Nobel: The prize for peace that leaders go to war for

Special Nobel: The prize for peace that leaders go to war for
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, handed US President Donald Trump an envelope with a letter he reportedly sent to the Nobel committee during their July 7 meeting in the White House Blue Room. (AP)
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Updated 10 July 2025
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Nobel: The prize for peace that leaders go to war for

Nobel: The prize for peace that leaders go to war for
  • Israeli PM’s nomination of Trump has reopened debate over the Nobel Peace Prize’s meaning and credibility
  • As Gaza burns and indictments loom, a wartime leader endorsing a recipient raises questions, says analyst

LONDON: In what supporters have called a symbol of solidarity and detractors a humiliating act of fealty, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week revealed he had nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize — an award long sought by the US president.

The decision by Netanyahu appears designed to help bolster ties between the two long-term allies and ease reported tensions over Israel’s 21-month-long war in Gaza and its bruising 12-day conflict with Iran last month.

Netanyahu presented the nomination letter to Trump at the White House on Monday, and was met with a look of surprise from the US president.

“It’s nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well deserved, and you should get it,” Netanyahu said.

“Wow, coming from you, in particular, this is very meaningful. Thank you very much, Bibi,” Trump responded.

FASTFACTS:

• The Nobel Peace Prize was founded by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

• Regret over his invention partly drove Nobel to create the prize to promote peace.

• Carl von Ossietzky, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Liu Xiaobo, were imprisoned when awarded.

• The youngest Nobel Peace laureate is Malala Yousafzai, who received it in 2014 at age 17.

For Dania Koleilat Khatib, a specialist in US-Arab relations, Netanyahu’s decision to nominate the president rests on his desire to “do anything to court Trump.”

She told Arab News that Netanyahu arrived in Washington with a set of demands covering almost every regional file of interest to Israel: Syria, Turkiye, Gaza, the West Bank and Iran.

Netanyahu is also seeking US guarantees relating to arms supplies, especially after Iran’s ballistic missile barrages last month placed substantial pressure on Israeli air defense systems, Khatib said.

“He wants to show Trump that he is the best ally he can have; he also knows that Trump is really looking after getting the Nobel Peace Prize,” she added.




President Donald Trump looks at a document during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Trump has made no secret of his yearning for the prestigious prize, yet the nomination itself is only the first part of an extensive, secret process that winds up in the stately committee room of Oslo’s Nobel Institute.

The distinction and tradition of the Nobel name, however, is arguably a far cry from the reputation of Trump’s nominator.

Netanyahu, alongside former defense minister Yoav Gallant, is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the conduct of Israel’s military in Gaza.




Protesters demonstrate on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC., during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States on July 24, 2024, amid Israel's war bombardment of civilian homes in Gaza on July 24, 2024. (AFP/File)

That fact would no doubt weigh on the minds of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members who deliberate over the prize.

For Khatib, the ICC arrest warrant alone means that Netanyahu’s gesture is “worthless.”

She told Arab News: “I am not sure whether the nomination will be discarded but it is ironic that someone wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and potentially genocide nominates someone for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

GUIDELINES ON NOBEL NOMINATIONS

• Only nominees put forward by qualified nominators are considered.

• Self-nominations are not accepted.

• The prize may be awarded to individuals or organizations.

Upholding the reputation of the prize is a tall order, in part due to the strictness of its rules. The committee’s choice for the annual award effectively ties the Nobel name to the future reputation of any recipient. The Nobel Foundation’s Statutes also forbid the revocation of any award.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese icon of democracy, fell from grace over her treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the decades since she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Former US President Barack Obama was controversially awarded the prize just nine months into his first term, to the dismay of figures including Trump, who called on the institution to retract the award.

The decision to award Obama for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” soon appeared foolish after it emerged the president had told aides, referring to his use of drone strikes: “Turns out I’m really good at killing people.”




US President Barack Obama delivers a speech after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize at the Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2009. (AFP)

The Nobel Committee’s then secretary, Geir Lundestad, later expressed regret over the decision. “Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,” he said. “In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for.”

Khatib told Arab News that the most basic requirement of the prize is that the recipient contributes to peace.

“I personally don’t know why Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” she told Arab News. “What was the achievement for which he was awarded the prize?”

The Obama controversy may well have sparked Trump’s desire to win the prize. He has referred to the 2009 award numerous times since, and has regularly expressed frustration over an accomplishment that he feels has eluded him.




This photo taken on December 10, 2009, shows protesters from the group The World Can't Wait during a 'coffin march' against US President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize after his announcement of a troop surge in Afghanistan. (Getty Images via AFP)

Netanyahu’s nomination of Trump, however, is only the most recent that the US leader has received. He was nominated separately by a group of House Republicans in the US and two Norwegian lawmakers for his work to defuse nuclear tensions with North Korea in 2018.

In 2021, Trump was also nominated by one of the two Norwegian lawmakers and a Swedish official for his peace efforts in the Middle East, including the Abraham Accords, which established formal relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Shinzo Abe, the late former prime minister of Japan, also nominated Trump in 2019.

Earlier this year, Pakistan said that it had nominated Trump for the prize in recognition of his work to end the country’s brief conflict with India. New Delhi later denied that Washington played a role in mediation.

WHO CAN NOMINATE

• Members of national assemblies and governments.

• Members of international courts.

• University rectors, professors, and directors of peace research or foreign policy institutes.

• Past laureates and board members of laureate organizations.

* Current and former Norwegian Nobel Committee members and former advisers.

Trump is also working toward a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has so far defied his negotiators.

A day after Monday’s White House meeting, Netanyahu’s office released a copy of the nomination letter — dated July 1 — seen by Trump.

“President Trump has demonstrated steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security and stability around the world,” it said.

“In the Middle East, his efforts have brought about dramatic change and created new opportunities to expand the circle of peace and normalization.”




President Donald Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize when Bahrain and the UAE signed the so-called Abraham Accords with  Israel at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2020. (AFP/file)

The prime minister’s letter singled out the Abraham Accords as Trump’s “foremost achievement” in the region.

“These breakthroughs reshaped the Middle East and marked a historic advance toward peace, security and regional stability,” it said.

The description of the region as having experienced a historic advance toward peace will raise eyebrows in many parts of the Middle East.

IN NUMBERS:

• 142 Individuals and organizations have received the prize since 1901.

• 19 Women have been awarded.

• 28 Organizations received the award.

• 19 Years the prize was not awarded.

(Source: NobelPrize.org)

Yet the strange circumstances of an alleged war criminal acting as a peace prize nominator has parallels with the Nobel name’s own peculiar past.

The prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, inventor and industrialist who amassed a fortune after inventing and patenting dynamite. The explosive was rapidly adopted for industrial use but was also soon prized for its utility as a tool of warfare.

The first awards bearing the Nobel name were handed out just after the turn of the century in 1901, five years after the Swedish visionary had died.




Alfred Nobel built an explosives empire and left much of his fortune to fund the Nobel Prizes. (Getty Images)

They cover medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. An economics prize was later established by the Swedish Central Bank in 1968, but it is not considered a Nobel prize in the same manner.

Nobel’s wishes were for the peace prize to go to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

The strict codification of Nobel’s will resulted in the Nobel Statutes, a set of rules followed by the Nobel Foundation, which oversees the secretive process behind the five prizes. Judges are forbidden from discussing their deliberations for half a century after they take place.

The peace committee is the sole Nobel prize body in Norway, and its five members are appointed by the country’s parliament.

Nominations for the revered prize can only be submitted by specific people and organizations, including heads of state, national politicians, academic professors and company directors, among others. It is forbidden for people to nominate themselves.

Prominent Arab politicians have been awarded the peace prize.

Yasser Arafat was given the award in 1994 for his efforts toward reaching a peaceful settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In 1978, Egypt’s Anwar Sadat was recognized for signing the Camp David Accords, which were witnessed by Jimmy Carter, the US president at the time, who was later awarded the prize in 2002 for his work to promote human rights after leaving office.

For Trump, however, hopes for his long-desired prize will have to wait until next year; nominations must be submitted before February for the prize to be awarded in the same year.

At the time of publishing, the Nobel Committee had not commented on Netanyahu’s nomination, whether they had any reservations, or whether they would accept it.

 

 


Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for over $2.3 billion

Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for over $2.3 billion
Updated 10 sec ago
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Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for over $2.3 billion

Romania to buy Israeli air defense systems for over $2.3 billion
  • Romania, a NATO member and Ukraine neighbor, looks to boost its defense posture and replace its aging Soviet-era equipment
  • It is set to purchase six integrated Shorad-Vshorad anti-aircraft systems from an Israeli company

BUCHAREST: Romania announced Monday it has signed a deal with an Israeli company to buy six anti-aircraft systems, as the NATO member and Ukraine neighbor looks to boost its defense posture.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Romania has gained in strategic importance and exposure to defense risks, with Russian drone fragments regularly falling on its soil.

Under a framework agreement signed with Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems last week, Romania is set to purchase six integrated Shorad-Vshorad anti-aircraft systems for more than two billion euros ($2.3 billion).

Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is one of Rafael’s best-known products.

According to the deal, three further contracts will need to be signed under the framework agreement, which runs for seven years.

The procurement deal, which was rubber-stamped by Romania’s parliament in 2020, “aims to equip the army with advanced weapon systems designed to protect against air threats, including drones and cruise missiles,” the eastern European country’s defense ministry said in a statement.

In a recent interview on public television, Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu likened the anti-aircraft systems to “the Iron Dome... when the Iranians attack,” saying “that’s Shorad-Vshorad and it protects Tel Aviv.”

In 2024, Romania signed a deal with the United States to purchase 32 F-35 fighter jets for an estimated $6.5 billion.

The Black Sea nation has been striving for years to bolster its defense forces and replace its aging Soviet-era equipment.


Rebels in Colombia attack a military patrol with a drone, killing 3 soldiers

Rebels in Colombia attack a military patrol with a drone, killing 3 soldiers
Updated 21 July 2025
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Rebels in Colombia attack a military patrol with a drone, killing 3 soldiers

Rebels in Colombia attack a military patrol with a drone, killing 3 soldiers

BOGOTA, Colombia: Rebels in northeastern Colombia used a drone to attack a military patrol in a rural area, killing three soldiers and injuring eight, the military said.

The army blamed the attack on the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a group of approximately six thousand fighters that has been fighting the Colombian government since the 1960s. The attack took place Sunday outside the town of El Carmen in the Catatumbo region, the military said in a statement.

Rebel groups in Colombia are increasingly using drones to attack the military and to attack each other as they fight for control of rural areas. They mostly use commercial photography drones with explosives strapped to them, flying them straight into their targets.

Colombia’s Defense Ministry says that rebel groups launched 115 drone attacks last year. Sunday’s drone attack is the one of the deadliest on record.

Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in rural areas that were formerly under the control of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the guerrilla group that made peace with the government in 2016.

Several smaller rebel groups and drug gangs are now fighting over the control of areas abandoned by the FARC, where illicit activities like drug trafficking and illegal mining are common.

In January, Colombia’s government suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, following a spate of attacks in the Catatumbo region, in which at least 80 people were killed and 50,000 were forced to flee their homes.


Filipinos find new opportunities, make waves as content creators in UAE

Filipinos find new opportunities, make waves as content creators in UAE
Updated 21 July 2025
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Filipinos find new opportunities, make waves as content creators in UAE

Filipinos find new opportunities, make waves as content creators in UAE
  • Filipino creators reach hundreds of thousands of followers with comedy and lifestyle content
  • For most of them, social media fame came suddenly as they pursued their day jobs

MANILA: Margarete Serrano’s foray into content creation began in the Philippines nearly two decades ago, when she would upload comedy skits while juggling her responsibilities as a nursing student.

What was then a hobby had a boost a few years later, as she moved to Abu Dhabi in 2014, where she found employment as a private nurse.

Known online as Em, she started sharing food reviews from her new home abroad.

“Some restaurant owners and managers began to notice my posts and invited me to revisit, which marked the beginning of my food blogging journey. Eventually, I returned to vlogging as well,” Serrano told Arab News.

Today, she has nearly 160,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and has transitioned into full-time content creation, sharing her culinary, travel experiences and tips for other overseas Filipino workers.

“I actively participate in community and volunteer events. Through my content, I aim to spread positivity, hope and kindness,” she said. “I want to inspire others to do good, give back and uplift one another — especially within the Filipino community.”

Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are home to nearly 2 million Filipinos. About 700,000 of them live in the UAE.

Traditionally employed in health care, education and corporate sectors, some of them, such as Serrano, have turned their social media-savviness and digital creativity into new opportunities.

With followers ranging from hundreds of thousands to more than a million, they rise to online fame with content varying from comedy skits to wellbeing, lifestyle and informative videos that help Filipinos adapt and adjust to life in the Middle East.

Michael Banua moved to Dubai in 2017 with a degree in chemistry and began his career as an account manager for a construction company. But storytelling has always been his passion. He now pursues it professionally.

“I’ve always loved storytelling. I once dreamed of becoming a filmmaker or writer, but life took me elsewhere. Content creation brought that dream back. Now I get to tell real, relatable stories in my own way every day,” Banua told Arab News.

His 116,000 followers on Instagram are drawn to positive and lighthearted content, in which he always tries to include Filipino culture — “from humor to everyday moments, so other nationalities can see and appreciate who we are,” he said.

“It’s my way of giving Filipinos here a piece of home while celebrating Dubai’s diversity, too.”

His compatriot and fellow Dubai-based creator, Jep Laguitan, retains his main job as a photographer and videographer.

Having lived in the UAE for the past 12 years, he has earned nearly 200,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, aiming his content at Filipinos.

“Mostly, I do comedy videos which attract more OFW audiences,” he said. “(It) makes our kabayan (compatriots) forget about the stress of their day.”

Others, such as Mark Ilano, who has about 230,000 followers on Instagram alone, are focused on specific themes.

Iland has become widely recognized for his content on menswear as well as Dubai city, creating posts dispensing advice for fashion and styling, as well as smart shopping and money-saving tips.

“I liked the idea of building a community around things we all care about and putting out content that’s fun, helpful or inspiring,” he said. “At first, it was just a hobby, but over time I realized it was something I really wanted to take more seriously.”

For Rechel Hoco, who has more than 1 million followers on Facebook alone, the content career also started out of sudden.

“I would film my daily life as an OFW — simple things, nothing fancy. Then one day, I made a video about trying mandi in Dubai, and it suddenly went viral. That’s when I realized, ‘OK, maybe this is something I can actually grow.’ That’s where it all began,” she told Arab News.

As one of the most high-profile Filipino content creators in the Middle East, Hoco sees her content as something that reflects her embrace of Dubai as home.

“I moved to Dubai in search of better opportunities, and this city gave me more than I ever dreamed of,” she said. “It helped me grow not just in my career, but also as a person.”


Belgian king denounces Gaza abuses in unusually direct remarks

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium arrive for the “Te Deum mass”, on the occasion of the Belgian National Day.
Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium arrive for the “Te Deum mass”, on the occasion of the Belgian National Day.
Updated 21 July 2025
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Belgian king denounces Gaza abuses in unusually direct remarks

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium arrive for the “Te Deum mass”, on the occasion of the Belgian National Day.
  • “It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the UN Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis,” the king said

BRUSSELS: Belgium’s King Philippe described abuses in Gaza as a “disgrace to humanity” in a speech on the eve of Monday’s national day, unusually direct remarks on international affairs from a monarch who traditionally avoids public politics.

“I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves,” he said speaking at his palace in Brussels.

“The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis.”

It was the first time Philippe has spoken out so strongly and unambiguously about a conflict in public. Belgium’s federal government has been more reserved in its criticism of the conflict in Gaza.

The king’s role in Belgium is limited to giving advice, support, and warnings to the government without making any political decisions.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza following an October 2023 attack on Israeli towns by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials there. Much of the territory has been laid to waste and Israel has restricted food and other supplies.

Israel denies that its forces commit abuses in Gaza and says restrictions on supplies are needed to prevent aid from being diverted by militants.


Palestine Action’s co-founder asks UK court to overturn terror group ban

A person holds a Palestinian flag outside the High Court on the day of a hearing about the banned campaign organization.
A person holds a Palestinian flag outside the High Court on the day of a hearing about the banned campaign organization.
Updated 21 July 2025
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Palestine Action’s co-founder asks UK court to overturn terror group ban

A person holds a Palestinian flag outside the High Court on the day of a hearing about the banned campaign organization.
  • Huda Ammori is asking London’s High Court to give the go-ahead for a full challenge to the group’s proscription
  • Proscription makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison

LONDON: The co-founder of a pro-Palestinian campaign group sought on Monday to challenge the British government’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, a move her lawyers said had “the hallmarks of an authoritarian and blatant abuse of power.”

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, is asking London’s High Court to give the go-ahead for a full challenge to the group’s proscription, which was made on the grounds it committed or participated in acts of terrorism.

Earlier this month, the High Court refused Ammori’s application to pause the ban and, following an unsuccessful last-ditch appeal, Palestine Action’s proscription came into effect just after midnight on July 5.

Proscription makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Ammori’s lawyer Raza Husain said Palestine Action is the first direct action group to be banned as a terror group, a move he argued was inconsistent with “the honorable history of civil disobedience on conscientious grounds in our country.”

Dozens have been arrested for holding placards purportedly supporting the group since the ban and Ammori’s lawyers say protesters expressing support for the Palestinian cause have also been subject to increased scrutiny from police officers.

Britain’s interior minister Yvette Cooper, however, has said violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that Palestine Action’s activities – including breaking into a military base and damaging two planes – justify proscription.

Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment.

The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.