With the announcement of a month-long ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement in Gaza, Palestinians are now turning their sights to repairing the shattered Gaza Strip.
Palestinians will undoubtedly prioritise the reconstruction of thousands of homes, whose destruction has displaced nearly one-quarter of the Gaza Strip’s population. Palestinians will focus on repairing the scores of hospitals damaged by Israel’s bombs, as well as the dilapidated water supply and the bombed-out power plant.
While Palestinians heal, repair and try to reconstruct their lives, they should not be asked to simply ignore Israel’s crimes. Rather, this time the international community must insist that Israel is held accountable for its continued crimes so as to ensure that these types of actions never happen again.
Israel’s weeks-long assault on a defenceless, stateless population could not have happened without the decades of impunity that it has enjoyed.
Israel’s crimes are not simply confined to its latest military assault in the Gaza Strip: whether it is the long-standing policy of constructing and expanding colonies, its policy of extra-judicial assassinations, its apartheid policies or its policy of home demolitions – all of which are violations of international law – Israel has long enjoyed immunity from prosecution or even accountability.
To the contrary, the international community has not only failed to hold Israel accountable but continues to heap rewards on Israel, such as favourable trade relations, increased financial and military support and even membership of the OECD.
The benefits do not stop there: despite a signed agreement with Israel, the European Union continues to allow goods from Israel’s colonies to enter into European markets without so much as a label to indicate where the goods were produced.
But now the time has come to reverse this trend and a number of options are available to Palestinians and to the international community.
Just as South Africa was eventually boycotted and isolated for its continued apartheid and military occupation policies, so too must Israel now be isolated and boycotted for its continued apartheid and military occupation.
Israel must not be allowed to continue to reap the benefits of being a “normal” state when it is a state that continues to deny freedom to millions of Palestinians while forcing millions of others to remain refugees or as second-class citizens within their own ancestral land or outside of it.
Specifically, now is the time for the Palestinian Authority to demand that the international community ostracise Israel; that the world revoke the long-standing benefits bestowed on it, such as increased trade relations or membership in international organisations, and that the world begin to back the imposition of sanctions on Israel.
Most importantly, the Palestinian Authority should now sign onto the International Criminal Court (ICC) so as to begin the process of holding Israel accountable for its continued crimes. To date, while the Palestinian Authority has “threatened” to take this historic step, it has continued to fall short of accepting the court’s jurisdiction, despite the fact that Israel has perpetuated three massacres in Gaza over the past six years and despite Israel’s continued construction of colonies, deemed illegal under international law.
When the Palestinian Authority first launched its statehood project in 2011 by seeking recognition before the United Nations as a “state” the PA justified this move as a measure to hold Israel accountable and challenge Israel’s continued colonisation.
Despite obtaining upgraded status within the UN the following year – thereby allowing it to accept the jurisdiction of the ICC to prosecute war crimes carried out on its territory – the PA has failed to join the ICC and has demonstrated that this new status was merely a political ploy to appease Palestinians frustrated with the empty promises of the peace process.
PA president Mahmoud Abbas has listed a number of excuses for why he will not join the ICC at this moment, and has even demanded that the Palestinian factions support this move unanimously before he pursues it.
But with Hamas now on the record in support of Palestine joining the ICC, so too should Mr Abbas and the Fatah movement.
Yet, to date, they refuse to do so. This reticence stems from the fact that such a move will definitely end the so-called “peace process”.
This failed process allowed Israel to mask its military occupation and continued crimes by exclaiming that it was “seeking peace”. It further deluded the international community into believing that Israel’s crimes would be magically undone with the signing of a “peace agreement” and that holding Israel to account would undo Israel’s “fragile” coalitions.
But the peace process failed long ago: during this period Israel tripled the number of illegal Jewish settlers in the West Bank, confiscated thousands of hectares of Palestinian land and destroyed thousands of Palestinian homes. The world remained silent.
The Palestinian Authority similarly fears that the international community will cut off funds from its now dependent economy.
These fears are not without basis: the United States, Israel’s main enabler of international criminal action, has already stated that it will hold back funds from the Palestinian Authority should it take any action to hold Israel accountable. Undoubtedly, the Europeans will follow suit.
While the threat may be real, the PA should not allow Palestinians to continue to be blackmailed into accepting money on the condition that they remain silent in the face of Israel’s crimes.
Indeed, what message does it send to Palestinians when Israel’s foreign minister is a settler who also calls for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland, or the deputy speaker of the Knesset is a man who advocates that Palestinians be placed in concentration camps – yet both are warmly embraced in foreign capitals around the world?
What message does it send when Israel, following the killing of more than 2,100 Palestinians, including nearly 500 children, its bombing of hospitals, schools, shelters, mosques and its destruction of entire neighbourhoods is allowed to continue to maintain an illegal blockade or is allowed to carry out similar atrocities in the future?
If the Palestinian Authority wants to demonstrate that it represents Palestinians rather than perpetuating a fictitious peace process or being held hostage to foreign demands, it will sign onto the international criminal court without delay.
Similarly, the international community must now demonstrate that it does not value Palestinian lives any less than those of Israelis. Most importantly, now is the time that Israel be sent the message that it is not above the law and that the Palestinians are no longer beneath it.
Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer who previously served as a legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s negotiations department
On Twitter: @DianaButtu
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
Results
2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Al Baher, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Talento Puma, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,950m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Stakes Listed (TB) Dh500,000 1,950m; Winner: Mark Of Approval, Patrick Cosgrave, Mahmood Hussain.
4pm: Conditions (TB) Dh125,000 1,400m; Winner: Dead-heat Raakez, Jim Crowley, Nicholas Bachalard/Attribution, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.30pm: Jebel Ali Sprint (TB) Dh500,000 1,000m; Winner: AlKaraama, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m; Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
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
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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
