Tensions over Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital are simmering inside the country as well as the occupied territories, with defence minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday calling for a public boycott of Arab businesses in an area where vehicles were stoned by protesters.
The driver and two passengers on a bus were lightly injured when masked Arabs pelted police and other vehicles with stones on a highway in the predominantly Arab Wadi Ara region in northern Israel on Saturday night after a what had been a peaceful protest against Mr Trump's move.
Arab citizens make up a fifth of Israel's population and have voting rights, but face discrimination and are on the defensive as the Benjamin Netanyahu government puts increasing emphasis on the state's Jewish character. They share the anger of Arabs throughout the Middle East over what they see as the US president's endorsement of the occupation of East Jerusalem, the site of Islam's third holiest shrine and the hoped-for capital of a Palestinian state. But there have been no reports of violent Arab responses to the US move outside of Wadi Ara.
Mr Lieberman said the Wadi Ara Arabs, including the more than 50,000 citizens in the city of Umm Al Fahm, should not be considered part of the Israeli polity. "Those people don't belong in Israel. They must be part of the Palestinian Authority, there they can get unemployment benefits and idleness benefits. They are part of Ramallah. They have no connection to the state of Israel and I call on the citizens of the state of Israel simply to boycott Wadi Ara," he told the Reshet Bet radio station.
"One shouldn't go into the stores or receive any services," he added: "These people work to harm the state of Israel, they work against the state of Israel from within our midst ... these people have to understand they are not wanted here."
When the interviewer suggested that all the area's residents could not be judged on the behaviour of the stone-throwers, Mr Lieberman said that thousands of people had taken part in the funerals of two gunmen from Umm Al Fahm who killed two policemen in July at the entrance to the Temple Mount, a site revered by Muslims as Al Haram Al Sharif. "Let us not delude ourselves. We are talking about people who act against Israel, who are incited against Israel. All that they learn in their schools is to hate Israel. Therefore, they have to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority in the framework of an exchange of territory" in which the settlements of Ariel, Maale Adumim and Givat Zeev are annexed.
Prime minister Netanyahu's office made no comment about Mr Lieberman's call, which was condemned by liberal Israelis. The leading Arab politician in Israel, Ayman Odeh suggested it was reminiscent of Nazi boycotts against Jews.
"Lieberman is the representative of fascist regimes in the extremist government of Netanyahu," said Mr Odeh, head of the Joint List which includes most Arab members of the Knesset. "The call for a boycott against citizens just because of their national and religious origin remind us of dark regimes in human history. The idea that such a person is responsible for the security of the state has to worry every sane person."
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Read more:
UAE will remain 'firm supporter of the Arab identity of Jerusalem', cabinet says
Macron tells Netanyahu: ‘I disapprove of Trump’s decision on Jerusalem’
Palestinians must take control of their struggle through non-violent resistance
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Mohammed Barakeh, head of the High Follow Up Committee, the senior leadership body of Arab citizens, told The National. "We are in our homeland not by the grace of Lieberman and if anyone is a foreigner here it is not us. This is the behaviour of a colonialist government."
Other ministers failed to condemn Mr Lieberman's statements. Housing minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement in the same vein as Mr Lieberman, suggesting that Arab MPs might well find themselves removed to the Palestinian Authority areas.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel interpreted Mr Liberman's remarks as a call to cancel the citizenship of Israeli Arabs. "We want to remind the minister of defence that the appropriate framework for dealing with violence during protest events is investigation and indictment of those who violated the law. This racist and inciting statement sullies an entire public. The message it transmits is extremely grave: that in the eyes of a minister of the government of all the citizens of Israel, forced cancellation of the citizenship of Arabs appears to be a legitimate."
Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of the nationalist Balad party's central committee and former member of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa city council, said: "There is nothing surprising about the racism of Liberman. But the issue is that none of the ministers or the prime minister thought that this was racist and that they should condemn it."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
