Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
US police arrested dozens of demonstrators calling for a Gaza ceasefire on Wednesday after they flooded into a government building near the Capitol in Washington.
The protest was arranged by anti-Zionist Jewish organisation Jewish Voices for Peace, which said that “the root of violence is oppression, and we’re here to say no in our names.”
“We have the power to stop the ongoing atrocities against Palestinians,” the group said on X, formerly Twitter. "We refuse to stand by as the Israeli government commits genocide against Palestinians in Gaza."
The National saw Capitol police officers arrest dozens of people as they held a sit-in in the Cannon House Office Building, across the street from the Capitol.
“Jewish values teach us that we need to respect life, including respecting the lives of our neighbours, non-Jews,” Irene Siegal, a Jewish-American schoolteacher, told The National during protests.
"Justice and equality for all, those are key Jewish values.
“We don't want to see another genocide committed in our name. It feels really powerful to be here, hundreds, thousands of Jews … and we will not stop until we stop the murder of civilians by the Israeli government.”
Elliot Goodenough, a doctor from Philadelphia whose mother is Jewish, said he travelled to Washington to add his voice to those calling for a ceasefire.
“I see an Israeli government that is retaliating against a violent moment from Hamas by painting all Palestinians as complicit and encouraging genocide against 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip,” Mr Goodenough told The National.
Earlier, as demonstrators rallied outside the Capitol, Palestinian comedian Mo Amer called on politicians to see the “humanity” of Palestinians.
“I won't lose my humanity. You will not break me. You will not take away the love that's in my heart for any person walking on this earth, I won't lose it,” he told the crowd on the National Mall.
Leaders in Washington have largely expressed support for increasing support for its ally Israel, which already receives the highest amount of US military aid.
Politicians last week introduced legislation to provide $2 billion in aid to Israel for Iron Dome resupply, which would add to the $3.3 billion already cleared.
And a bipartisan group of almost 400 members of Congress have introduced a resolution standing with Israel “as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists and condemning Hamas’s brutal war against Israel”.
Capitol Police did not confirm the number of arrests made. They said on X that “three people have been arrested and charged with assault on a police officer during processing".
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.”
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
