In new Palestinian city, few residents and charges of collusion with Israel

Source: Times of Israel

Bashar Masri, the billionaire Palestinian developer behind Rawabi, says the new city that opened in August defies the occupation

RAWABI, West Bank (JTA) — Bashar Masri is not your typical billionaire real estate developer.

Born in the Palestinian city of Nablus in 1961, as a teenager Masri was apprehended and jailed by Israel eight times for throwing rocks and organizing demonstrations, the first time when he was 14 years old. During the first intifada, he served as a conduit between the uprising’s leadership and the Palestine Liberation Organization, then based in Tunisia. He later grew close with Yasser Arafat. When the late Palestinian leader touched down in Washington for the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, Masri says he was the one who opened the airplane door.

Now, after having spent much of his early life resisting the Israeli occupation, Masri stands accused of colluding with it.

Masri is the developer of Rawabi (Arabic for “The Hills”), a high-tech city of gleaming apartment buildings rising from the West Bank hills north of Ramallah. Hailed as a linchpin of the future Palestinian state, the city has drawn visits from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as support from an array of American Jewish groups, including AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-new-palestinian-city-few-residents-and-charges-of-collusion-with-israel/