RAMALLAH // Palestinians marching to remember those displaced during the creation of Israel clashed with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday, leaving several wounded.
This year marked the 69th anniversary of the “nakba” or catastrophe, during which around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land, or fled out of fear.
At a checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramallah, dozens of Palestinian youths hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded with rubber bullets and the foul-smelling riot control spray known as skunk.
A Palestinian emergency worker said 11 Palestinians were taken to hospital, most of them wounded by rubber bullets. The extent of their injuries was not known.
Earlier, thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags had marched through the city, many carrying large keys to symbolise their claims to the homes they lost in 1948.
“I come every year to commemorate this anniversary, this catastrophe,” said Salha Orabi, a descendant of refugees and now a resident of the nearby Jelazoun refugee camp.
“The nakba for us symbolises destruction ... It is us who have left our homes and our land.”
In Bethlehem, hundreds of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli troops guarding the tomb of biblical matriarch Rachel, a shrine venerated by both Jews and Muslims.
Soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades, but the number of Palestinian casualties was not immediately known.
For the Palestinians, the right to return to homes they fled or were forced to leave is a prerequisite for any peace agreement with Israel, but it is a demand that Israel has rejected.
This year’s anniversary came against the backdrop of a hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli prisons, led by jailed leader Marwan Barghouti.
In a message from his solitary confinement cell, Barghouti said the strike, which entered its 29th day on Monday, would go on indefinitely.
“My oath and pledge to the prisoners and our people is to pursue the battle for freedom and dignity until it reaches its stated goals,” he said.
Off the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, a Palestinian man was killed when an Israeli patrol boat fired at a group of fishermen.
Under Israel’s 10-year-long blockade on Hamas-run Gaza, fishing off the northern part of the Palestinian territory is limited to six nautical miles offshore and the Israeli navy regularly fires at Palestinians at the zone’s outer limit.
Such incidents rarely result in deaths, however.
Fishermen’s union head Nizar Ayash said the deadly shooting and the arrest of four other crewmen happened in one incident and that two more arrests were made when the military boarded another Gaza boat overnight.
The dead man’s family identified him as Mohammed Majed Bakr, 25.
“A vessel deviated from the designated fishing zone in the northern Gaza Strip,” said an Israeli military spokeswoman. “Naval forces in the area called upon the vessel to halt and fired warning shots into the air.”
She said the boat ignored the warning and the navy then fired at it.
UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions, but Israel says it is needed to keep Hamas, which runs the strip, from importing weapons or materials used to make them.
The size of the fishing zone has varied over the years, having been set at 20 nautical miles by the Oslo accords of the 1990s before being reduced by Israeli authorities.
About 4,000 fishermen work off the coastal strip, more than half of whom live below the poverty line.
Also on Monday, the US’s new – and controversial – Israeli ambassador, David Friedman, arrived in Israel to take up his post, days ahead of a visit by US president Donald Trump.
Mr Friedman has been a strong supporter of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
He has also advocated breaking with decades of precedent and moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a prospect deeply alarming to Palestinians.
* Agence France-Presse
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
