Israel vaccinates Palestinian workers as West Bank grapples with Covid-19 crisis


Rosie Scammell
  • English
  • Arabic

Posing for selfies as they received their first coronavirus shot, Palestinians joined a scheme this week to vaccinate West Bank residents with Israeli work permits, while their community faces a surge in infections.

“It was nothing, I didn’t feel it. The doctor was excellent,” said Mohammed Rabayah, 34, a construction worker from Bethlehem.

Resting in a white tent after receiving a dose of the Moderna vaccine, he was one of more than 50,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits to have had the jab so far.

More than 115,000 Palestinians are eligible to receive the vaccine at centres set up by Israeli authorities at checkpoints and settlements in the occupied West Bank.

At a Bethlehem checkpoint, Palestinians, some in their paint-covered workwear, waited at a gate, while heavily armed soldiers checked their paperwork before allowing them to enter.

After showing their work permits and green ID cards – issued by Israel to Palestinians living in the West Bank – they received their vaccinations from medics from the Israeli police and emergency services.

“The virus knows no geographical borders and, therefore, the vaccination of the Palestinian workers is a common interest for both parties," said Eyal Zevi, head of operations at Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian affairs.

The scheme is aimed at maintaining “public health and the functioning of the economy,” he said, as the programme got under way on Monday, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to continue working in Israel and its settlements.

It comes months after Israel started its own vaccination drive in December, under which more than five million people have received their first dose out of a population of nine million.

While a fall in cases has prompted authorities to ease restrictions across Israel, West Bank cities such as Ramallah were placed under lockdown on March 6.

These local measures shuttered all non-essential businesses and saw roadblocks erected to prevent travel between areas, but failed to curb infections.

With the death toll in the Palestinian territories hitting 2,500, the Palestinian Authority announced a five-day shutdown across the West Bank from March 15.

Beyond those with Israeli work permits, Most Palestinians have no access to vaccines. Only about 4,800 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have received their first vaccination, according to the World Health Organisation.

Mr Ghanemat, 42, a construction worker who was vaccinated at the Bethlehem checkpoint, said Israel had an obligation to inoculate all Palestinians.

“Because when we leave our jobs to go home we are meeting with our family and kids. We’re either going to give them the virus or they will give it to us.”

The Palestinian Authority has come under criticism for its vaccine distribution policy, with political figures and football players among those getting shots, along with health workers.

The PA health ministry on Saturday said hospitals had hit capacity, describing the situation as “dangerous and unprecedented”.

Ayadil Saparbekov, head of the WHO’s emergency department for the Palestinian territories, said the situation was “really worrying”.

“Over the past several weeks we had a significant increase in the number of cases in the West Bank specifically, while the number of cases in the Gaza Strip is declining,” he said.

“It’s a very small proportion of people that has been vaccinated and the virus is continuing to spread through the general population.”

Israel, Russia and the UAE have collectively donated 32,000 doses to the PA, according to the WHO, while 50,000 are being delivered from China.

The Palestinians have also signed up to Covax, an international scheme to provide countries in need with vaccines for 20 per cent of the population. The first of those doses have been delayed for weeks and are now expected to arrive around March 17.

Rights groups say Israel should expand its vaccination scheme to include all Gaza and West Bank residents.

“Israel is still thinking very narrowly about health within Israeli borders and isn’t thinking of its responsibility to the people living under its control,” said Miriam Marmur, spokeswoman for Gisha, an Israeli organisation campaigning for Palestinians’ freedom of movement.

“We’ve seen how quickly things can escalate, and the standards for Palestinians shouldn’t be whether or not hospitals are about to collapse.”

Representatives from the Israeli health ministry and Cogat were not available to comment on the vaccination programme.

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Bio

Age: 25

Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah

Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering

Favourite colour: White

Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai

Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.

First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

Honeymoonish
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)

  • Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs 
  • Thursday 20 January: v England 
  • Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh 

UAE squad:

Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith  

The biog

Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
 

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 
WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Sri Lanka's T20I squad

Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Price: from Dh122,745

On sale: now

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

Most%20ODI%20hundreds
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Francesco Totti's bio

Born September 27, 1976

Position Attacking midifelder

Clubs played for (1) - Roma

Total seasons 24

First season 1992/93

Last season 2016/17

Appearances 786

Goals 307

Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2

Manchester United v Liverpool

Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ALL THE RESULTS

Bantamweight

Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.

Lightweight

Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.

Catch 74kg

Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.

Strawweight (Female)

Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.

Featherweight

Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.

Lightweight

Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.

Welterweight

Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.

Bantamweight

Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.

Lightweight

Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.

Lightweight

Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.

Welterweight

Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.

Featherweight title bout

Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final

Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3
(Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)