Dream of a Palestinian Tiger: Boom Times in the West Bank

[abu afak]

So how are things going for the rest of the "Oppressed", "Genocided", "starved", and "cleansed" 'Palestinians'?
Quite well with (US/EU/UNRWA) money and other Foreign investment - even better than in Prosperous Gaza.

Dream of a Palestine Tiger
Boom Times in the West Bank
By Juliane von Mittelstaedt
Der Spiegel 4/27/11
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,759046,00.html

Pessimists say that the challenges faced by the Palestinian economy -
including the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip -
are too great to overcome. But investment in the region is climbing.


With Five-star Hotels, Booming High-tech companies and a modern, New city under construction near Ramallah, the West Bank is preparing for the future.
Local entrepreneurs speculate that if the Palestinians ever gain independence, their country could become a leader in the region.

Bashar Masri is sitting behind a yellow desk in Ramallah with two Israeli newspapers open in front of him. A large photo of Masri is featured in one of the dailies and his wife Jane is pictured in the other.
As he speaks, he plugs the text into Google for a translation.

"Palestinian tycoon," he reads, shaking his head. He doesn't like the word. He prefers the headline of the piece next to it: "We Need Peace, or We'll Face an Economic Catastrophe."
The editorial was written by Idan Ofer, one of Israel's wealthiest businessmen. Masri smiles and then reaches for the phone and calls Ofer. "Great article," he says.
They have a short conversation and then Masri hangs up. Ofer and Masri, the tycoons of Tel Aviv and Ramallah, are friends.

Masri is possibly the most unusual businessman in the Palestinian Territories. The 50-year-old is a frequent guest in the homes of Israel's wealthiest citizens,
his wife runs the largest advertising agency in the Palestinian Territories and studies in Tel Aviv, and his uncle is a billionaire from Nablus. Masri went to the United States at 17 to attend college,
and afterward he worked there and married an American woman, until returning home in 1994. He founded Massar International and began building a small empire.
He already had dreams of building a Palestinian city in those days, but then came the second Intifada, so he built in Morocco initially instead.

But he never lost sight of his goal to establish the first modern city in the Palestinian Territories -- and he began building it in the West Bank near Ramallah more than a year ago.
The new city, called Rawabi, comes at a price tag of more than $850 million (€586 million). Masri's most important investor is the government of Qatar.
In addition to 5,000 residential units, Masri is building a sewage treatment plant and a mosque, supermarkets and an administration complex.
When the new city reaches its target population of 40,000 people, it will be larger even than Ramallah itself.
[.......]

 

[P F Tinmore]

"Foreign investment"

Globalist code word for "You do not own your country."

 

[docmauser1]

"Foreign investment"

A waste of good money better spent on zambian refugee camps, of course.

Globalist code word for "You do not own your country."

Which palistanis, of course, happen to have never had anyway.

 

[ForeverYoung436]

"Foreign investment"

Globalist code word for "You do not own your country."

Ridiculous. Japanese firms have investments in the U.S. The world is a "global village" now.

 

[P F Tinmore]

"Foreign investment"

Globalist code word for "You do not own your country."

Ridiculous. Japanese firms have investments in the U.S. The world is a "global village" now.

OK, but that is a drop in the bucket compared to our overall economy. Fayyad's plan is to have any business of size to be foreign owned. Almost all of the profits made in Palestine will leave the country.