Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair
A decade ago, Abdul Aziz's father Abdulla, who founded the bank with family in 1967, set aside one-third of his assets (then worth $1.1 billion) to launch the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation. The focus: providing educational opportunities for Arab and Emirati youth—a cause that Abdulla, who never finished secondary school, was passionate about. He named his son chair and Abdul Aziz has been expanding on his father's mandate for giving ever since, launching a variety of programs in partnership with universities, corporations, and other nonprofits that have so far helped more than 230,000 young people access education and job opportunities.
One signature initiative: the $32.6 million Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund, launched in 2018, which helps refugees—more than 100,000 so far, many from Syria and Palestine, and over half, female—access secondary, vocational, and tertiary education in the UAE, Jordan, and Lebanon. Abdul Aziz is also an anchor donor to the Global Muslim Philanthropy Fund for Children, launched in 2019 by UNICEF and the Islamic Development Bank.'Strategic philanthropy transforms lives by building ecosystems where people thrive,' he said at the foundation's recent summit.
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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel announces a settlement that critics say will effectively sever the West Bank in two
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NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Trump's unusual approach to business and mediation ordered in Ohio State lawsuits: Morning Rundown
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The Hill
2 days ago
- The Hill
Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state
MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank (AP) — Israel's far-right finance minister announced a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts. The announcement comes as many countries said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September. 'This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,' said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. 'Anyone in the world who tries today to recognize a Palestinian state – will receive an answer from us on the ground,' he said. Development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations. On Thursday, Smotrich praised President Donald Trump and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee as 'true friends of Israel as we have never had before.' The E1 plan has not yet received its final approval, which is expected next week. The plan includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim, Smotrich said. While some bureaucratic steps remain, if the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year. Rights groups swiftly condemned the plan. Peace Now called it 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution' which is 'guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed.' The announcement comes as the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in an interview on Tuesday that he was 'very' attached to the vision of a Greater Israel. He did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of Arab countries.
