Al Arabiya English holds gala dinner to end Global Discussions 2015

A gala dinner was held to mark the end of a successful series of the Al Arabiya News Global Discussions this year, and it proved to be a fantastic night with the team and our special guests.

Prominent UAE businessman and public figure Khalaf Al Habtoor started the night with a strong keynote speech in which he slammed the controversial remarks made earlier this month by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who suggested a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Al Arabiya English presented the ‘Columnist of the Year” award to Khalaf Al Habtoor to mark his “outstanding contributions in bridging the communication gap between the Arab World and the West through his bold positions, insight on global affairs and ability to influence public opinion.”

A Q&A took place after the keynote speech where I interviewed Habtoor on his views on Islmaphobia and other matters concerning the Middle East.

Habtoor also announced that he is organizing a roundtable event with other philanthropists around the world to help alleviate global poverty.

“This event will focus on alleviating global poverty, one of the biggest threats to our planet.  This is what we should be focusing on. Not wasting valuable time on Donald Trump. We need to work on a realistic solution to help the poor. Our focus should be on saving humanity irrelevant of color, race or religion.”

That night, we also recognized a very special friend to Al Arabiya English, Australia’s outgoing ambassador to the UAE and Qatar, Pablo Kang. Al Arabiya English also recognized Kang, for his diplomatic work in the region over the past four years. We wish him all the best!

Here are a few pictures from that special night: