Abdullah bin Zayed inaugurates Zayed City in Gaza

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Information and Culture yesterday cut the ribbon of the Zayed City, a new neighbourhood north of Gaza comprising 736 apartments, which will shelter over 25,000 Palestinians. The residential complex was built at the cost of Dhs.227 million.
The recipients include families whose houses had been destroyed by the Israeli army as well as those bereft of their children by Israel during the last four years. Before cutting the ribbon, Sheikh Abdullah - accompanied by Palestinian Deputy Premier and Minister of Information Nabil Shaath was received by cheering crowds who rained flowers on his and his delegation. He was flown to the new city by a Jordanian helicopter.
Addressing the crowd on behalf of the UAE delegation, Saeed Khalfan Al Rumaithy, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, conveyed the greetings of H.H President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as those of the UAE people and government to the Palestinian people and leadership.
He noted that the project was initiated by the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He told the gathering that the late Sheikh Zayed cared very much about alleviating the suffering of the Palestinians.
For his part, Palestinian Minister Nabil Shaath lauded the UAE and paid tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed, saying that he had immortalized his name in the heart minds and hearts of millions of Palestinians through his deeds. Citing the large turnout for Sheikh Abdullah's reception, Shaath said the UAE and Palestine had had long and historical relations.
“Sheikh Zayed City is an embodiment of these ties. The neighbourhood will address the problem of accommodation for over 25,000 Palestinians.” he said. The UAE-Palestinian ties have got a shot in the arm with late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's unabated support to the Palestinian people. Sizeable material and moral assistance has incessantly been flowing to the Palestinian occupied territories ever since the eruption of the first Intifada in September 2000. The pioneering role the UAE plays in the development process in Palestine cannot go unnoticed.
However, the death of Sheikh Zayed on 2 November 2004 added yet another calamity to the Palestinian plight. It was Zayed who financed a number of housing schemes in Jerusalem and North and South Gaza suburbs, all of which have been named after him.
It was he who ordered the Zayed Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Works and the UAE Red Crescent Society (RCS) to meet the medical, social and educational requirements of the Jerusalem population. The ceiling of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem was restored at the expense of the late UAE President following the tremor that jolted the holy city in 2004.
In May 2004, Sheikh Zayed instructed the RCS to rebuild 600 houses demolished by the Israeli occupation troops in Rafah and Zeitoun neighbourhoods. He also ordered the construction of 469 housing units at the cost of US$28 million in Jenin camp, which was destroyed by Israel in April 2004.
An agreement to this end was concluded between the RCS and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA. This is over and above the fact that he donated Dh 30 million to the Palestinian needy and US$250 million to build Sheikh Zayed residential city in North Gaza.
(The Emirates News Agency, WAM)