Over the past five years, pronouncements that the two-state solution is dying have been difficult to ignore. At this point in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, however, the proposal laid out in the 1993 Oslo Accords is not dying but dead. Further debate about how to keep it on life support only serves to obscure the truth.
Through its near-constant refusal to cede West Bank settlement activity and cease entrenching its matrix of control over Palestinian life, Israel has effectively created one-state on the land where two states were supposed to stand.
In today’s reality, the West Bank and Gaza Strip – the territory earmarked for a future Palestinian state – have been physically and intellectually separated. Hamas administers the coastal Gazan enclave, which is isolated from the world by a blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt. Parts of the West Bank are overseen by the increasingly unpopular Palestinian Authority, a semi-governmental organisation viewed by many as a tool of Israel’s ever-deepening occupation.
Year in review 2015: See all of our end-of-the-year coverage
Ultimately, Israel maintains total control over all the land and people between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea. The country governs with a three-tiered legal system. Israeli Jews have full democratic and civil rights and are entitled to settle virtually anywhere they wish. Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy some democratic privileges but are subject to systematic and institutional discrimination that is becoming harsher by the day. The state reaction to the recent violence is proof of how easily Tel Aviv can revoke the rights and privileges of Palestinian citizens. For Palestinians living in the West Bank, the legal situation is unbearable. They are subjected to a military occupation and entirely deprived of any civil or human rights.
The violence that has dominated the end of 2015 demonstrates that this separate and unequal situation is not without its consequences for Israel. Despite a massive separation barrier, which slices up the West Bank in an attempt to siphon off more land while pushing Palestinians into “Bantustans”, Tel Aviv has failed to provide its citizens with the basic tenet of government: security.
How long can Israel maintain this dangerous position? Since the Second Intifada, Israel has fought to keep its dominance over the narrative of the conflict, one that highlights the security implications for Israeli and Palestinian civilians instead of the colonial complexion of the regime.
While there have been individual acts of sporadic violence, Palestinians don’t appear ready to reform their leadership and adapt to another round of civil disobedience to Israeli occupation as they did during the First Intifada; non-violent tactics have shifted instead to the boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) movement. The year ended with the European Union boycotting West Bank settlement products and the American Anthropological Association adopting a boycott of Israeli universities.
We will likely see more victories for the BDS movement. The question is how the toll of maintaining a colonial regime will manifest itself in Israeli society. Will Israelis take to the streets in protest of the security situation or will they face their growing international isolation stoically? One thing is certain: there is no going back in 2016 to the more optimistic days of the Oslo Accords.
Joseph Dana is a comment writer at The National.
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
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Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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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.”
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5