In the past week, the Palestinian Authority has made its most intense show of force in years. Its security forces have surrounded and are attacking the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp, long centres of Palestinian resistance.
At least three militants have been killed, including commander Yazid Ja’aysa, and one civilian, while about 20 people have been injured. The people of Jenin are familiar with deadly fighting, but almost exclusively at the hands of Israelis, not Palestinians.
The operation is viewed as a test or a sign of desperation for an organisation that has fast been losing legitimacy among its people, particularly in the north of the West Bank. It faces accusations of corruption and helplessness in the face of escalating violence from the Israeli military and settlers.
The Palestinian Authority is “trying to demonstrate to the Americans that they have full control and are able to do what they were mandated to do … particularly if annexation is looming,” Tahani Mustafa, Crisis Group’s senior Palestine analyst, told The National about the latest operation. “This is more of a stunt that the PA trying to get to grips with things on the ground.”
In recent months, The National has spoken to Palestinian Authority officials who deal with security and visited their base of operations. In Nablus, a city neighbouring Jenin that is surrounded by many Israeli settlements, Palestinian Authority governor Ghassan Daghlas spoke about the increasing difficulty of keeping order in his city.
“There are 440,000 inhabitants in Nablus governorate. They suffer the most of anyone in the West Bank from Israeli violence and settler attacks,” he said.
Israeli forces recently killed four men inside a car next to a busy market in broad daylight. Mr Daghlas was still shaken by the killing. The men, former militants from a refugee camp in the city, had been in his office hours before their deaths, negotiating their surrender to the Palestinian Authority.
This was part of an arrangement that has long been in place, viewed as an effective way for the Palestinian Authority to get men away from violence. In exchange for their weapons, the Palestinian Authority gives them jobs in security and tells the Israelis that they no longer bear arms.
“The Israeli raids really weakens us as an authority and the ruling power here. The four guys that were assassinated last week – an hour before they were killed they were sitting here in my office. They were here to solve an issue. They didn’t have a single weapon on them when they were killed,” Mr Daghlas said.
“Israel is embarrassing us with their raids. Embarrassing us and weakening us. We are trying to makes achievements and Israel is destroying everything we worked on.”
From officials to officers and senior generals, all agree that the situation has never been more complex.
At Al Istiklal University in Jericho, more than 700 of the Palestinian Authority's latest generation of officers marched around a sprawling campus of parade grounds, sports facilities and living quarters. Discipline was high and cadets quickly salute senior officers.
Ali Ayaydeh, deputy chairman of the university, said the institution’s mission is to create officers who embody “peaceful resistance according to the vision of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas”.
“What we teach here is to meet the needs and security demands of Palestine, whether in the West Bank or Gaza.”
Once the cadets leave, many will go to areas like Jenin and the rest of the north of the West Bank, where the most acute security issues are found.
“We work not on physical strength but on intelligence, how to think, to work and to see things, particularly because we are in a very sensitive situation as officers working under occupation,” Dr Ayaydeh said.
Officer cadet Riad Darraj from Ramallah agreed. “We come here to support Palestine and its society. Some young people go abroad but we say no, we’re staying here to support our land and nation,” he said.
Cadet Darraj and his many young colleagues were clear about the danger of joining an organisation that might include a role in postwar security in Gaza, likely a very dangerous task that the young recruits said they were ready to take on, as if managing the West Bank was not hard enough.
But despite their determination in the pristine campus, problems were clear. Brig Gen Zaher Sabah, deputy chairman for military affairs at the university, spoke at length about the difficulty of providing an education. “One of the biggest challenges is the checkpoints that face us and our students,” he said.
The general, like many Palestinian Authority employees, had been on a significantly reduced salary for months given an economic crisis and financial disputes with Israeli authorities who collect tax revenue on behalf of the body.
The far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, in power for almost two years, has many members who would happily watch the Palestinian Authority collapse. The events of October 7 last year that cost 1,200 Israelis their lives heralded a heavy Israeli security presence in the region and spurred unprecedented settler violence.
Another challenge for the Palestinian Authority came in November, when Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. He is a staunch pro-Israel supporter with a clear determination to quickly end the war in Gaza, perhaps by permitting Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, which would lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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More coverage from the Future Forum
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
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RESULTS
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.
Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.
Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.
Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Other simple ideas for sushi rice dishes
Cheat’s nigiri
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.
Deconstructed sushi salad platter
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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