STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

No real winners in Hamas-Israel conflict By Atique Naqvi | Dubai, UAE | Uploaded on the blog recently** A Palestinian mother comforts her daughter in the conflict zone in Gaza. Though 192 Palestinians have died in Gaza as a result of week-long armed conflict between Hamas and Israel, Tel Aviv is a bigger loser on the economic front. While rockets fired from Gaza have injured ten Israelis with no deaths recorded, the Israeli cabinet has agreed to the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire while Hamas has rejected it. Counting economic costs of the conflict is not easy, but it seems that Hamas has a plan: “Hamas calculates that by expanding the range of its rockets, it can impose significant economic damage on Israel by forcing its civilians into shelters, ports to shut down for fear of ships being hit by wayward rockets, and airports to close, while at the same time disrupting the mid-year tourism season,” says Firas Abi Ali, Head of Middle East Analysis at IHS Country Risk. “Thi...

The world’s biggest petrochemical maker is gearing up for robust economic growth and vast expansion projects in Saudi Arabia, said Mohammed H. Al Mady. "SABIC has undertaken a great development drive with sustainability as one of our strategies.", he said in 2011. The interview was published in the March 2011 issue of the Dubai-based magazine TRENDS - An International Magazine on Arab Affairs. Below is the jpeg file of the TRENDS magazine.