Despite multiple raids and a detainment made by the Palestinian Authority against participants of the Peace to Prosperity economic workshop in Manama, Bahrain, Ashraf Al-Ghanem says that he will remain strong and courageous. Al-Ghanem is the CEO of Al-Ghanem Furniture Company and a participant in last week's workshop, making him a target of Palestinian Authority arrests.
While he told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that he feared for his life, by Tuesday, Al-Ghanem said, "I feel stronger than yesterday."
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His home was one of four raided and damaged by the Palestinian Authority in Hebron this week. Another Bahrain workshop participant and Hebron businessman, Salah Abu Mayala, detained for "betrayal" and released by the PA after receiving a threatening letter from the US embassy.
According to Al-Ghanem, PA security forces also attempted to arrest him as they raided his home. "They came on a Friday at 10 p.m.," he explained at a Jerusalem press conference. "I was not far from home when a Palestinian officer called from my brother's phone, saying that I was wanted for participation in the Bahrain workshop. They remained at my home for three hours, confiscated personal materials, my ID card, passport and credit cards."
After hearing of the raid, Al-Ghanem called Ashraf Jabari, head of the 15-person Palestinian delegation to Bahrain, as well as part of the Palestinian Businessmen Forum in Hebron.
According to Jabari, the raids and detainment were illegal under Palestinian basic law. "There is no charter in any law that says a Palestinian businessman is not allowed to take part in an economic workshop [to which] he was personally invited," he stated.
Jabari informed his legal adviser and an Israeli local news channel, and within hours, he said, American officials and a nongovernmental human rights organization called him offering their help.
Despite the arrest and raids, Al-Ghanem and Jabari deemed the Bahrain conference a success.
Representatives from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Morocco, the United States and the United Kingdom were present at the workshop.
"I witnessed it," Jabari told JNS. "I saw how Arab investors were excited about cooperation and private development projects."
"We had the opportunity to meet with the senior people and counterparts in the region," he reported. "Every participant confirmed their goal to help strengthen the Palestinian economy and towards development."
"We are talking business," he added. "If you don't have a strong economy, you can't have a strong state."
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
