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Family members of an Israeli-American being held by militant groups in Gaza addressed the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, while Arab Americans continue attempts to be included in the gathering.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg walked out to applause from the thousands of delegates gathered at the Union Centre in Chicago, Illinois, before they pleaded for a ceasefire and hostage release.
“There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East,” Mr Polin said. “In a competition of pain, there are no winners.”
The couple discussed the difficulty of awaiting release of their 23-year-old son, Hersh, along with the eight other Americans also held hostage. The audience started chants of “Bring them home”.
Hersh was at the Nova Music Festival on October 7 when the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel took place, taking the lives of 1,200 people.
"We live on another planet. Anyone who is a parent ... can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring," Ms Goldberg said.
“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Mr Polin said.
The couple, who attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress in July and withheld applause there, told of how the families of American hostages meet in Washington every couple weeks.
They commended efforts for a hostage and ceasefire deal by the US administration under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic nominee.
The US has been working with allies and regional partners to push for a Gaza truce and hostage deal this week.
Health authorities in Gaza report that more than 40,200 people have been killed while Israel conducts military operations and a humanitarian crisis worsens in the Palestinian enclave.
“In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region: a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza. The time is now,” Mr Polin said.
The “uncommitted” voter movement said earlier that it “strongly” supported having the Goldberg-Polins speak, but urged the inclusion of an Arab-American voice in the convention, which is ending on Thursday.
“We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who’ve endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948,” it said in a statement.
The group earlier worried that “time is running out” to bring a community member to the main prime-time stage.
“We have made the request that a Palestinian American speak from this stage,” Michigan uncommitted delegate Abbas Alawieh told reporters.
“We made it clear to President Harris's close advisers, we made it clear to top leaders at the Democratic National Convention, we've been making that ask.
“We made it on Monday. We made it on Tuesday. We made it on Wednesday. Time is running out.
“I've been calling these same folks all day.”
The movement formed during the Democratic primary season to show frustration with the Biden administration's staunch support for Israel amid its war in Gaza by voting “uncommitted” or leaving ballots blank.
The votes were a way to express support for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
The movement has also called for a meeting with Ms Harris on her plans for Gaza.
“We're asking Vice President Harris to let us know how she plans to turn the page, because it's of critical importance to the majority of Democratic voters who are with us,” Mr Alawieh said.
“The majority of Democratic voters want a permanent and immediate ceasefire that stops the bombing and, very importantly, reunites all Israeli and all Palestinian hostages and captives with their families.”
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000
Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic
Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
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- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
MATCH INFO
Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)
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.”
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
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The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
