(Wall Street Journal) Robert L. Pollock - In 1996, Mahmoud el Farra returned to the Gaza Strip after 30 years in Los Angeles and built the Palestinian Authority's first modern flour mill. PA officials pressured Farra to sell them shares and, led by Mohammed Rashid, Yasser Arafat's money man, they soon gained control of the company. Two days later they closed the market to Israeli flour. Hoping to cash in on the peace dividend, Mahmoud Hamdouni bought 30 acres near Jericho, built a gas station, and planned a housing development. He was then charged with the capital crime of treason, and freed only after signing over his land to the PA. The Oasis Casino now sits on the property. The poverty-causes-terrorism argument has little going for it. If it did, sub-Saharan Africa would be its greatest exporter.
2002-12-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive