Qurei denies selling Cement for fence

[abu afak]

(This is too good.. abu)

Qurei denies selling cement for fence

Associated Press Feb. 10, 2004

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Wednesday rejected claims made on Israeli television that a cement company owned by his family provided concrete for Israeli settlements and the Israeli West Bank barrier.

"I invite you and I invite the people who said this to come and check on the ground," Qurei told reporters in Rome. "At base this is a report that is not even worth the ink it was written with." Qurei is one of the most vocal opponents of Jewish settlements and the barrier, and restated his opposition to the barrier after a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Qurei comments were his first since Israel's Channel 10 TV reported Tuesday that the Al-Quds Cement Company _ owned by Qureia's family _ has been providing the materials to help build the barrier.

The TV report said Qurei was providing the cement to build the concrete slabs right outside his house in Abu Dis, a town near Jerusalem divided by a 25-foot wall.

Television footage also showed cement mixers leaving the Al-Quds company and driving to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, just a few miles away.

On Wednesday, journalists who went to the Al-Quds factory mentioned in the TV report were told by workers that the company belongs to the Qureia family. But the managers at the factory refused to talk to reporters, and demanded that a TV crew stop filming the factory immediately.

Palestinian media have not been reporting on this story and only the few people who have access to the Internet are aware of the report.

However, on Tuesday, a Palestinian lawmaker said that a parliamentary committee was investigating whether Palestinian cement companies are providing Israel with material for the controversial barrier and have been selling concrete to Jewish settlements.

The lawmaker said there was evidence that a company owned by Qureia's family is among them.

Another lawmaker, however, Hassan Khreishe, who is also on the inquiry committee, denied the team was investigating Qurei.

Khreishe said the committee was investigating allegations which originated in an Egyptian newspaper report published in November - that three Palestinian cement companies had illegally imported concrete from Egypt and sold it to an Israeli businessmen.

"We want to know if this cement was used to build the barrier or any other Israeli needs. This is the information we are investigating," Khreishe said. "There are several names mentioned, but for sure, the name of Abu Ala is not mentioned in this issue."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1076393705136

[abu afak]

PALESTINIAN FIRMS MAY BE BUILDING ISRAEL'S FENCE


February 11, 2004 -- JERUSALEM - Palestinian officials are probing whether there's concrete evidence that some of their own firms are helping to build Israel's controversial "security fence."

One Palestinian lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday it appears that even a cement company owned by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's family is among the businesses building the fence that their government vehemently opposes.

Israeli TV reported that the Al-Quds Cement Co., owned by Qureia's family, has been providing the materials to help build the barrier.

It said Qureia himself was providing the cement to build the concrete slabs right outside his house in Abu Dis, a town near Jerusalem.

But other Palestinian lawmakers denied the allegations.

Still, television footage showed cement mixers leaving Al-Quds and driving to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, just a few miles away.

The Palestinian premier was in Rome and unavailable for comment.


Qureia is one of the most vocal opponents of Jewish settlements and the barrier.

Israel says the barrier is needed to prevent Palestinian bombers from entering the country.

Palestinians have condemned it as a land grab because it would dip into the West Bank to incorporate some Jewish settlements.

NYPost.com

[Oh Jerusalem]

Are you all blind? (http://www.israelforum.com/board/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=4944)

[abu afak]

Originally posted by Oh Jerusalem
Are you all blind? (http://www.israelforum.com/board/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=4944)

I don't know about "All" but I didn't see it.

Maybe all the posts you put up in between.

The 'In the News' moves quickly.

[abu afak]

Fatah: Try Qurei for treason

"A leaflet distributed by a Fatah group on Thursday called for putting Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on trial for "high treason," charging that he is supplying concrete to Israeli contractors building the security fence and settlements.

A recent report on Channel 10 revealed that a cement factory in Abu Dis owned by Qurei was providing concrete for the construction of the slabs that make up parts of the West Bank fence.

It also disclosed that the factory was supplying concrete for construction in Ma'aleh Adumim and the new Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa.

Qurei has strongly denied the report, but the managers of the al-Quds Cement Factory have confirmed Qurei's involvement in the business.

The leaflet, signed by a group called The Honorable in the Fatah Movement, called on PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the Fatah revolutionary council, which is holding a three-day meeting in Ramallah, to take an immediate decision to try Qurei on charges of high treason.

"At a time when our heroic and angry masses are moving to tear down the racist and annexation separation fence and [thwart] the Judaization of Jerusalem, and a time when martyrs, prisoners, and the wounded are confronting the occupation and the settlements, at this specific time, we urge you to take an immediate decision to try Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on charges of supplying Israeli settlements and the fence with concrete," the leaflet said.

"We also call upon you to bring to trial the ministers involved in the cement affair on charges of high treason," it added.

According to reports in the Egyptian media, a PA minister was also involved in importing concrete that is being used for the construction of the fence and settlements."

JPost

[abu afak]

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 Israeli wall cuts through the Palestinian town of Baqa el-Gharbiya
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.