Tag: COVID-19

Creative Ways Moroccans are Supporting Artisans Hit by COVID-19

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With no tourists for the past three months, Morocco’s artisans are feeling the pinch, nowhere more so than in the country’s famed “Ochre City,” Marrakech. In response, organizations and businesses have found innovative ways to support the medina’s creatives through new online marketplaces and social media auctions. 

‘Save the Medina’

Marrakech-based interiors and accessories company Chabi Chic, founded by Vanessa Di Mino and Nadia Noel, has helped popularize Moroccan handicrafts and expertise worldwide thanks to its five Marrakech boutiques and online store. 

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis which has decimated the local tourism industry, Chabi Chic decided to mobilize its huge online and international following, with the backing of Instagram stars such as Yasmina Olfi (Fashion Mint Tea), to provide a free online platform for medina artisans to sell their wares.

“The borders are closed, and the artisans are dying,” is the simple and stark message Chabi Chic shared with 84,200 Instagram followers on June 22 when they launched the Save the Medina initiative after four long months of COVID-19 confinement. 

Recognizing that it would be almost impossible for many medina shop owners and craftspeople to take their business online, Chabi Chic have stepped in to provide the logistics — item selection, marketing, packaging and shipping — commission-free. 

Chabi Chic have now dedicated a sales area on their website to selling handicraft and interior items directly from makers, who would usually rely on tourists and foot traffic, to the world fuelled by the power of online selling and social media. 

Their “Save the Medina” campaign has been a great success so far, with items shown on Chabi Chic’s Instagram stories selling before they can even make it to the website. 

Meanwhile, the Marrakech Creative Interior Cluster (MCIC) and 1000 Artists have decided to use online auctions of handmade Moroccan goods as a way of raising awareness and money for medina artisans.

‘Marrakech Creative for Love’

MCIC has been advocating and promoting artisanal savoir-faire since 2016, with an emphasis on improving competitiveness and growing regional, national, and international market opportunities for the artisans in the cluster. As soon as COVID-19 hit, they began providing support directly to artisans’ families hardest hit by the crisis, and have to date raised MAD 150,000 ($15,400) through their Instagram auctions. 

“We’ve gauged the importance of supporting the social fabric of the creative sector in Marrakech, and Morocco,” MCIC Communication Director Mathilde Some told Arabia Policy. 

“That’s why we decided to launch the campaign, ‘Marrakech Creative For Love,’ an Instagram page for auctions of creations made in Marrakech, and where all of the money raised will be given to 30 associations who help all the families, with whom, design and creation live in the heart of the Ochre City.” 

MCIC also went with the auction concept as it encourages people to make sustainable, conscientious purchases and raises the profile of the artisans, which they hope will create greater opportunities for Marrakech’s artisans post-COVID-19. 

“It’s been a success, notably thanks to the ever growing number of creators that want to join our campaign,” Some said, adding that MCIC plans to keep evolving the project and next will “shine the spotlight on certain artisans, whose pieces we will then sell directly through our Instagram page.”

1000 Artists

Jihane Boumediane from 1000 Artists also struck upon the idea of running an action in aid of artisans enduring tough circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each item sold through the Instagram page supports Marrakech’s makers by providing a sale for the creator, and any extra money raised above the recommended retail price is donated to an artisan retired, or no longer making an income.

Boumediane has already sent MAD 1,000 ($100) worth of food packages to support elderly, disabled, and retired artisans in the Ourika region, outside of Marrakech. She plans to continue giving food aid to those in need, while also raising the profile of various creatives and collectives operating in and around Marrakech through the 1000 Artists Instagram page. 

Read also: Europe to Reopen Borders to Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia

Egypt Takes $5.2 Billion IMF Loan to Support Economy

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The International Monetary Fund in Washington DC has approved Cairo’s request for a $5.2 billion one-year loan. The loan that will have to be repaid within a year adds to a separate $2.77 billion package of “emergency support” granted to Egypt on May 11, to assist the country in its struggle to stop its COVID-19 epidemic.

The IMF considers Egypt to be somewhat of a pre-coronavirus success story as it complied with IMF demands for increased privatization, cutting public spending, and deregulation of industry. In May, an IMF statement said, “as the crisis abates, measures to lower the debt level would need to resume along with continued implementation of structural reforms to increase the role of the private sector.”

Egypt-IMF relationship

But the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on tourism, global trade and oil prices has significantly impacted Egypt’s economy. Egypt relies heavily on revenues from its hotels and resorts on the Red Sea as well as tourism to its historic landmarks. Reductions in global trade have meant Egyptian state coffers see shipping fees from its vital Suez Canal reduced significantly while oil and gas revenues from Egypt’s growing energy sector similarly fell dramatically.

The fact that Egypt had recently completed a three-year economic reform plan as part of a $12 billion IMF loan that concluded in 2019 appears to have done little for the country’s economic resilience, but further austerity and privatization would eventually produce better results, according to the Fund.

Foreign priorities

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had received praise from his Western backers and international bankers for implementing unpopular austerity measures that caused a dramatic rise in prices for essential goods for poor and middle class Egyptians, including a large increase in the price of electricity and drinking water. But the moves have helped “attract foreign investment,” justifying praise from the Egyptian government’s financiers.

Egypt’s transition to the neoliberal economy that foreign powers mandate has done little to produce an effective COVID-19 response. Like other countries that follow this economic mantra, such as Brazil, the US, the UK and India, COVID-19 cases have exploded with little government assistance to the country’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.

Local suffering

Egypt’s government has distributed monthly assistance of $31 for informal workers, who make up a significant section of those working in its hospitality industry. The limited support for Egyptian citizens has seen 73% of Egyptian households report a decline in their incomes over the past months.

Like Brazil, the US, and the UK, Egypt is now rushing to reopen its economy, even though it recorded 1,625 new cases on June 26, with 62,755 total confirmed cases and 2,620 deaths. The necessity to bring in revenue appears to have outweighed any desire to control the local epidemic as hygiene standards and social distancing are seen as sufficient to again receive foreign tourists.

Egyptian citizens will have to again brace for austerity measures that cut government support for the poor and increase the cost of living, while the government hopes that this time, the IMF’s demands will produce the “resilient” economy that its financiers have repeatedly promised.

South Sudan Faces Preventable COVID-19 Tragedy

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South Sudan’s public health crisis is spiraling out of control as the impact of COVID-19 is threatening the health of citizens and could derail the peace process according to the UN.

“South Sudan is facing the twin threat of COVID-19 and an uptick in violence that risks unraveling a fragile ceasefire and derailing the peace process,” David Shearer of the local UN mission told the UN Security Council on June 23.

South Sudan currently has 1,942 cases and 36 deaths related to the virus, according to WHO data. But “ limited testing and social stigma obscure the true magnitude of the pandemic,” Shearer told the members of the Security Council.

The UN mission in South Sudan fears that the emergence of COVID-19 in the country could see the country’s already fragile healthcare system disrupted to the extent where it can no longer provide vital services such as vaccinations, maternal health services, and treatment of preventable diseases.

Side effects

The impact on South Sudan’s healthcare system’s ability to perform these routine but important tasks could result in more deaths than the local COVID-19 outbreak. “Yes, people will die from the virus, like everywhere else in the world. But the real threat to the people of South Sudan lies in the collapse of the already fragile health system,” Shearer stated.

Because local UN experts foreshadow deaths for treatable conditions, the coming tragedy is very much a preventable one. The UN Mission in South Sudan is calling on increased support for protective equipment for health workers, as 86 health workers have already been infected while many others do not receive their salary amid their valiant efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Many people in South Sudan’s urban centers have been unable to isolate themselves sufficiently to stop COVID-19 transmission. “Few will submit to isolation at home,” Shearer explained. “The need to earn a living means that people’s behavior remains unchanged, as not working today means not eating tomorrow.”

Threat to peace

Amid South Sudan’s public health crisis, its peace process is “faltering,” according to Shearer. Power-sharing agreements between the president and vice-president’s competing political factions remain fraught. The absence of an agreed-upon unity government has led the local UN mission to recommend state governors be appointed to fill the power vacuum.

Violence in the country is increasing and becoming more organized. Shearer told the Security Council that violence in Jonglei, Unity, Lakes, Warrap, and the Western Equatoria states can no longer be “pigeonholed as inter-communal,” according to the UN’s statement. Some 60,000 people have already been displaced in these states, with hundreds of civilians killed and women and children regularly being abducted.

“Fighters in uniform have been spotted … suggesting that organized forces may be joining the conflict, which risks unraveling the ceasefire,” Shearer told the Security Council as it sees actors use the absence of a unified national government as a license to use violence instead.

Sherer told the Security Council that “this cycle of impunity fuels serious human rights violations where civilians once again bear the brunt of violence” as he predicted that 7.4 million South Sudanese people, including many in large cities, will soon require humanitarian assistance.

Is The War on Drugs Racist?

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June 26 marks the UN’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, when governments around the world applaud their own efforts to clampdown on drug trafficking. But advocates for the victims of the war on drugs urge for a better understanding of the colonial and racist motivations behind the “war on drugs” and its continued effects on poor and vulnerable people.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) publishes an annual report that spotlights the ever-changing nature of global drug markets. The report highlights changing trade routes, increases in the use of synthetic drugs and reports on government seizures. But the glaringly obvious fact that emerges from the report is that the international drug war is failing spectacularly.

Pyrrhic victory

Even in the most repressive regimes, drugs like cannabis, cocaine, or methamphetamine continue to be widely available, while higher incarceration rates and increasing punitive measures seemingly do nothing to stop their availability. According to experts, the clear failure to stop the use of drugs is not because of failed government approaches, but because of the insincere nature of the war on drugs itself.

According to Ann Fordham, executive director of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the war on drugs has produced “a trail of destruction and human suffering of unimaginable proportions.” While organizations like IDPC recognize that drug abuse and unsafe drug consumption practice can be harmful, they consider the war on drugs to be empirically far more dangerous.

Fordham refers to a UN panel of experts on people of African descent who in March 2019 concluded that the war on drugs has operated as “a system of racial control” instead of combating the use and trafficking of narcotics. Advocates for a more humane approach to stopping victims of drug abuse and drug enforcement increasingly emphasize the racist origins of the war on drugs itself.

Racist origins

The trade in substances like opium, coca and cannabis has occurred since antiquity and the use of these substances were often weaved into local cultural and religious practices. To this day religions like Rastafarianism, Sufi Islam, and Hinduism see cannabis as a sacred plant, while its medical uses were known in the time of famous Islamic scientist Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who included the plant in his “Canon of Medicine,” used as the preeminent medical text until the 19th century.

Western colonial empires treated cannabis, coca, and opium as valuable commodities for international trade, but with the downfall of Europe’s empires and the emergence of US hegemony  attitudes changed.

In an effort to halt the lucrative European trade in these substances and increase its global trade power, the US pushed for a global drug control mentality that it used to oppress its own minority populations of Mexican immigrants and the descendants of African slaves.

Post-colonial consensus

The US used the disintegration of European colonial empires to pressure newly decolonized nations into subscribing to drug control efforts that saw them forced to eradicate crops that had grown in their native lands for centuries. Twentieth century drug conventions were places where white males decided on the prohibition of substances primarily popular among brown and black people.

The emergence of the current war on drugs occurred under US President Richard Nixon, who saw drug control measures as a way to arrest black Americans for Heroin use and ‘hippy’ activists for cannabis use.

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black,” a Nixon advisor later said, “but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.”

Moment for change

The growing breadth of evidence of the insincere and oppressive origins of the war on drugs has led to increasing public pressure to stop the war that has taken countless victims and won few victories. Regimes like those in the Philippines have highlighted the dehumanizing aspects of drug enforcement and the ease with which these policies are rife for abuse by the powerful.

The increasingly legal cannabis market, set to be worth $166 billion in 2025, is providing a new incentive for change. Governments around the world are eyeing the significant tax revenues that could be realized by stopping the prosecution of cannabis. In the Middle East, Lebanon and Israel have so far legalized the substance, with more likely to follow.

The war on drugs has evolved from what was considered to be a necessary evil to stop the harms associated with drug abuse. The “conflict” has instead resulted in millions of non-violent people imprisoned, higher risks of unsafe drug consumption and a continued availability of drugs around the world. By reevaluating the dark origins of the war on drugs, organizations like IDPC hope to change perspectives and produce a safer and less oppressive future.

Egyptian farmers hit hard by COVID-19 remittances slump

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COVID-19 has pushed Egyptians migrant workers who would normally support their families by working in GCC countries or Europe back home and into the fields, slashing remittance income for poor farming families and cutting agricultural output.

Agriculture is considered the most resilient sector of Egypt’s economy but that has not stopped poor farming families from feeling the brunt of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) warned that poor households—and especially those in rural areas— would likely suffer the most from lower remittances. 

Two months on, farmers such as Abdel-Qader Mustafa, from Qena in Upper Egypt, are feeling the reality of the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

Mustafa’s son used to work in Saudi Arabia, sending back roughly LE 2,000 ($124) to supplement his family’s income each month.  

“Due to the coronavirus, my son could not go back to his work in Saudi Arabia after the end of his annual vacation in February. Since then, he has been taking money from us,” Mustafa told Egypt Today.  

As a result, all seven members of Mustafa’s family have been pushed back into working the agricultural fields where they earn as little as LE 15 to LE 20 ($0.90 to $1.20) per day.  

Mustafa’s son is amongst the 20,000 Egyptian workers that have been either repatriated or deported from Gulf Cooperation Countries and European nations as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns and declining oil revenues.  

Egypt’s higher-income households who rely mostly on the services sector for their income have seen the largest COVID-19 losses in absolute terms, but the IFPRI says “the poor may find it harder to cope.”

The rural-urban differentiation 

“Rural households also lose, but less than their urban counterparts.” IFPRI says this is explained mostly by stronger economic growth in the agricultural sector and its ability to keep operating through the virus crisis. 

“While the income losses of the rural and urban poor are smaller compared to the non-poor in absolute terms, poor households are likely to find it harder than wealthier households to cope with such income losses.” 

That is in part because they already have significantly lower monthly incomes than their urban counterparts, meaning even a small reduction could push them closer to poverty. They are also more heavily reliant on remittances, a fact that Egyptian Farmers Syndicate chief Hussein Abdel-Rahman says is having a big impact on farming families. 

Abdel-Rahman recognizes “the decline in remittances would have a great impact on Egypt generally,” but says farmers and their families who constitute 55 million citizens, around 50% of Egypt’s population, are really feeling the pinch. 

“The plunge of the remittances led to weakness in the purchase power and a decline in the living conditions in the rural areas,” he told Egypt Today on Thursday.

The union boss also reports that the drop in remittances, and income more generally, has led to a decrease in cultivation with farmers planning to plant three instead of the usual five feddans (1 feddan = 1.037 acres) this year. According to Abdel-Rahman, reduced purchasing power is already pushing poor rural Egyptians towards low-quality imported meat, and lower crop plantings could drive food prices up further in the future. 

Another factor creating hardship for rural Egyptians are limits on cash withdrawals.  

“Also, farmers sometimes find difficulties in taking the remittances as he/she is not allowed [by the banks] to withdraw all [the] amount of the remittances at once from banks,” Abdel-Rahman said. 

 Read also: Lebanon and Egypt to Suffer Severe Impacts of COVID-19 Remittances Slump

 

US Sees New COVID-19 Peak, Trump Aims to Cut Testing

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The United States has set a new unfortunate record in its problematic COVID-19 response, reporting 38,672 new infections on June 24. The epidemic appears to be spreading most rapidly in the urban centers of conservative states with Arizona, Texas, and South Carolina leading the nation in new infections.

But US President Donald Trump has a plan to radically bring down the number of reported infections: Reducing testing. During a campaign rally in Tulsa on June 22, Trump admitted that he asked his team to “slow the testing down please,” which his new plan to stop federal funding for COVID-19 testing sites clearly reflects.

Rising cases

Since the start of the US epidemic, the country has reported more than 2.3 million cases and 120,955 deaths, with the coronavirus now claiming more American lives than World War I. The US has so far performed 28.6 million COVID-19 tests, meaning less than 10% of its population has been tested for the virus.

While the initial outbreak in the US was mostly situated on the East Coast with hot-spots in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, those states appear to have brought transmission down significantly. But while tightly controlled lockdowns helped curb the spread of the virus in the East, resistance to government measures in traditionally conservative states kept the outbreak from ever concluding its first wave.

Florida, Arizona, Texas, and South Carolina all reported record-high cases while California stood out as another new hotspot, recording 5,019 new cases in a single day. The spread of the virus in populous states like California, which is home to 39.5 million, and Texas, where 29 million people live, means the epidemic is likely still on the increase.

Limiting testing

The Trump administration confirmed on Wednesday, June 24, that it plans to end federal funding for some COVID-19 testing sites, many of which are in hard-hit Texas. The move would end funding for 13 testing sites, seven of which are in Texas. The funding would end on July 1 but four US congresspeople are urging the Trump administration to reconsider.

The four legislators called the move “harmful and irresponsible” in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “We need the support of Fema now more than ever as our communities and the state of Texas see unprecedented growth in cases of the coronavirus disease,” the congresspeople added.

According to the Guardian, hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have increased by 60% in the last week alone. Limiting testing during a growing epidemic would make it difficult to stop the spread of the coronavirus. According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Trump administration has $14 billion in available funding for testing and tracing.

The fact that the government chose to defund critical testing sites could easily qualify as less a public health consideration and more a public relations strategy.

UN: Without International Support, Yemen ‘Will Fall off the Cliff’

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UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, who is also the UN’s under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, pulled no punches when he briefed a closed session of the UN Security Council about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen on Wednesday night. 

The UN aid chief said five factors have converged to push Yemen, already considered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, towards the precipice of even greater disaster. 

A large and deadly COVID-19 outbreak has added an additional layer of misery for the people of Yemen, already struggling to survive the country’s civil conflict and deepening economic crisis. 

“COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen. About 25% of Yemenis confirmed to have the disease have died. That’s five times the global average,” Lowcock said. 

Burial prices have reportedly increased seven fold in some areas. Given the country’s dilapidated health system, many believe a significant number of COVID-19 cases are going undiagnosed and unreported. 

Crises extend beyond COVID-19

In addition to the COVID-19 threat, Lowcock said lack of protection for civilians and humanitarian access are plaguing Yemen, as is a major shortfall in aid funding. 

The recent uptick in violence in northern Yemen between the Saudi-backed coalition forces and Houthi rebels, and clashes between the nominal coalition partners the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and Yemen government in the South, have been deadly for civilians. 

“In May, an average of five civilians were killed or injured every day,” Lowcock revealed. “One in three of them was a child. Two-thirds of incidents that harmed civilians occurred in family homes or farms, and five incidents struck health facilities.” 

Like protection of civilians, humanitarian access is obligatory under international law but has been hamstrung by COVID-19 measures and uncooperative conflict actors. Aid agencies and international donors like the US cut funding to Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen earlier in the year, but Lowcock said that after significant negotiations, “the environment is improving.” 

Aid operations in the South, where Southern Transitional Council forces recently overtook Socotra Island before parties implemented a tenuous ceasefire, have been impacted by an “increase in ad hoc restrictions, including interference and unnecessary delays in assistance.” 

Funding shortfall 

Lowcock also warned that, if the international donor community does not step up soon, there will be no aid to deliver. He noted the failure of the June 2 joint Saudi-UN donor conference, which only raised half the target amount. He also called out Gulf countries, saying that “reduced pledges from the Gulf region account for essentially all of the reduction.” 

The impact of those cuts is massive: “Water and sanitation programmes that serve 4 million people will start closing in several weeks. About 5 million children will go without routine vaccinations, and by August, we will close down malnutrition programmes. The wider health programme, which 19 million people that benefit from will stop too.”

On top of an already long list of urgent threats, Yemen’s economy is now “heading for an unprecedented calamity,” Lowcock reported. The aid chief said the rapidly depreciating Rial was driving high inflation that in turn has driven up food prices by 10 to 20%, leading to wide-spread food insecurity. In addition to the currency crisis, remittances — a vital source of national income and foreign currency — have dropped by a dramatic 50-70% in the wake of the global economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lowcock ended his address to the UNSC with the following brutal proposition:  

“There is a stark choice before the world today: support the humanitarian response in Yemen and help to create the space for a sustainable political solution,” he said. “Or watch Yemen fall off the cliff.” 

In a country where 80% of the population, some 24 million people, are already receiving humanitarian assistance, these converging crises are alarming. It is hard to believe that the situation in Yemen could deteriorate further but the reality on the ground is that it is indeed spiralling deeper into crisis every day.  

It remains to be seen if the world will heed Lowcock’s call or if Yemen will become this decade’s Rwanda  — alongside Libya and Syria. 

Read also: Fighting Continues in South Yemen Despite Ceasefire

IRC: Women in Conflict Zones Under-tested for COVID-19

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Data collected by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reveals mostly men are testing positive for COVID-19 in conflict-affected countries like Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. The figures released on Wednesday are fuelling concerns that COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is spreading silently among women struggling to access already limited testing and treatment facilities in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

The IRC reports that in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Chad, and Central African Republic the disparities are particularly worrying, with over 70% of COVID-19 cases having been detected in men, and 30% or less in women. Those figures are in stark contrast to the ratio in Europe, for example, where it is roughly a 50/50 split between men and women. 

“This data suggests women are being under tested for COVID-19 in many places where the IRC works,” said IRC Senior Technical Advisor of Emergency Health Stacey Mearns. “Both men and women in conflict-affected countries experience great difficulty in accessing healthcare, but data shows women have a slimmer chance of seeing a doctor than men in countries such as Pakistan.”

Mearns says that in countries where the disparity is at play, women may not have the same freedom of movement as men but often perform caring roles and are front-line workers, placing them at equal or higher risk of contracting the highly contagious virus.

“The numbers do not add up. What we are seeing is a situation in which women are potentially being left out of testing and their health deprioritized,” Mearns argued in a June 24 press release. 

“There is a need for a major increase in testing for everyone in the countries where we work, but we must pay particular attention to ensure women are getting equal access to testing and health care.”

The United Nations has also warned that as with conflict situations, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to deepen pre-existing inequalities between men and women and could undo limited gender equality gains made in recent years. 

“Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex,” the UN said on April 9 when it released a policy brief detailing the impacts of COVID-19 on women.

In addition to unequal access to health care, women around the world have been subject to an alarming increase in domestic and family violence exacerbated by virus lockdowns, and data shows women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 job cuts.  

The IRC says it needs an additional $30 million to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and support for its efforts to improve female education and access to COVID-19 testing and treatment. 

Read also: Fighting Continues in South Yemen Despite Ceasefire

Second Wave of COVID-19 Hits Israel, Palestine

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A dreaded and much talked about second wave of COVID-19 hit Israel and Palestine this week. 

On Wednesday morning, Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed it identified 420 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the largest single day spike in infections since April 22. 

In response to surging case numbers, Israeli authorities reinstated on Wednesday a partial lockdown for the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad in central Israel and several majority ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in the northern city of Tiberias.  

Israel declared Elad and five suburbs of Tiberias “restricted zones,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. A day earlier, Netanyahu gave police the go-ahead to fine anyone failing to wear mandatory face masks.  

The “restricted zones” will be closed to external visitors, except essential service providers and students completing exams, for the next seven days. During that period, gatherings of over 50 people are banned and residents can only leave to receive medical care, complete exams, engage in legal proceedings, attend funerals of close relatives, or work.  

There are concerns from residents in the newly restricted zones that the move will do little to slow transmission but rather harm the local economy and stigmatize their community.   

“This is not a real lockdown, you can enter, you can do whatever, this lockdown just hurts businesses and people and nobody cares,” an Elad resident told the Times of Israel on June 23.

The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Around 14% of new cases this week came from just five mainly ultra-Orthodox areas, a COVID-19 military task force said on Wednesday. 

 More broadly, ultra-Orthodox patients account for 20% of Israel’s total number of active COVID-19 cases, while only constituting around 12% of the population — a phenomenon put down to close living conditions and the community’s interconnectedness. 

Fresh virus worries for Palestine 

Meanwhile, Palestine is also experiencing an uptick in new virus numbers. On June 24, Palestinian Authority (PA) Health Minister Mai Alkaila announced 142 new cases had been confirmed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,517. 

The majority, 1,311 of Palestine’s total active cases, are centred around the West Bank. This prompted the PA to place the city of Hebron under lockdown.  

On June 20, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh ordered a five-day lockdown of Hebron Governorate and a 48-hour complete shutdown of Nablus city, another COVID-19 hotspot. Only essential services are allowed to operate under the fresh wave of restrictions in Hebron, and public gatherings have been banned in all West Bank governorates.  

“There is no longer any room for tolerance in the matter. The safety procedures are very simple: compliance with COVID-19 social distancing orders, and the use of a facemask in markets, public places, workplace and others. This is a compulsory measure that all citizens have to abide by,” Shtayyeh said.

Read also: UAE Diplomat: Israel Annexation Could Reverse Gains for Middle East Peace

 

 

Dubai Hotels Show Generosity Amid COVID-19 Hardship

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When Zabeel House by Jumeirah – The Greens general manager Luke James reopened the trendy hotel after implementing the obligatory new COVID-19 measures, he got to thinking about how the establishment billed as the “ultimate social hub” could support community members hard-hit by the virus’ fallout. 

“Since we’ve reopened and welcomed back our regular guests, we’ve heard of several people going through quite a tough time given all the challenges of the last few months – we’re all one community and it’s only natural to help each other,” the general manager said.  

James decided to reach out through a local Facebook group and offer eight free, week-long stays at the boutique sanctuary located in Tecom.  

“Maybe, the main bread winner has lost their job or taken on a big salary cut – there are so many challenges people are facing.” 

“The only charge would be the mandatory Dh15 tourism charge per night for each room and through this, we’re hoping to alleviate some of the immediate concerns they may be facing.” 

The free-night offer quickly went viral, prompting some other local businesses to jump on board. James hopes they will not be the only ones and that Zabeel House’s generosity will inspire other UAE hoteliers and businesses. 

“We’re hoping it will spur other hotels in a similar position to offer the same, ultimately giving back to the community in a time of need, we literally are stronger together,” James said. “We’ve already had partners like Coffee Planet, African & Eastern, Opaala and our sister hotel Jumeirah Zabeel Saray come on board to add value to our initial offer.

“It’s great to see the knock-on effect and we really hope it continues.”

Zabeel House is part of a complex that includes dining options and gym, pool, and spa facilities that are all aimed at creating a friendly space not just for guests, but also for residents of the suburb sandwiched between old and new Dubai.

Read also: Dubai Fitness Fanatics Organize Burpee World Record Event for Charity

 

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