Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: Palestinians 'made millions' selling cheap cement for barrier they bitterly oppose

By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem
(Filed: 25/07/2004)
Palestinian businessmen have made millions of pounds supplying cement for 
Israel's "security barrier" in the full knowledge of Yasser Arafat, the 
Palestinian leader and one of the wall's most vocal critics.
A damning report by Palestinian legislators, which has been seen by the 
Telegraph, concludes that Mr Arafat did nothing to stop the deals although 
he publicly condemned the structure as a "crime against humanity".
The report claims that the cement was sold with the knowledge of senior 
officials at the Palestinian ministry of national economy, and close 
advisers to Mr Arafat. It concludes that officials were bribed to issue 
import licences for the cement to importers and businessmen working for 
Israelis.
One of the report's three authors, Hassan Khreishe - an independent 
legislator and long-term critic of Mr Arafat - last night called for the 
Palestinian cabinet to resign.
"Wealthy Palestinians with connections at the highest levels have been 
making millions helping Israel build this wall while Arafat and the 
Palestinian Authority have been urging people to fight against it," said Mr 
Khreishe, a council member from the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
"Why Arafat did nothing about it, we just don't know. These people are 
traitors who have brought shame on us, and they should be punished."
An official in Mr Arafat's office said: "We will not comment because this 
file has been closed and it is now in the hands of the attorney general."
Growing resistance to corruption in the Palestinian Authority is posing the 
most serious internal challenge to Mr Arafat's leadership. Last week, gunmen 
staged a number of kidnappings and attacks on security buildings in the Gaza 
Strip and West Bank.
Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated about high-level corruption and the 
appointment of Mr Arafat's cousin, Moussa Arafat, as security chief in the 
Gaza Strip.
The report reveals that the cement originally came from Egyptian companies 
which supplied it at a huge discount of $22 (£12.50) a ton to help rebuild 
dilapidated Palestinian houses or buildings bulldozed by the Israelis.
Between September 2003 and March this year, 420,000 tons of cement were 
allegedly sent to three big Palestinian companies. According to the report, 
however, only 33,000 tons were sold in the Palestinian market. The vast bulk 
was transported to Israel on trucks owned by the three firms. According to 
Mr Khreishe, the cement was then sold with a mark-up of at least $15 a ton - 
and possibly as high as $100 - making profits of well over $6 million (£3.4 
million) for company executives.
The Legislative Council launched an investigation after Egyptian journalists 
stumbled upon business links between a German Jewish businessman and the 
Palestinian companies.
According to the report, on November 9 last year a letter was sent to Mr 
Arafat by the Palestinian Authority comptroller, revealing that open-ended 
import licences for the cement had been signed by Maher al-Masri, the 
economy minister.
The Palestinian Authority comptroller asserted in the letter that the cement 
was destined for the wall.
The letter was allegedly received and seen by Mr Arafat on the same day that 
he urged people to demonstrate on the first international "Day against the 
Wall". According to Mr Khreishe, Mr Arafat took no action to stop further 
imports, which continued for another five months.
Ministry officials said that Mr al-Masri was unavailable for comment. The 
minister was quoted on a Palestinian news website challenging the claims, 
although he conceded that some cement had been transported to Israeli 
businessmen. "There is an exaggeration," he said. "The goal is to distort my 
reputation."
He said that his own investigative committee found that only 14,500 tons of 
concrete were transported to Israel. He conceded that two ministry officials 
carried out some "suspicious administrative violations" in relation to the 
permits, and that there was not full co-ordination between the economy and 
finance ministries regarding the cement quota. The ministry had issued 
permits for 233,000 tons, he said, and had then cancelled permits for 65,000 
tons.
The revelations in the report are highly embarrassing for Mr Arafat, who has 
been pushing the international community to condemn the 425-mile barrier, of 
which about one quarter has been built. Israel says that the barrier is 
vital to protect its citizens from suicide bombers and terrorist attacks. 
Palestinian leaders argue that it is designed to deprive them of a state, 
and is cutting off Palestinians from their land, schools, doctors and 
relatives.
Last week, the United Nations condemned the barrier and demanded that it 
should be torn down. 

              Nella sua prima gioventù Karl Marx si professava cristiano. La sua prima
opera scritta è intitolata L'unione dei fedeli con Cristo. In essa leggiamo
queste bellissime parole: « Attraverso l'amore di Cristo volgiamo al tempo
stesso i nostri cuori verso i nostri fratelli che sono intimamente a noi
legati e per i quali Egli dette se stesso in sacrificio ».
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