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Palestinian Businessman Who Attended Bahrain Economic Workshop: "I'm Afraid for My Life"
(Jerusalem Post) Khaled Abu Toameh - Ashraf Ghanem, 45, owner of a furniture company in Hebron and one of 13 Palestinian businessmen who attended last week's economic conference in Bahrain, said on Monday that he's been forced to flee his home after Palestinian Authority security officers tried to arrest him on Friday. "I'm afraid for my life. I can't go back to my home," he said in an interview. "I pay about NIS 20,000 in income taxes each month to the Palestinian Authority. Now they want to punish me and kill me just because I went to an economic conference. What has the Palestinian Authority done for the residents of Hebron? All the projects you see in Hebron are funded by the international community. Where does the money go? Where are the billions of dollars that the Palestinian Authority received in order to help the Palestinians?" "I'm not a traitor, and I'm not a collaborator with Israel. I'm a businessman who wants to help his people and boost the Palestinian economy...and because of that I'm now being punished and forced to live in hiding."