Saturday, 1 May, 2021 - 06:00
Elbasyouni has made an astonishing journey from Gaza to the US space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. (AP) Asharq Al-Awsat
An electronics engineer from Gaza, Loay Elbasyouni, had worked with the NASA team that made history this month by launching an experimental helicopter from the surface of Mars.
But he says an expedition to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, where posters celebrate his achievement, feels even farther away.
“When you deal with electrons and technology, you can calculate things and know their path,” he said from his home in Los Angeles.
“When you deal with people and politics, you don’t know where things can go.”
Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip: An electronics engineer from Gaza, Loay Elbasyouni, had worked with the NASA team that made history this month by launching an experimental helicopter from the surface of Mars.
But he says an expedition to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, where posters celebrate his achievement, feels even farther away because of Israeli and Egyptian restrictions.
“When you deal with electrons and technology, you can calculate things and know their path,” he told The Associated Press in a video interview from his home in Los Angeles. “When you deal with people and politics, you don’t know where things can go.”
Palestinian polls postponed until Jerusalem voting guaranteed: Abbas
Published On
Abbas urged international community to push Israel to allow campaigning and voting in east Jerusalem
RAMALLAH (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Friday that elections had been postponed until there was a guarantee voting can take place in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, further delaying polls in a society which last voted in 2006.
Addressing a meeting of Palestinian factions, Abbas said he had urged the international community to push Israel to allow campaigning and voting in east Jerusalem, an area annexed by the Jewish state in 1967 which Palestinians claim as their future capital.
Palestinians say to hold polls if Israel approves Jerusalem voting
30.04.2021
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday elections would be held only when Israel allows voting in Jerusalem, a stance likely to delay polls in a society that last voted in 2006.
Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and blockaded Gaza Strip have voiced hope that elections could help restore credibility in their political system and heal rifts.
Fatah, which controls the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, reached an agreement with its long-standing rival Hamas, the Islamists who control Gaza, to hold legislative polls on 22 May and a presidential vote on 31 July.
2021/04/30 01:13 FILE - This Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, shows a full-scale model of the Ingenuity helicopter displayed for the media at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. FILE - This Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, shows a full-scale model of the Ingenuity helicopter displayed for the media at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Space engineer Loay Elbasyouni was part of the NASA team that made history this month by launching an experimental helicopter from the surface of Mars. But he says an expedition to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, where posters celebrate his achievement, feels even farther off because of Israeli and Egyptian restrictions. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)