Columbia University cancelled in-person classes for Monday after days of protests over the Israel-Gaza war at the prestigious institution in New York led to condemnation from the White House.
More than 100 student protesters – part of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition – are camping out at the school in New York City's Upper West Side.
They are calling for the university to divest from businesses connected to Israel and from academic programmes it has with schools in the country.
“It's been just so beautiful to see how it's grown,” Columbia graduate student Linnea Norton told The National.
“The first couple of days, it was really rough because it was also raining and a tough time.
"And so it's just a beautiful to see everybody out in the sun.”
Protesters set up more than a dozen tents and occupied places throughout the campus. There was a first-aid tent and food tables for demonstrators.
A sign gave details of events that were occurring on Monday, including Jewish seder and Muslim prayer times.
Ms Norton said that she had been arrested and suspended for her involvement in the first camp last week, and that the school is trying to evict her from graduate student housing.
All classes were held online after university president Minouche Shafik condemned what she called anti-Semitic language and intimidating and harassing behaviour on the campus.The school later announced its Morningside campus would offer hybrid learning for the rest of the spring term, which ends in a few weeks.
“These tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia, who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas,” Ms Shafik said. “We need a reset.”
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested last Thursday after she authorised New York police to clear out an overnight camp set up by students demonstrating against the university's financial connections to Israel.
Shortly after a campus lawn was cleared by the NYPD, supporters occupied an adjacent lawn, setting up a new camp that has had round-the-clock inhabitants since Thursday.
On Monday morning, campus police were checking IDs by each gate into the university, while NYPD officers stood on pavements and the roadway next to Columbia.
A small group of pro-Palestine protesters circled near a gate where the student encampment was viewable, chanting: “Free, free Palestine.”
Joan Glickman, a Columbia past student who travelled from outside the city, told The National that she was at the school to “support the students inside of the universities of Columbia and Barnard who have taken a strong stand against genocide”.
“How can I not support that?”
About a dozen pro-Israel demonstrators were also outside the gates.
Protesters claim Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, where more than 34,100 people have been killed, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.
At Yale, a group of pro-Palestinian students have gone on hunger strike over university's Israel arms investments and a protest encampment was cleared on Monday, resulting in a few dozen arrests.
Protesters have set up an encampment at Boston's Emerson College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
And another protest at New York University saw officers arrest dozens of people shortly after nightfall.
Harvard University closed public access to the Harvard Yard lawn in an effort to fend off protests.
Universities across the US have reported incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
New York police guard a gate outside Columbia University on Monday after the campus was gripped by anti-Israel protests. Patrick deHahn / The National
President Joe Biden on Sunday said in a statement his administration has put the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community.
“Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” Mr Biden said.
“This blatant anti-Semitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”
Elie Buechler, an Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and its affiliate Barnard College, said campus and city police could not guarantee the safety of Jewish students, local media reported.
“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” Mr Buechler said in a WhatsApp message sent to hundreds of students before the start of Passover at the weekend.
But the largest Jewish organisation at the university issued a statement after Mr Buechler's message, saying it does not believe students should leave the campus.
“During times of crisis, Columbia/Barnard Hillel is always here for Jewish students,” Brian Cohen said in a statement issued by the organisation.
“To the students who remain on campus for Passover, we look forward to celebrating with you in the days ahead.”
Ms Shafik's decision to call in the city police on the student encampment last week has been widely criticised.
It received condemnation from the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
“I remind Columbia to respect academic freedoms and students' fundamental rights,” Clement Voule said in a post on X at the weekend.
“I think it's outrageous how the university has handled it,” Ms Glickman told The National. “The students were peaceful.
“People in Gaza walked to the wall many years ago in a peaceful protest and they were murdered.
"And here you are totally peaceful on the university campus and they brought in the New York City Police Department – what a waste of resources.”
Also on Monday, students at New York University's downtown campus set up an encampment at a plaza on Monday, which was cleared later by an administrative request to the NYPD. More than 130 students and staff were arrested.
Ms Norton said of the activity across the country: “It's been really heartening, of course, to see all of these other students starting encampments and being in solidarity with us, but also, of course, ultimately with Gaza.”
But she worried the new movement was more about “academic freedom and freedom of expression”.
“I hope that this solidarity and solidarity with the other students at other campuses really shows the administration that we mean business and we're not stopping until there's a permanent and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and full divestment,” Ms Norton said.
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.”
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
