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Abbas Calls on Germany to Support Palestine's Full UN Membership

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, shake hands after a press conference after their talks in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2022. (AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, shake hands after a press conference after their talks in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2022. (AP)
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Abbas Calls on Germany to Support Palestine's Full UN Membership

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, shake hands after a press conference after their talks in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2022. (AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, shake hands after a press conference after their talks in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Aug.16, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to recognize the Palestinian state and support its full membership in the United Nations.

Abbas met with Scholz in Berlin after arriving on an official visit to discuss bilateral relations, recent developments in the Palestinian territories, and the future of the political process.

The Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) said Abbas briefed the chancellor on Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, their Islamic and Christian properties and sanctities, and the unprecedented settlement acceleration and seizure of land.

They reviewed recent regional political developments and efforts to revive the peace process.

The meeting also discussed ways to protect the two-state solution by calling on the international community to stop the Israeli violations and recognize the state of Palestine and its full membership in the UN.

On Monday, Abbas arrived in the German capital as part of a Palestinian drive to obtain full UN membership.

Palestinian officials resorted to this option after efforts to advance a regional political process had failed.

It is also part of the political options discussed by the Palestinian leadership to confront Israeli crimes, including withdrawing recognition of Israel.

Palestine has been an observer member of the UN since November 29, 2012, but according to the UN Charter, obtaining full membership requires a Security Council resolution with the approval of nine member states, provided that none of the veto-holder states object.

Meanwhile, Permanent Representative of Palestine to the UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour announced the resumption of intense contacts and efforts with various UN delegations regarding Palestine's right to obtain full membership.

In an interview with "Voice of Palestine" radio, Mansour said a meeting would be held on Wednesday with the Non-Aligned Movement in the Security Council to discuss the initiative to accept Palestine as a full member state.

He noted that a Security Council meeting, chaired by China, will be held on August 26 to discuss the developments in the Palestinian territories.

Palestine is also preparing to participate in the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, said Mansour.

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Arab World

Palestinians Build New Lives in Cairo's 'Little Gaza'

The Hay al-Rimal restaurant in Cairo's 'Little Gaza' is named for the owner's former Gaza City neighborhood, now devastated by Israeli bombing. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP
The Hay al-Rimal restaurant in Cairo's 'Little Gaza' is named for the owner's former Gaza City neighborhood, now devastated by Israeli bombing. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP
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Palestinians Build New Lives in Cairo's 'Little Gaza'

The Hay al-Rimal restaurant in Cairo's 'Little Gaza' is named for the owner's former Gaza City neighborhood, now devastated by Israeli bombing. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP
The Hay al-Rimal restaurant in Cairo's 'Little Gaza' is named for the owner's former Gaza City neighborhood, now devastated by Israeli bombing. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

Palestinian Bassem Abu Aoun serves Gaza-style turkey shawarma at his restaurant in an eastern Cairo neighborhood, where a growing number of businesses opened by those fleeing war have many dubbing the area "Little Gaza".
"It was a big gamble," said the 56-year-old about opening his restaurant, Hay al-Rimal, named after his neighborhood in Gaza City, now devastated by Israeli bombardment.
"I could live for a year on the money I had, or open a business and leave the rest to fate," he said.
So less than four months after fleeing with his family to neighboring Egypt from the besieged Palestinian territory, he opened his eatery in Cairo's Nasr City neighborhood, AFP said.
The establishment is one of the many cafes, falafel joints, shawarma spots and sweets shops being started by newly arriving Palestinian entrepreneurs in the area -- despite only being granted temporary stays by Egypt.
These spaces have become a refuge for the traumatized Gazan community in Cairo, offering a livelihood to business owners, many of whom lost everything in the war.
"Even if the war stops now in Gaza, it would take me at least two or three years to get my life back on track," Abu Aoun said.
'Wiped out'
"Everything has been wiped out there," he continued.
His patrons are mainly fellow Palestinians, chatting in their distinct Gazan dialect as they devour sandwiches that remind them of home.
On a wall next to his shop was a mural of intertwining Egyptian and Palestinian flags.
"I have a responsibility to my family and children who are in university," said the restaurateur, whose two eateries in Gaza have now been completely destroyed.
Abu Aoun and his family are among more than 120,000 Palestinians who arrived in Egypt between November last year and May, according to Palestinian officials in Egypt.
They crossed through the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only exit point to the outside world until Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side in early May and closed it ever since.
Although Egypt insists it won't do Israel's bidding by allowing permanent refugee camps on its territory, it had allowed in medical evacuees, dual passport holders and others who managed to escape.
Many drained their life savings to escape, paying thousands of dollars a head to the private Egyptian travel agency Hala, the only company coordinating Gaza evacuations.
War broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas's surprise attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed 43,374 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
'Gaza's spirit'
Opening the restaurant was not an easy decision for Abu Aoun, but he says he's glad he did it.
"I'll open a second branch and expand," he said with a smile, while watching a family from Central Asia being served a traditional Gazan salad.
Nearby is Kazem, a branch of a decades-old, much-loved Gaza establishment serving iced dessert drinks.
Its Palestinian owner, Kanaan Kazem, opened the branch in September after settling in Cairo.
The shop offers ice cream on top of a drink sprinkled with pistachios, a Gazan-style treat known as "bouza w barad", which has become a fast favorite among the Egyptian patrons filling the shop.
"There's a certain fear and hesitation about opening a business in a place where people don't know you," said Kazem, 66.
But "if we're destined never to return, we must adapt to this new reality and start a new life", he said, standing alongside his sons.
Kazem hopes to return to Gaza, but his son Nader, who manages the shop, has decided to stay in Egypt.
"There are more opportunities, safety and stability here, and it's a large market," said Nader, a father of two.
Gazan patron Bashar Mohammed, 25, takes comfort in the flourishing Palestinian businesses.
"Little Gaza reminds me of Gaza's spirit and beauty and makes me feel like I'm really in Gaza," he said.
After more than a year of war, Gaza has become uninhabitable due to extensive destruction and damage to infrastructure, according to the United Nations.
"It'd be hard to go back to Gaza. There's no life left there," he said, taking a deep breath.
"I have to build a new life here."