The Telegraph • 21st February 2021

Rabbis head to nurture Jewish faith in United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is becoming an unlikely training ground for the next generation of orthodox rabbis. Since normalisation of relations with Israel last year under the US-brokered Abraham Accords, more 30 young rabbis from countries including the Ukraine, Turkey and Israel, have joined the efforts to build a Jewish community that had previously been kept largely secret.

The Telegraph • 7th February 2021

Palestinians are signing up to UAE peace deal, claims Israel's first ambassador in the Gulf

Palestinians stand to reap major benefits from Israel’s peace agreements with the Arab world, the Jewish state’s first official ambassador in the Gulf has claimed, as he began his historic posting in Abu Dhabi. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Eitan Na’eh, the new Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said the accords could lead to major investments in Arab-majority towns in Israel and in East Jerusalem, the home of many Palestinians.

CNN • 6th February 2021

How Dubai is paying the price for letting in tourists

(CNN) — Take a passing glance at Dubai, and you may think life is back to normal. In recent weeks, the bustling city has been a sparkling attraction for tourists, especially from Europe, trying to escape the brutal winter and strict coronavirus lockdowns. But as tens of thousands of visitors flocked there during its peak year-end season, the virus inevitably caught up with the city despite precautions aimed at limiting its spread. Cases began to rise, nearly quadrupling since November.

The Telegraph • 1st February 2021

Israel exports settlement wines to United Arab Emirates in latest stage of Abraham Accords

Israel has begun exporting wine, olive oil and honey from West Bank settlements to the United Arab Emirates, a major deal secured by the Abraham Accords which has delighted Jewish expats but alarmed Palestinian leaders. Tura Winery, in the Rehelim settlement, and Paradise Honey in Hermesh, have sent shipments to Emirati clients which they hope will quench a thirst in the Gulf state’s Jewish community for kosher wines.

The National • 20th January 2021

How the cost of Covid-19 testing varies around the world

As Covid-19 testing for travel becomes compulsory around the world, disparities in pricing, availability, speed and service levels remain significant. Residents returning to Dubai over the festive period report paying up to Dh900 for a Covid-19 PCR test, which added huge costs and logistical issues to their travel arrangements. Even within a single country, states and provinces can have different protocols and prices, making it difficult to plan this leg of a trip.

The National • 12th January 2021

Emirati businesswoman donates Dh1m to neonatal unit at West Bank hospital

The Emirati businesswoman and philanthropist, Muna Al Gurg, donated Dh1m to a neonatal intensive care unit in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. The support is desperately needed in the occupied territories where newborns lack adequate access to specialised care. The project is being managed by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which has been working in the Palestinian territories for 25 years.

Al-Fanar Media • 8th January 2021

Artists in Saudi Arabia Gain New Recognition and Support

Five Saudi artists were recently chosen as winners of the first Misk Art Grant, claiming prizes worth more than $25,000 each. The new grants come as artists are gaining new visibility and recognition in a kingdom experiencing social and cultural changes, and they signal significant new support for the creative arts.

The Jerusalem Post • 6th December 2020

Israeli tourists in Dubai remain defiant in face of security threats

Despite security warnings, Israeli tourists continue to flood into Dubai with Flydubai, the United Arab Emirates’ first airline to offer direct routes, now adding a third daily flight between Dubai International and Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion starting December 10, due to the massive demand.

The National • 22nd November 2020

'It's not a cute way of saying you don't like mess': why OCD needs to be treated more seriously

Colloquially, the term OCD has come to refer to people who like things done “just so”, but experts say obsessive-compulsive disorder is misunderstood. They believe it’s often mocked and not taken seriously enough, given that in the World Health Organisation’s 2017 report Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders, anxiety disorders, of which OCD is one, are listed as “the sixth largest contributor to non-fatal health-loss globally”.

The Jerusalem Post • 18th November 2020

Emiratis unperturbed by fatwa banning them from prayers on Temple Mount

Emirati worshipers remain defiant in the face of a fatwa banning them from praying in al-Aqsa Mosque, claiming it is their religious right to do so. The fatwa was issued by the grand mufti of Jerusalem after the August announcement of normalization of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel under the Abraham Accords.

The Jerusalem Post • 3rd November 2020

The Middle East is all eyes as America goes to the polls

The Middle East is watching – and waiting – as Americans go to the polls to decide who will lead them through the next four years.

The Jerusalem Post • 28th October 2020

Israel's behind-the-scenes ambassador to UAE - revealed

When Dr. Dan Shaham arrived in the UAE one year ago, little did he realize he would be a part of a history-making peace deal. The diplomat of 27 years has been in Abu Dhabi as the Head of Mission to IRENA, at the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency, as the only official Israeli diplomat in the Emirates, until now.

The Jerusalem Post • 19th October 2020

UAE anti-terror chief: We must pool resources with Israel to fight terror

The Abraham Accords, bringing normalization between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, are a victory for defeating extremism in the Middle East, a counter-terror adviser to the UAE government has told The Jerusalem Post. A new approach was long overdue, and the time had come to finally acknowledge the central place of Jews and Christians in the region’s history, Dr. Ali al-Nuaimi said.

The Jerusalem Post • 13th October 2020

Iconic UAE-Israel peace image stirs antisemitism, online hate

Despite death threats, a barrage of hate, Nazi rhetoric and antisemitic backlash, Emirati Norah al-Awadhi has no regrets about posing in an image with her Israeli friend. It has become an icon of the historic Abraham Accords.

The Jerusalem Post • 7th October 2020

Beirut’s last synagogue at risk after severe damages following port blast

More than a place of worship, it is the final memory of a once-thriving community, which at its peak during the 1950s was around 15,000 strong.

Al-Fanar Media • 7th October 2020

UAE Education Ministry Closes 6 Universities, Puts Another 6 on Probation

The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Education has revoked the licenses of six universities and put another six on probation after it said the institutions failed to meet quality and accreditation standards. Several of the institutions affected by the clampdown are international branch campuses. Local observers see the regulatory move as a useful international signal that the U.A.E. takes education quality control seriously. (See a related article, “A Regional Survey: How Arab Countries

Business Traveller ME • 4th October 2020

Business Lunches: A taster of the region's best business lunches and brunches

As companies get back to some form of normality and many employees return to the office, at least part time, the region’s popular business lunch is back on the menu. Crucial to the business day, lunches are where deals are sealed, new contacts made, cultures shared and relationships developed.

The National • 1st October 2020

Why experts think the pandemic has contributed to a rise in plastic surgery

From lip fillers and liposuction to Botox and rhinoplasty, interest in cosmetic surgery is rising. A recent report published by PMC, a digital archive of medical texts held by the National Library of Medicine in the US, revealed a spike in searches for reconstructive surgical procedures since June and in early July. These reached and then surpassed the number of searches recorded at the start of the year, before the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

The Jerusalem Post • 29th September 2020

Bahrain’s lost Jews look forward to returning after peace with Israel

Bahrain’s dwindling community of less than 50 Jews has been offered a new lease on life in the wake of the signing of this month’s historic Abraham Accords, with many in Israel anxious to reconnect to their homeland.

The Telegraph • 20th September 2020

Gulf Jews savour peace deal allowing them to live openly - and eat kosher

And the changes are affecting business life in Dubai too. Alex Peterfreund, a Belgian diamond and jewellery specialist, can now ship goods to Tel Aviv for the first time, a key market, as well as call family in Israel, which until August was banned. He believes the Orthadox Jewish tradition, to which he is aligned, will grow "considerably". So much so, his community is preparing to open its own synagogue on the man-made Palm Jumeirah island, and bring its own rabbi. He calls it “a development