity in the region is not confined to the Arab world. The Israeli assault on Gaza – in which nearly 2,000 people, mainly civilians, including nearly 300 children, have been killed – has forced nearly half a million people to leave their homes. Members of Israel’s governing coalition advocate yet more slaughter of defenceless people and proposals for a “justified genocide” of Palestinians are put forward in the Israeli mainstream media.
The intolerable suffering of Gaza, bloodied but not broken, is typified by a slew of acts such as Sunday’s rocket attack on a UN school, described by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, as “a moral outrage and a criminal act”. As Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has rightly noted, these “collective massacres that have spared nobody” will lead to “a generation that rejects peace and believes only in violence”.
The specific reasons for these crimes vary from country to country. In some, affected by what the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, recently described as “the frenzy of the Arab Spring and its unrealised goals”, the removal of dictatorial regimes has permitted the unleashing of long-suppressed resentments. In others, the very process of attempting to remove such regimes has led to the emergence of barbarous behaviour on both sides. An influx of fanatics from elsewhere, many clearly mentally disturbed, has contributed to the bloodletting. The consequence, according to Dr Gargash, has been “the devastation and wreckage of once-functioning states”.
In Gaza, of course, it is simply the latest stage in the evolution of a policy of dispossession, occupation and brutal oppression, now increasingly driven by overt racialism that dates back over six decades. The practices of successive Israeli governments are increasingly condemned around the world, to little avail.
In this region, the United Arab Emirates, an oasis of stability, stands out as one of the few countries that has avoided the turmoil – and, yes, the crimes against humanity – in which hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been driven from their homes, into internal exile or as refugees abroad.
That is not because there is no scope here for change. To quote Anwar Gargash again, from tweets posted last week: “The UAE is not perfect and has its shortcomings, but in our region, it stands out on the strength of its record … As a progressive/ambitious society, the UAE will continue to improve.”
The views of activists seeking change, he noted, “are important, (but) they must be in context with views of a larger population of nationals and expats” who overwhelmingly welcome and support the policy of a gradual process of change.
The UAE has been criticised because of the government’s determination to curb the clandestine activities of those who seek to replace that gradual process of change with “the frenzy of the Arab Spring”. As is now clear, the high-minded goals of many of those who set that Spring in motion have been overwhelmed by stronger parties whose agenda is one of religious, ethnic and racial strife, of bloodshed and of crimes against humanity.
Beyond those who, consciously or unconsciously, have allowed their view of the UAE to become intertwined with the agendas of foreign political and religious groups, it is little wonder that the country remains widely envied for its cultural and religious tolerance, for its social stability and for its economic progress. Long may that remain so.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
STAY%2C%20DAUGHTER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYasmin%20Azad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESwift%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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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
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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
GROUP RESULTS
Group A
Results
Ireland beat UAE by 226 runs
West Indies beat Netherlands by 54 runs
Group B
Results
Zimbabwe tied with Scotland
Nepal beat Hong Kong by five wickets
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
