"Rami Levy does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or religion when hiring and promoting employees. All employees, Palestinians and Israelis, are treated equally and receive equal benefits. Salaries are based solely on one's position and performance. My goal for all Rami Levy employees is to have the same opportunity to succeed." — Rami Levy, owner of Israel's third-largest supermarket chain, half of whose 4,000 workers, he says, are Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
Palestinian investors, according to Fatah official Hatem Abdel Qader Eid, could have prevented Rami Levy from building his new mall had they invested in the construction of a Palestinian shopping center. "It's true that there are wealthy Palestinian businessmen..."
Now that the campaign has failed to prevent the opening of the mall, Fatah and its followers have turned to outright threats and violence. The threats are being directed toward Palestinian shoppers and Palestinian merchants who rented space in the new mall.
If a Palestinian who buys Israeli milk is a traitor in the eyes of Fatah, it is not difficult to imagine the fate of any Palestinian who would dare to discuss compromise with Israel. If he is lucky, he will have a close encounter with a firebomb. If he is not lucky, he will be hanged in a public square.
Rami Levy, a Jewish Israeli businessman, has just built a shopping mall in east Jerusalem and most of its workers and customers are Arabs. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction has responded to the mall enterprise in a manner that showcases how Palestinian leaders continue to torpedo benefits to their people. Pictured: A Rami Levy supermarket branch in western Jerusalem. (Image source: Yoninah/Wikimedia Commons)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction is angry. It seems a Jewish Israeli businessman has just built a shopping mall in east Jerusalem and most of its workers and customers are Arabs.
Fatah leaders have called for boycotting the mall.
Fatah, which is often described in the Western media as a moderate faction, has responded to the mall enterprise in a manner that showcases how Palestinian leaders continue to torpedo benefits to their people.
Where in the world would any leader condemn a project that provides jobs to hundreds of his or her people? Where in the world would any leader call on his or her people to boycott a shopping mall or a supermarket that offers competitive prices for clothes and food? Where in the world would a leader describe the opening of a commercial project that benefits his or her people as a catastrophe ("nakba")?
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