Two weeks after my return to my homeland on May 18, 1994, I decided to go from Gaza to Bethlehem. When I arrived, Nativity square was deserted. The gates of the Nativity Church were shut. I was there before sunset but it was too late. I walked around the square in disappointment. Then something miraculous happened.
The Church bells tolled, store shutters opened up, and the church gates squeaked open. "Welcome to Bethlehem," I was greeted. "When is the old man coming? You are coming to prepare for Abu Ammar's visit aren't you? Ahlan wasahlan." They were asking whether Yasser Arafat would join me.
I was invited into the Church and into the stores but nobody accepted a penny for what I bought. I shall never forget that moment, nor will I ever forget the generosity of Bethlehem and its people.
The happy moment stayed in my mind until Christmas. I had never been in Bethlehem for the celebration and I waited eagerly for the 24th of December. Abu Ammar had arrived in Gaza a month after my first visit to Bethlehem, and was equally eager to go. The Israelis informed him that he could not enter the West Bank until control was transferred to the Palestinian Authority. I decided to take the chance anyway.
When I arrived from Gaza late in the afternoon on that Christmas eve, people were already gathering in Nativity square. It was a little cold, but crowd exuded warmth. There was a buzz in the air as the crowd grew. And when word got out that I was there, they hoped that Abu Ammar would come too.
Christmas had a different flavour that year, more happy and joyful. I had been in exile for 46 years but now I was back and in Bethlehem at Christmas. The peace process was flourishing and the Palestinian Authority was establishing the first Palestinian Government in Gaza and Jericho. It was a season for hope.
I went into the Church and was introduced to the clergy there. I had to ask the question: Am I allowed to attend the Christmas Mass? The Israelis refused categorically.
Gady Zohar, the Israeli commander of the Israeli Civil Administration of the West Bank, led these negotiations. Though a few days earlier in Cairo we were negotiating the gradual transfer of authority in the West Bank, he would now not allow me inside a Church. His soldiers would carry out his decision.
The "Status Quo" he said, was to provide seats to the governing authority at the time. Since we were not yet the governing authority in Bethlehem, I could not attend. By letting me inside, the agreement on the West Bank, not yet complete, was being prejudged, he argued.
But everything they did was prejudging the agreement: their settlement activities, their Jerusalem land grab, and their whole occupation of our land. I felt bitter, disappointed and sad, but I did not want to spoil that lovely evening.
But just before the midnight Mass began I was spirited into the Church and taken inside. I watched from an inner balcony near the ceiling of the church as the towering Patriarch Sabah directed the celebration. I regained my serenity, happy to celebrate the Palestinian child in the manger. I imbibed the atmosphere of love and peace that Jesus Christ "Al Sayyed Al Maseeh" brought to Palestine.
The next Christmas was just as joyful. The interim agreement was signed in Washington, and the Palestinian Authority gradually took control of the cities and towns and villages of the West Bank, with the exception of Jerusalem, our Holy City. Bethlehem became a liberated Palestinian city by Christmas.
That next Christmas I entered Bethlehem with my new bride, my brother and friends, accompanying Yasser Arafat and thousands of Palestinians celebrating that year in Bethlehem. And until the year 2000, Abu Ammar would return each year, living in the monastery of the Church of Holy Nativity from the 23rd of December to the 19th of January. He attended Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Armenian Christmas celebrations. He loved it, and Bethlehem loved him.
He worked hard to rebuild and renovate Bethlehem for the celebrations of the Third Millennium of the Birth of Jesus Christ. He invited world leaders to attend, and many of them came to participate. Arafat would tell me: "Palestine ya Nabeel is Holy because of Christian and Moslem Holy places and citizens. Without Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Christians, Palestine would not be the Holy Land. We would be an ordinary occupied third world country".
On December 24, 2001 the Israeli siege prevented him from going to his beloved Bethlehem. He was never able to return. And since Abu Ammar passed away, I have not attended Christmas Mass in the Nativity Church. But I will never forget my first Christmas in Bethlehem and that season of hope and joy.
Dr Nabeel Shaath is a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, in charge of International Relations. He is a senior Palestinian negotiator and former foreign minister.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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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
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
Company%20Profile
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Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now