The Netherlands is set to begin recognising the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank as accepted birthplaces for Palestinians who were born in the country after the creation of Israel.
The Netherlands does not yet recognise the State of Palestine, as many countries do, but it will recognise those Palestinian territories as the origin of birth for those born after May 15, 1948 when the British Mandate officially ended.
The policy is in line with the Dutch position that Israel does not have sovereignty over those territories, which the Palestinians seek for any future sovereign state. The only options previously available to Palestinians in the Netherlands were "Israel" and "unknown".
The announcement was made by Dutch State Secretary Raymond Knops at The Hague on Friday, according to an Interior Ministry release. In a letter, he said the territories would be added to the list of territories that the Dutch civil registry accepts.
He said the new category would be introduced as the terms were agreed upon in the Oslo Peace Accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation in the 1990s and in subsequent United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The category of "unknown" was only an option because Palestinians had protested against putting Israel as their place of birth.
Israel has maintained a military occupation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It has since built a network of settlements across both territories that the majority of the international community deem to be illegal.
The Palestinians say the settlement enterprise is an attempt to prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state that would consist of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
In Gaza, Israel withdrew its settler population in 2005 but has since imposed a decade-long siege that the UN says has made the territory unlivable.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
