TEL AVIV // Palestinian and left-wing Jewish parliamentarians, leading Israeli intellectuals and human rights activists yesterday vowed to fight the government's approval of a draft law that would make it illegal for Arab citizens of Israel to mark the state's establishment as a day of mourning.
On Sunday, a government ministerial committee endorsed a motion by Yisrael Beiteinu, an ultra-nationalist party, that would punish anyone caught commemorating the 1948 creation of Israel as "the Catastrophe," or Nakba, with up to three years in prison.
The bill targets Israel's Palestinian citizens, who, along with their brethren in the Gaza Strip, occupied West Bank and abroad, hold ceremonies in memory of more than 700,000 Palestinians who lost their homes in the war that led to Israel's founding.
Critics yesterday slammed the initiative as the latest step taken by Israel's new government, which was sworn into office in late March, to stifle the country's Palestinian citizens, who make up one-fifth of the population and have long faced discrimination.
Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian legislator, pledged that the law would be defied should it pass. "It's an insane law of an insane government," he said. "How will they prevent people from expressing sorrow on this day? Will they arrest anyone who wears black? They expelled our people, destroyed our villages, robbed our lands, and now they say we cannot be sad about it."
Mr Zahalka said that although such a bill has been proposed in parliament in the past, this was the first time it was approved by a governmental panel. The ministerial committee's nod would now make it likelier for the legislation to pass the required three parliamentary votes before becoming law, he added.
However, legal experts warned the law would violate the constitutional freedom of expression and would probably be slammed down by Israel's Supreme Court.
Eyal Gross, a constitutional law expert at Tel Aviv University, was quoted in the Israeli press as saying: "I do not know of similar laws in any other democratic country. This is the type of law that tries to impose on everyone to think in the same way."
Sammi Michael, a prominent Israeli author and president of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, warned that the bill's approval was "a sign of a democracy losing its bearings".
"It extends far beyond the issue of the legitimate rights of the Arab minority. It crushes the moral boundaries we have set for ourselves and points to the surest way to brutal oppression of everyone's freedom of speech."
It is perhaps of little surprise that the bill was proposed by a member of Yisrael Beiteinu, which became Israel's third-largest party in February's national elections after targeting the country's Palestinian population with the slogan "No Loyalty - No Citizenship".
The party is led by Avigdor Lieberman, a Moldovan-born politician who now serves as Israel's foreign minister and who has been dubbed a "racist" and "fascist" for his anti-Arab diatribes.
The so-called Nakba Day bill is not likely to be the last attack by Mr Lieberman's party against Palestinian citizens. Yesterday, Yisrael Beiteinu said it would introduce a bill that would make citizenship contingent on a loyalty oath to Israel as a "Jewish, Zionist and democratic" state.
The motion, which the party said would be presented for approval to a government panel on Sunday, would also allow the revocation of citizenship of anyone who does not carry out military or national service, which are seldom performed by Palestinian citizens.
Although such initiatives have always existed, they appear to stand a better chance of approval now that Israel is ruled by a predominantly hawkish governing coalition, most of whose members oppose the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the division of Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
In defence of the Nakba Day bill, Danny Ayalon, deputy foreign minister and a member of Yisrael Beiteinu, yesterday was quoted on Israeli radio as saying: "Any other country in the world would not stand by while its celebrations of independence are turned into a memorial service."
Israeli Jews celebrated the country's Independence Day this year on April 29, in accordance with the Hebrew lunar calendar. Palestinians around the world mark the Nakba on May 15, the day after the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948, although Israeli Palestinians also hold some Nakba events on Independence Day itself.
Even if passed, the law would probably be disregarded by Israel's Palestinian citizens. Abir Kobty, a prominent activist, cautioned in a column on the popular news website Ynet that the proposal "will not intimidate the Arab population".
She added: "We will not be afraid, and will continue marking the Nakba. As hard as it will try, the government will not succeed in erasing an entire history with a racist law."
vbekker@thenational.ae
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
SPECS
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
RESULT
Argentina 0 Croatia 3
Croatia: Rebic (53'), Modric (80'), Rakitic (90' 1)
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Notable Yas events in 2017/18
October 13-14 KartZone (complimentary trials)
December 14-16 The Gulf 12 Hours Endurance race
March 5 Yas Marina Circuit Karting Enduro event
March 8-9 UAE Rotax Max Challenge
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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.”