Excerpts: Greenhouse conspiracy.Gazans in Jordan.Saudi's foreign workers.PA
vs Israel 25 August 2005

+++JORDAN TIMES 25 Aug.'05:
"What's growing in the greenhouses?"
Michael Jansen
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"Compensation to settlers evacuating illegally occupied territory
contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international law."
"The tie-in with Agrexco is certain to perpetuate Israel's colonial
control over at least the output of the greenhouses"
"USAID was set to buy the greenhouses with funds allocated for the
Palestinians until the Palestinian Authority objected to using assistance
monies to compensate Israeli settlers."
"In the Israeli greenhouses, 1,000 dunums are planted with organic crops,
but Palestinians have very little experience in tending the range of plants
in the Israeli greenhouses."
"some of the greenhouses ... had to meet strict rabbinic requirements
....Palestinians will not be in a position to meet these requirements."
"wealthy businessmen closely tied to the Palestinian Authority could use
the greenhouses as a money-making proposition at the expense of ordinary
Palestinians living under intolerable conditions in the Gaza Strip."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:As Israeli settlers in Gush Katif commenced to dismantle or destroy theirspecialised greenhouses in preparation for Israel's withdrawal from the GazaStrip, one of the architects of the Oslo peace process, Yossi Beilin,established the Economic Cooperation Foundation [IMRA: Established years ago. How much did it get for the transaction?] to rescue the greenhouses for the Palestinians. The Quartet's coordinatorfor the evacuation, James Wolfensohn, helped raise funds and put $500,000 ofhis own money into the scheme. Wolfensohn also approached New York DailyNews owner Mortimer Zucherman, a strong supporter of Israel ... .Eventually, $14 million was found to buy the greenhouses from the settlers. [IMRA: Said to be entirely from Jews.] The first payment was paid during the pull-out, the second is due to behanded over after Israel's army finally leaves the Strip.This looks like a commendable initiative but,
in reality, is totallyillegal. Payment of compensation to settlers evacuating illegally occupiedterritory contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention and customaryinternational law. [IMRA: It doesn't.]Authoritative sources also said Wolfensohn's personal contribution to thefund to compensate the settlers was "inappropriate", since he is an officialcoordinating the withdrawal and transfer process. ... Palestinian Authoritywent along with this plan and hurriedly established a private firm, thePalestinian Economic Development Company (PEDC), to handle the hand-over andoperation of the greenhouses....Under the settler regime the entire 4,000 dunums of greenhouses yielded$100 million in revenue a year ... . Seventy per cent was exported toIsrael, 30 per cent abroad. ... .... PEDC ... made an agreement for the sale of produce to Israel's largestagricultural import firm, Agrexco. ... The tie-in with Agrexco is certainto perpetuate Israel's colonial control over at least the output of
thegreenhouses. [IMRA: Better if Israeli companies refused?]In spite of the questionable legality and propriety of the buy-up plan,those supporting the scheme argue that the Palestinians will benefit fromthe income generated by the greenhouses and the 4,000 Palestinians who hadbeen working in the greenhouses will keep their jobs. ... .Presumably the terms of employment of greenhouse staff will remain the samein order to preserve the advantage of exploitative low labour costs.... Agricultural experts do not see the greenhouses as a viable Palestinianproject. The World Bank, which Wolfensohn used to head, adopted this view.But USAID, which issued a report last February on the development of thePalestinian agricultural sector, favours the Palestinian take-over of thegreenhouses. Indeed, USAID was set to buy the greenhouses with fundsallocated for the Palestinians until the Palestinian Authority objected tousing assistance monies to compensate Israeli settlers.Abdel Karim Ashour,
deputy director general of the Palestinian AgriculturalDevelopment Association, said: " ... There is already too much land devotedto greenhouses. We consume only 30 per cent of our agricultural productionand the rest cannot be marketed locally. Export depends on Israel which is acompetitor. Therefore, another 3,000-4,000 dunums of greenhouses from thesettlements constitute a burden rather than an opportunity. If theproduction is sold on the local market, it will harm small farmers."In the Israeli greenhouses, 1,000 dunums are planted with organic crops, butPalestinians have very little experience in tending the range of plants inthe Israeli greenhouses."We have been working with an Egyptian company for two years and can dealwith three products now," he asserted. Another source said that some of thegreenhouses ... had to meet strict rabbinic requirements ... arket.Palestinians will not be in a position to meet these requirements.. . .Ashour also said that wealthy businessmen
closely tied to the PalestinianAuthority could use the greenhouses as a money-making proposition at theexpense of ordinary Palestinians living under intolerable conditions in theGaza Strip.+++JORDAN TIMES 25 Aug.'05:"Gov't to tackle issue of Gazans residing in the Kingdom"Rakan SayadehQUOTES FROM TEXT: "The government on Wednesday said it was ready to tacke the issue of some 118,000 Gazans living in the Kingdom" "government said it was waiting for the right opportunity, politically, to open the Gazans' file"--------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXCERPTS:AMMAN - The government on Wednesday said it was ready to tackle the issue ofsome 118,000 Gazans living in the Kingdom with the concerned parties oncethe situation settles in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority assumes controlof the Strip after the Israeli pullout.Speaking to reporters yesterday following a meeting between Prime MinisterAdnan Badran and the heads of the Lower
House blocs, Lower House SpeakerAbdul Hadi Majali did not elaborate on the discussions with the governmentregarding the issue, or the plans the government has prepared to tackle theissue.He said deputies ... had voiced their fears regarding the issue ofresettlement and the alternative homeland, while the government said it waswaiting for the right opportunity, politically, to open the Gazans' file.Majali, who described the meeting as positive, said the lawmakers demandedthat the government control the number of visitors entering and leaving theKingdom, especially Palestinians and Iraqis ... .. . .+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 18 Aug.'05:"Whom to Believe?" Abdul Aziz Al-Nahari .Okaz -QUOTES FROM TEXT: "more than 40 percent of vacant jobs in the private sector are reservedfor Saudis. ... no one seems interested in applying to fill any of thesejobs" "88 percent of all workers employed in the private sector are
foreigners------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:According to recent statistics released by the Ministry of Labor, more than40 percent of vacant jobs in the private sector are reserved for Saudis. Theproblem is no one seems interested in applying to fill any of those jobs.What the ministry wants to tell us is that there are indeed a lot of jobsbut Saudis are not willing to apply for them, and that job seekers are notreporting to labor offices to be employed.From the ministry's perspective, the impression is that the private sectoris innocent of all accusations that it is not doing enough to employ Saudis.The proof is that the sector offered more than 82,000 jobs on golden platesto Saudis but more than 40 percent of the vacant jobs were not filledbecause job-seekers declined to come forward.. . .By now every one should have known that all those Saudis who knock at thedoors of labor
offices across the country every day carrying theircredentials and wanting to apply for jobs, as well as the others who seekwork in the foreign-dominated retail business, are not serious about findingwork. They should realize that there is nothing called unemployment and thatthe expression only exists in the mind of newspaper writers andcaricaturists.Reality, however, tells otherwise. There is unemployment because the figurestell us that 88 percent of all workers employed in the private sector areforeigners, out of a total non-Saudi workforce of five and half million.This makes the 40 percent figure of available jobs pale before thestaggering number of 5.5 million jobs occupied by non-Saudis.. . .I am afraid the vacant jobs that the ministry was talking about were of thekind reserved for security guards and watchmen who work for 12 hours a dayand get a mere SR1,200 a month.($335)The ministry absolved the private sector of any wrongdoing, although foreignworkers continue to
dominate private businesses. In any company or privateestablishment you would find that foreign workers dominate these firms, fromdepartment heads down to janitors.Whom do we believe here? Reality, which tells us that there are 5.5 millionforeign workers in the private sector, or the statistics released by theministry? ... . [IMRA: There are more than 7 million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia.Where are the other 1.5 million?]+++HAARETZ 25 Aug.'05:"Qureia calls IDF arrest raid in Tul Karm a 'brutal crime'"By Amos Harel Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz ServiceQUOTES FROM TEXT: " 'The brutal crime in Tul Karm shows that Israel does not want calm' " "The troops entered the West Bank city as part of an arrest operationimed at leading Islamic Jihad gunmen" "two of the dead were wanted militants and all five Palestinians wereinvolved in shooting and throwing firebombs at the IDF
troops."-----------------------------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:Palestinian Prime minister Ahmed Qureia ... condemned as a "brutal crime" anovernight Israel Defense Forces arrest raid that killed five Palestinians,at least one a wanted militant, in the West Bank.The Shin Bet domestic security service believes one of the wanted men whowas killed was involved in planning the terror bombing of the Stagenightclub in Tel Aviv."The brutal crime in Tul Karm shows that Israel does not want calm," Qureiasaid ... . [IMRA: Wants immunity for Palestinian attackers.].. . .Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades on Thursday morning threatened toexact "painful revenge" for the deaths of their members during the overnightarrest raid ... ."Our revenge and our retaliation will be equal to the size of the massacre,"said Abu Abdullah, a Tul Karm Islamic Jihad commander.The troops entered the West Bank city as part of an arrest operation aimedat leading Islamic Jihad
gunmenThe incident began when soldiers from the undercover Duvdevan unit entered acafe in the city with the aim of arresting two wanted Islamic Jihad men. Oneof the soldiers fired one shot in the air and called on the wanted men tosurrender. ...a gun battle broke out in and around the cafe and firebombswere thrown.Four of the Palestinians were killed on the spot. The fifth was seriouslywounded and died later in an Israeli hospital.According to Palestinian sources, three of the dead were youths between 14and 17 ... who were not known members of any militant organization. Thesources said one of the dead was Islamic Jihad militant Adel Abu Ta'ar ....However, according to the IDF Spokesperson, two of the dead were wantedmilitants and all five Palestinians were involved in shooting and throwingfirebombs at the IDF troops.. . .The IDF's Nahal Brigade has recently been conducting large-scale operationsin Tul Karm and its surrounding areas in an attempt to curb the IslamicJihad
organization, which was responsible for terror attacks on the Stagenightclub and the Hasharon mall in Netanya. Ten Israelis were killed in theattacks.Islamic Jihad leader Lo'ai Sa'adi is still at large. The IDF has recentlyreceived numerous warnings of his intentions to send suicide bombers intoIsrael.Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA