Hugh Naylor
RAMALLAH // Vera Baboun is desperate to relieve Bethlehem’s 33,000 residents of chronic joblessness by stimulating a tourism industry that holds immense potential.
As the city’s mayor, she and fellow Palestinian officials have pleaded with Israeli authorities to allow the city to expand to accommodate its growing population and make room for new businesses. But their pleas have been in vain.
Like other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, Bethlehem is surrounded by Jewish settlements and Israeli land restrictions that severely limit both municipal and economic expansion.
That with traffic gridlock at Israeli checkpoints surrounding the city and an eight-metre high separation wall running next to it creates the conditions for an unemployment rate of 25 per cent.
But restaurants and hotels should be full, Ms Baboun said, with visitors to what is said to be the birthplace of Jesus.
“All of these issues affect us on so many levels economically,” said Ms Baboun. “When tourists come, they step off a bus for a while to tour the Church of Nativity, go into a souvenir shop or two and then often go back to Jerusalem. They rarely stay longer than a day.”
According to a report issued yesterday by the World Bank, Bethlehem is not the only Palestinian city failing to realise its economic potential under a 46-year Israeli occupation.
In the most detailed estimation of the economic potential lost because of the occupation, the report said the Palestinian Authority’s gross domestic product could expand by as much as US$3.4 billion — more than a third of its current level — if it could access the 61 per cent of the West Bank that Israel directly administers, known as Area C.
Under the 1990s Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into varying degrees of Israeli administration. As a result the Palestinian urban areas cannot expand, driving up rents and making running a businesse more expensive.
In Ramallah, Ali Awartani’s upscale neighbourhood of Masyoun is unable to spread to the sprawling, adjacent hillside. The land falls within Area C and overlooks Israel’s 443 Highway, which cuts deep into the West Bank even though Palestinians from the territory are forbidden to drive on it.
“This is all wasted land that could be used for business, houses,” said Mr Awartani, 40, who runs a business called akluna that promotes and sells traditional Palestinian food internationally. “But it’s empty because it’s just intended to secure that Israeli road.”
The complexities of the way the administrative zones were drawn up also allow for some unusual loopholes for some Palestinian small-business owners, such as Wafa Umm Mujahed, 42. She manages a grocery on the northern fringes of Ramallah that is within walking distance of the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Because her business happens to fall in Area C, she pays no taxes to the cash-strapped PA. But the Palestinian businesses just across the street from her shop, which happen to fall in the Palestinian-controlled Area A, do.
“It’s an arbitrary arrangement,” she said. “Everyone over there pays taxes, but thanks be to God, I don’t.”
Few expect Israel to relinquish its control over Area C, which is home to the West Bank’s 300,000 Jewish settlers and a valuable source of minerals and water for Israel and its industries.
It may be no coincidence then that, according to the World Bank report, less than one per cent of Area C is available for Palestinian transportation, development, agriculture or trade.
“The Oslo process, which has never delivered a final-status arrangement, has instead left the Palestinian economy with very little resources to grow,” said Samir Abdullah, director general of the Ramallah-based Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute.
Mr Abdullah said this created a Catch-22 situation where the Palestinian leadership is forced to abide by a failed Oslo framework that still allows Israel to exploit West Bank resources.
“The colonisation is happening at our expense in more ways than one,” Mr Abdullah said.
Back in Bethlehem, Ms Baboun is trying to devise ways to get the 2.6 million tourists who visit the city annually to stay longer and spend money.
“If you go to the Vatican City or Beijing, you see tourists walking in the streets, talking to the people, spending days there shopping,” she said.
“But that’s not what is happening in Bethlehem. It’s a quick visit and they go.”
hnaylor@thenational.ae
* This story has been corrected since publication. Area A is controlled by Palestinians and not Israelis, as originally stated.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
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Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
MORE ON IRAN'S PROXY WARS
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km