Within one week it is likely that Gilad Shalit will be reunited with his family following five years of imprisonment in the Gaza Strip. It is reported that around the same time, 479 Palestinian political prisoners will be released from prisons across Israel.
According to the terms of an agreement reached between Hamas and Israeli authorities, a further 550 Palestinians are scheduled to be released in the coming months.
While this is a welcome development to be celebrated, let us not rejoice without a measure of caution. For this is not only about Sgt Shalit and 1,027 nameless prisoners. It also concerns another 5,000 political prisoners, their families and the continued denial of basic human rights to Palestinians in Israeli prisons and indeed across the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a whole.
There are currently about 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated in Israel. Many of these are not facing any specific charge and have no upcoming trial scheduled. Rather, they have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and are classified as administrative detainees. Furthermore, they are used as a bargaining chip for political gain.
Two thousand Palestinian prisoners are currently engaged in an open-ended hunger strike that began 17 days ago in response to an official Israeli policy to collectively punish prisoners, and by extension their families, for the continued incarceration of Sgt Shalit.
This policy, announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June, includes an increase in the number of prisoners in solitary confinement, some of whom have already been confined this way for up to 10 years.
Other humiliating measures include the shackling of prisoners' hands and legs as they are conducted to and from all visits; the denial of visits to some prisoners; medical neglect and the withdrawal of prisoners' access to education, books and newspapers. Since June 2007, Israel has also enforced an absolute ban on all family visits for prisoners from the Gaza Strip.
And what of the 1,029 prisoners to be released in the coming months? Many will once again join their families amid scenes of joy. For others, their reality will be unrecognisable after as many as 30 years behind bars. An additional cruelty is that hundreds will be denied a homecoming in the West Bank.
Instead of joyful reunions with loved ones, some 160 prisoners from the initial group will be transferred directly to the Gaza Strip upon release. Others will be prohibited from leaving their hometown. A significant number are to be deported from their homeland.
In addition to being a war crime, deportation results in the dislocation of numerous families, for an already vulnerable and disjointed Palestinian society, this can only have a negative effect.
Instead of the disregard for international law that we have become so accustomed to, Israel must abide by the rule of law, put an end to arbitrary arrest and treat prisoners in a humane manner, instead of forcing them to demand their basic rights by going on hunger strike.
However, while the world focuses on the release of Sgt Shalit, we must not forget that this situation arose out of a 44-year-long belligerent occupation characterised by a relentless stream of human rights violations.
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners sit in crowded cells and wait for freedom. Millions are confined to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the Gaza Strip and in their adopted homes around the world waiting for their country to be set free.
They watch the separation wall grow while their olive trees and homes are torn down. Illegal settlements expand onto Palestinian land and villagers are subject to increasing settler violence under the watchful eye of the Israeli military.
While settlers benefit from a climate of impunity, Palestinians live in a world of intimidation where the most basic human rights are denied.
The international community must leave political rhetoric aside and take a stance instead of turning a blind eye once again to Israel's systematic violation of international law.
For Sgt Shalit the suffering is coming to an end, and rightfully so. For every Palestinian, for those in detention and those in their homes, their imprisonment continues.
Shawan Jabarin is the general director of Al Haq, an independent Palestinian human rights organisation based in Ramallah
Results
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UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
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Director: Jesse Armstrong
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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.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
