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A Palestinian-American emergency doctor who worked at a hospital in Gaza earlier this year said he walked out of a meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden in protest against Washington's handling of the Israel-Gaza war.
Dr Thaer Ahmad, from Chicago, said he and other Muslims had initially been invited to the White House for an iftar meal on Tuesday along with Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as other administration officials.
But the guests asked for a meeting instead – and no food.
“We were insisting that there not be any food there,” Dr Ahmad told CNN. “It made no sense for us to break bread while talking about a famine taking place.”
After brief comments by Mr Biden, Dr Ahmad, the only Palestinian American in the room, said that he spoke first.
“I let him know that I am from a community that's really grieving and our heart is broken for what has been taking place over the last six months,” Dr Ahmad said.
“The rhetoric that has been coming out of the Biden administration, that has been coming out of the White House, it has frustrated a lot of people, especially people who are Palestinian Americans, Muslim Americans and Arab Americans. We are not satisfied.”
He walked out of the meeting soon afterwards, he said, out of respect for his community and the people who have been killed in Gaza.
Gaza protest in Washington – in pictures
Anger is growing in the Muslim and Arab-American communities over the Biden administration's refusal to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza or to put conditions on military aid to Israel.
The UN has warned that famine is imminent in Gaza, and has accused Israel of refusing to allow sufficient humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.
The humanitarian crisis has exacerbated tension among Palestinian and Arab Americans, many of whom have relatives in Gaza.
About 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the start of the war, Gaza's Health Ministry says. But the US continues to supply Israel with weapons unconditionally and without making any efforts to monitor their use.
Critics of Mr Biden's approach to the conflict have expressed doubt over whether engaging with the administration will bring about a change in policy.
Several people and organisations who were invited to Tuesday's meeting said that they had declined.
Muslim and Arab-American community organisers in Michigan encouraged voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots in the Democratic primary election in February in protest against the Biden administration's handling of the conflict.
“Uncommitted” received more than 100,000 votes in Michigan. Activists in other states, including Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin, were later able to convince tens of thousands of voters to join the movement.
Tuesday's events were in stark contrast to last year, when the Biden administration hosted a large Eid Al Fitr celebration at the White House to mark the end of Ramadan.
For most of the past two decades, the White House has hosted annual iftars attended by Muslim community leaders, elected officials and staff members.
In 2017, no iftar was held after former president Donald Trump issued an executive order barring citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
Dr Ahmad said Mr Biden did not respond strongly when he announced he was leaving the meeting.
“He actually said that he understood, and I walked away.”
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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Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
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