Middle East Experience

Agribusiness, retail, housing, and hospitality look like good bets for Israel-Gulf trade.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Is Israel-Gulf business ready to take off?

The Health minister spoke as the Knesset was debating the list of restrictions, which are expected to last two weeks.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: COVID-19 closure? Knesset approves High Holy Day regulations

Many in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib see no benefits to the joint Russian-Turkish patrols conducted under a demilitarization deal, as the Syrian regime sporadically attacks the area and managed to take several areas since the deal was reached in September 2018.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Who is benefiting from Russian-Turkish patrols in northwest Syria?

At a time when tensions are on the rise in the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Cyprus are intensifying talks to start building an offshore gas pipeline from the Aphrodite gas field to Cairo in preparation for re-export to Europe.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt, Cyprus focus on natural gas pipeline amid tensions in eastern Mediterranean

The Greek government welcomed a Turkish survey vessel's return to port Sunday from a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean that has been at the heart of a summer stand-off between Greece and Turkey over energy rights.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The Oruc Reis research ship returned to near the southern Turkish port of Antalya for the first time in weeks after Turkey announced in July that it was dispatching a vessel to work in waters that Greece claims are its exclusive jurisdiction.“This is a positive signal. We will see how this develops to make a proper assessment,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas told TV channel Skai.The dispute over potential oil and gas reserves has triggered a military build-up in the eastern Mediterranean. Nominal NATO allies Turkey and Greece both dispatched warships to the area where the Oruc Reis was engaged in seismic research and conducted military exercises to assert their claims.NATO intervened, organizing talks between the two countries' militaries to prevent a potential armed conflict.Read more:Turkey, Greece ready for dialogue on East Med energy resources dispute, says GermanyNegotiating with Turkey will worsen the eastern Mediterranean crisisGreece makes a formal protest to Turkey over border riverbed dispute
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Greece welcomes Turkish survey ship's return from Mediterranean Sea disputed area

A deal establishing relations between Israel and Bahrain will result in direct flights between the countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“There will be brisk and direct air traffic between the countries,” he said in remarks to the Israeli cabinet, a transcript of which was issued by his office.The Bahrain deal, announced on Friday, followed a similar accommodation between another Gulf power, United Arab Emirates, and Israel and resulting pledges of direct air connections.Read more:Bahrain and Israel foreign ministers hold phone call day after peace deal announcedMorocco, Israel set to establish direct flights: ReportBahrain King reiterates need for Palestinian state after Israel deal
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Netanyahu says Bahrain normalization deal will result in direct flights from Israel

The United Arab Emirates reported 640 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, a drop of several hundred from the previous day's high of 1,007 cases in 24 hours, announced the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) on Twitter.NCEMA added that there had been no new deaths from COVID-19 during the last day.A further 468 people had recovered from the virus.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The new cases were detected after authorities carried out 84,642 tests in a 24-hour period, explained NCEMA.The UAE has recently experienced a second spike in cases, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday witnessing the three highest daily increases since the peak of the first outbreak in May, and Saturday's 1,007 new cases the highest on record.Authorities have warned against complacency and urged the public to follow coronavirus precautionary rules, such as practicing social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.Three people could face fines for a recent wedding in Abu Dhabi, reported the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Thursday, while on Saturday Dubai Police said that a man who violated mandatory home quarantine rules had been arrested after he filmed himself going to the shop despite testing positive for coronavirus.The UAE currently has a total of 79,489 cases, of which 69,451 have recovered, according to government figures.Read more:Coronavirus: Dubai Police arrest man with COVID-19 for breaking home quarantineCoronavirus: UAE records highest daily spike in COVID-19 cases with 1,007 new casesUAE urges public to follow coronavirus countermeasures as COVID-19 cases rapidly rise
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE reports 640 new COVID-19 cases, drop from recent spike of 1,007

New reports from a non-profit education watchdog reveal Qatar’s government curriculum promotes intolerance of religious minorities, while the UAE educational system champions acceptance of the other.The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) recently reviewed 238 Qatari textbooks from the last four academic years.It also reviewed textbooks from the UAE’s “Moral Education” curriculum – a government initiative launched in 2016 for public and private schools in the country.The organization found glaring differences between how the two Gulf countries are teaching young people about people of different religions and backgrounds.Intolerance in Qatari textbooksIMPACT-se concluded that Qatar’s “curriculum does not meet international standards of peace and tolerance” and that “elements of the Muslim Brotherhood are evident.”While Turkey and Iran are presented in a positive light in the texts, religious minorities are viewed negatively.Christians are seen as “infidels” who are “expected to go to hell,” according to the IMPACT-Se report on Qatar’s curriculum.“Christians, along with Jews…are blamed for causing divisions among Muslims,” the report said.IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff told Al Arabiya English that the textbooks “propagate anti-Semitic conspiracies that Jews control and manipulate world powers and markets.”“I would describe it as falling short of UNESCO standards of peace and tolerance in school education,” Sheff said in an interview with Al Arabiya English.IMPACT-se measured educational content by international standards based on UNESCO and UN guidelines and recommendations on education for peace and tolerance.Acceptance in UAE textbooksIn contrast, the UAE’s Moral Education curriculum - launched in 2006 under the direction of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan - “aligns with UNESCO standards and UN declarations,” according to IMPACT-se.Students in the UAE, from grades one to 12, are introduced to “the values of tolerance and respect for themselves, and others, both national and global” through the course, the report found.For example, a textbook for eight-grade students teaches “one of the core strengths of the UAE is being a home for a diverse and united society, and that the government takes a clear line of tolerance as a fundamental value.”Students in ninth-grade are taught Article 2 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “every human being is entitled to all the rights without any regard to race, color, sex, language, religion, belief, family background, social status, economic status, nationality, or the land in which he was born.”Social justice, particularly with regard to women is highlighted, such as two case studies of young female leaders: UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs Shamma bint Suhail Faris Mazrui and Pakistani Nobel Prize winning women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai.Sheff said that the textbooks were a model for all education systems across the Middle East.“The material we have reviewed so far is a roadmap for young Emiratis towards moderation, respect for the 'Other', peace-making and tolerance,” he said.Read more:Turkey arrests journalist for ‘insulting’ Turkish sultan on TwitterAfter UAE-Israel deal, Trump nominated for Nobel Peace PrizeHow the UAE is ‘keeping kosher’ for Jewish tourists after Israel deal
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Qatar education promotes religious hate, UAE curriculum teaches tolerance: Watchdog

From March to August, 389 Palestinian-owned structures were razed in the West Bank, the United Nations said.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel's home demolitions in West Bank spiked during pandemic: UN

The Saudi government has changed many practices that were discriminatory against women, but really empowering women requires a profound change of mentality.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Saudi women entrepreneurs fight cultural conditioning