Palestinians wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on their way to Al Aqsa Mosque. Abbas Momani / AFP
Palestinians wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on their way to Al Aqsa Mosque. Abbas Momani / AFP
Palestinians wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on their way to Al Aqsa Mosque. Abbas Momani / AFP
Palestinians wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on their way to Al Aqsa Mosque. Abbas Momani / AFP

Israel's long campaign to break Palestinian spirits


  • English
  • Arabic

Six people were killed on Friday in an eruption of violence caused by Israel’s decision to install metal detectors and cameras at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Three Palestinian protesters were shot dead by Israeli security forces around the sacred site. But the violence quickly spread beyond Jerusalem and claimed innocent lives in the West Bank, as The National grimly predicted last week that it would.

These deaths were avoidable. Palestinians ungrudgingly complied with Israel’s decision to temporarily close down the Al Aqsa compound after two Israeli police officers were killed on July 14 by assailants who then sought sanctuary in the mosque. There was widespread condemnation of the attackers within the Palestinian community. The Israeli government could have used this moment of collective grief to build bridges. Instead, it chose to humiliate Palestinians. The Al Aqsa Mosque was sealed off for a week. It was the first time in centuries that Muslim worshippers went without praying there for such a prolonged period of time. Israel not only shrugged off the rising anger among Palestinians. It went a step further and announced that it was going to place metal detectors and cameras at the entrances to the mosque. This was the ultimate insult, as gratuitous as it was brazen.

As the unfolding events demonstrate, the decision to subject Palestinians to metal detectors has had the opposite effect to the stated objective of the Israeli government. Jerusalem is besieged by tensions. The relationship between the Palestinian administration and the Israeli government has broken down. The Jordan-based Waqf board, which administers the Al Aqsa Mosque, has condemned Israel’s actions as a breach of the status quo. The US state department has called for immediate steps to halt the escalation of violence triggered by Israel’s actions.

But Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, appears determined to make matters worse. Speaking in Europe last week, he ruled out removing the metal detectors. He even compared the metal detectors at the Al Aqsa Mosque to security measures he had spotted at the entrance to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. These comments reveal a shocking lack of appreciation on the Israeli government’s part of the gravity of the current crisis. Likewise those made by a senior Israeli official to BBC Arabic over the weekend. Maj-Gen Yoav Mordechai said that “we need a security solution, not political or religious”.

What is happening at the Al Aqsa Mosque cannot be isolated from the long history of Israel’s attempt to break the Palestinians. It is a continuation of a squalid trend. Israel provokes Palestinians and pushes them to the very edge, as if to test their limits and invite retaliation; and when violence breaks out, Israel rushes to paint the Palestinians as a fundamentally bloodthirsty people and itself as a blameless victim. There is one word for this: dishonesty.

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

Mar 13: Newcastle(H)

Mar 16: Lille(A)

Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)

Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)

Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)

Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)

Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)

Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)

Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)

Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device