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The crisis in the occupied West Bank is so acute it can be fixed only by "another Jesus", said a senior Palestinian Authority politician, warning of economic collapse in the coming weeks and further escalation if Israel imposes restrictions during Ramadan.
Dr Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary general of the Fatah Central Committee and an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told The National that the war in Gaza has been pushing the West Bank closer to breaking point.
“Ramadan is a holy month and emotions are charged even further, so things will escalate beyond the borders of Palestine” if Israel prevents travel to Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, he said. “Maybe it will get worse – much worse.”
Violence by Israeli settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank, where more than 400 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, also indicated the future was going to be “bloody unless the world intervenes now and says enough is enough”, the former PA education minister added.
'Spinning out of control'
Since October 7, many of the 500,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank began to behave like a militia in the territory. The situation is "spinning out of control", as settlers kill Palestinians without fear of consequences, Dr Saidam said.
The “weaponisation of settlers” was becoming so dangerous, he warned. “We stand at a point in history where humanity is reconsidering matters by talking about the recognition of a Palestinian state, but that is not enough.”
Dr Saidam suggested that only a figure such as Jesus could solve the problems caused by the occupation.
“There is such a level of complexity to the extent that it appears we need another Jesus to resolve our problems. So we're waiting for Jesus.”
Economic collapse
The increased violence by settlers comes as Palestinians in the West Bank are forced to navigate an impending economic collapse made worse by the war in Gaza.
The looming financial crash has been caused by Israel cutting tax revenue to which the Palestinian Authority was entitled and barring 40,000 Palestinians from crossing the border into Israel for work.
“According to our figures, the economy is going to collapse in the coming few weeks,” Dr Saidam said from his office in Ramallah.
The authority has been forced to borrow heavily from banks to keep it afloat but now those financial institutions have warned it is “way beyond our limit of capital, so we're unable to provide any more funds”.
Election prospects
Iran-backed Hamas defeated Fatah in the Gaza election in 2006 and has controlled the enclave since clashes between the two factions that year. No elections have been held in Gaza or the West Bank since.
But Dr Saidam said Hamas had risen in popularity after it led the October 7 attacks against Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.
"Those in confrontational mode with Israel are winning," he said.
“This is a confirmed reality, which we avoid to accept. It is confirmed because of the failure of years of a peace process that has yielded an absolute-zero result.”
Hamas’s popularity had increased “simply because people feel let down big time”, with the Palestinians still without a state.
In reference to the 1994 Oslo Peace Accords, Dr Saidam said while Fatah had adopted the peace process, “Israel gave us the process with no peace”.
To recover its political position, Fatah had “a lot of work to do” but he warned that in times of war emotions dominated voters rather than “your brain and logic”.
'Ground zero'
The Gaza war is a personal tragedy for Dr Saidam, as 76 cousins, aunts and uncles in his extended family have been killed, he said.
Dr Saidam, who has a physics degree from Imperial College London, said his mother comes from Rafah and his father from Nuseirat refugee camp, both areas of Gaza that have been battered by Israeli air strikes.
Their suffering has been unimaginable, he said. “In Gaza, they say those who have been killed are dead but those who are alive are psychologically dead.”
With Israel poised to launch an attack on Rafah, the situation is “super scary” and life has become “extremely hellish”.
While “almost every aspect of life has been destroyed” in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority could take on full governance of Gaza when the war is over, “although this is a mission that is not at all celebrated, given the fact that you're going to ground zero”.
He envisaged the 44,000-strong Palestinian security forces would help to police Gaza in a postwar scenario but said the enclave would also need a UN-controlled buffer zone with Israel.
Reconciliation
Despite the bleak prospects of peace, Dr Saidam underlined the importance of reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis.
“Even in the worst of times, Palestinians never surrender the fact that they call Jews our cousins,” he said.
He condemned the extremist position of politicians such as Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has goaded Palestinians with his visits to Al Aqsa, and said the Israeli far-right would only “bring more wrath, more hatred into the region”.
Peace was impossible with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still in power, he said.
“No Palestinian will ever accept shaking his hand because of what he's done in Gaza."
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Results
6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 I 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 I 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm The Entisar Listed I Dh250,000 I 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
9.25pm The Garhoud Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,200m I Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Result
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2
Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
BRAZIL SQUAD
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
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
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
