BEIT LAHIYA // It was hardly the picture-perfect henna night that Heba Fayyad imagined when she became engaged two months ago.
She had wanted to spend the final night before her wedding on Wednesday several kilometres away at her family’s house in the farming village of Beit Hanoun.
That dream was obliterated on July 18, when an Israeli airstrike destroyed their home and forced the family to seek shelter at a United Nations school in Beit Lahiya that has become a makeshift camp for more than 1,000 displaced Gazans.
Still, they did their best to move forward on Tuesday, during a tenuous and temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that has halted a month of bloodletting in Gaza.
After a visit to a salon, Ms Fayyad returned to the Beit Lahiya Preparatory School for Girls and stepped out of the car covered from head to toe in black, in keeping with the demands of modesty, and made her way across the courtyard to a first-floor room set aside for the ceremony.
There she parted the covering to reveal a purple dress and heavy makeup as she was greeted by female family members and camp residents.
Although most of her well-wishers did not have homes either, there were still all smiles as they came forward to offer traditional henna-night wishes such as “may God keep envy away from you” and “Qamar Arabata’sh”, meaning: “may your face beam like the light of the full moon”.
The older women commented on Ms Fayyad’s beauty. Little girls giggled.
In keeping with the traditions of northern villages in Gaza , Ms Fayyad and her future husband, 32-year-old Omar Abu Nimar, were introduced by their parents. Also in keeping with local custom, Mr Abu Nimar did not attend Tuesday’s event.
The groom’s family is from the Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, which sustained heavy shelling by Israeli warships. The camp is also where the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had his home, before it was levelled in an Israeli airstrike last month.
The henna gathering was held in a library that had been converted into a makeshift clinic and children’s playroom and was festooned for the occasion with bouquets of flowers and hand-made posters of good wishes.
Ms Fayyad’s father Riad Fayyad, 47, an unemployed father of 15, wanted the occasion to be joyous, but also sombre: he asked that there be no music, out of respect for the nearly 2,000 Palestinians killed in in the Israeli attacks on Gaza since July 8, including three relatives.
“We are doing this to show that we are still strong,” he said. “I want my daughter to be married and I want Gaza to be happy for her. We must show our strength.”
Ms Fayyad’s henna party was very nearly cancelled because of her father’s concerns about the situation in Gaza and of the family.
Luckily, Rawia Baroud, a social worker for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency who works at the shelter, heard about it and decided to make the arrangements for the henna party herself.
Ms Baroud organised the appointment at the beauty salon and for congratulatory posters to be made and put up, and for guests to attend, spending US$200 (Dh74) of her own money.
“I had to do this. It’s God’s will,” Ms Baroud said when asked why she took it upon herself to throw Ms Fayyad a henna party.
The two had never met until Tuesday.
“I don’t know her, but she is my sister,” she said.
hnaylor@thenational.ae
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
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
The specs: 2018 Honda City
Price, base: From Dh57,000
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Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 118hp @ 6,600rpm
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
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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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The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
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Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
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Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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
