Gaza: what a child learnt from a goldfish and two canaries after Israeli air strike

When an Israeli bomb fell near the house that seven-year-old Nariman lived in with her family in Gaza, they were lucky to escape with their lives.

After the air strike severely damaged the building, footage of Nariman searching for her beloved pets in the mess of concrete and broken furniture went viral on social media.

Several of her pets survived the blast, but the image of one of her goldfish, found lying in the debris, has become an unlikely symbol of a conflict in which the suffering of children has been well documented.

Like many in Gaza, Nariman has been confronted with loss and hardship at an early age and is learning to live with the threat of further air attacks.

"I'm happy that I have saved the other one and my two canaries, but so sad Hurriya has died," Nariman told The National at what was left of her house in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.

The fish that died was named Hurriya, Arabic for freedom.

In the footage, Nariman can be seen smiling with her cousin after they retrieved her other pets: another goldfish, named Rouh, the Arabic word for soul, and two canaries.

The Israeli strike hit the nearby Islamic National Bank, allegedly used by Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza.

Nariman’s father, Bassam Al Akkad, recalled the minutes that preceded the so-called big blow, the term used by the Gazans to describe the Israeli air strikes that follow phone calls and signal rockets warning people to stay away from buildings in the cross-hairs.

“I went to the mosque near by for the fajr [dawn] prayer, then my neighbours were quickly warning several houses in our street to leave immediately after one of them received a phone call,” said Mr Al Akkad, who owns a local grocery shop.

“I took Nariman, her sister, their two brothers and my wife and left everything behind and forgot about the bowl of fish and the two birds.”

The Israeli military was monitoring the target area before the strike, he said, warning people to get out of the way.

“The caller said they could see our 90-year-old neighbour still in front of his house and asked us to make him leave immediately. Then they struck the bank, which is just four metres from our house. All of this happened in 25 minutes,” he said.

Nariman said she insisted on going to their house immediately after the strike in search of her pets.

Mr Al Akkad said he felt guilty for having left them behind and went with her to look.

“To our surprise we found the two canaries in their cage intact while the fish bowl was a bit cracked and lost some of its water,” he said.

Mr Al Akkad said looking after the fish had helped Nariman learn how to be responsible and patient in life.

But, he said, they had now helped to teach her an even more important lesson.

“The air strikes always remind us of what we do have in our lives, rather than what we don’t,” he said. “We know many families who lost their sons and daughters in the war. But, if there’s one lesson learnt for us as Palestinians in Gaza, it’s that we always tell our children: ‘Never take life for granted here'.”

Health officials in Gaza say at least 230 people, including 65 children, have been killed in the coastal enclave since the fighting began on May 10.

Many fear the death toll could be higher, because some of the casualties are buried in collapsed buildings.

At least 10 people were killed by rockets landing in Israel, including a five-year-old boy in the southern town of Sderot, and another child.

Repeated rocket attacks caused panic and sent people rushing into shelters.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas’s military infrastructure in the densely populated Gaza Strip.

Brief scoreline:

Tottenham 1

Son 78'

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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.”

Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?

George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.

Hunting park to luxury living

Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds