Rawabi, Palestine

Rawabi, from CBS 60 Minutes, Dec. 8, 2019
"If we can build a city, a futuristic city, a secular city, a democratic city then we can build a state." Bashar al-Masri

"To me, this land is Palestine and inhabiting this area is emphasizing that we're here and we're here to stay for the long term."  Masri

Bashar Masri by Harrison Jacobs, Business Insider, Oct 20, 2018.

A fascinating story was aired on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago, about a new Palestinian city. It led me to google it to learn more. 

The city is called Rawabi, which means"the hills." It does indeed look, from the visuals, like a "City upon a Hill." It's very pretty, nestled in mountainous hillsides among lots of trees. Green and vibrant. 

The builder and dreamer is Palestinian-American billionaire developer Bashar al-Masri. This was the first time I heard about him or Rawabi. I was intrigued. 

All photos by Harrison Jacobs, Business Insider.

Rawabi, between Birzeit and Ramallah, is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank. That was an amazing revelation. The West Bank. The Israeli occupied territory that's been contested for decades, that is home to 2.6 million Palestinians, and also 400,000 Jewish settlers and scores of Israeli soldiers. 

That's what makes Masri's enterprise so interesting. Among other things, the project is putting some 8,000 Palestinians to work, a good thing when a 20% unemployment rate racks Palestine and its struggling economy. It is estimated that some 3,000 to 5,000 high tech and information jobs will also be created, including information technology, pharmaceuticals and health care. (***Google article)  

Rawabi is built around the Q Center, a public square
surrounded by luxury shopping, cafes, office towers.

The construction has faced huge obstacles, from getting water from Israel (a tough fight) to obtaining building permits and getting by Israeli checkpoints. On top of this, sadly, Palestinians in the West Bank "are still being prosecuted under military orders that were designed to keep the peace in the early days of the occupation and that have stifled civil rights for more than 50 years," according to a report by Human Rights Watch.* 

It's called the Q center because it's funded in part by
Qatar's Diar Real Estate Properties . 

Masri has persisted. He just seems to plow right through any obstacles, any setbacks. 

Journalist Harrison Jacobs visited Rawabi recently to find out more about this new city on a hill. He wrote about it in the Business Insider. It's a wonderful story.**  It engenders hope.

"As I sat in a French cafè al fresco, chatting with Palestinian-American billionaire developer Bashar al-Masri," he writes, "it occurred to me that I could be anywhere." 

A cafe in Rawabi, Harrison Jacobs, Business Insider
  

Jacobs was, in reality, in Rawabi, a $1.4 million planned city built to serve as a model city for the new Palestinian state.  "I'm a believer that we have a state in the making," Masri told him.  (https://www.businessinsider.com/west-bank-palestine-rawabi-city-israel-news-2018-10.)  

"The question in my mind is not when we will have the state, but rather what shape the statehood will be in."  

Masri's master plan envisions a high tech city with 8,000 housing units that will house up to 40,000 people. Housing will be spread across 22 neighborhoods. Plans for the city include everything from night clubs and restaurants to libraries, retail shops, and a hospital.  

Construction began in January 2010. Masri calls it "a Marshall Plan to pick up the economy." There was plenty of opposition, among some Palestinians but mostly from Israeli settlers who feared it would be a home to terrorists. 

Prices are $80K to $100K, expensive for most people but still
less expensive than Ramallah. Rawabi has no problem
with buyers, according to a Rawabi spokesperon.

That didn't stop construction. Nothing daunts Masri. 

Buyers started moving into apartments in August 2015. By May 2017, despite difficulties with Israeli checkpoints controlling a new road to the city, 3,000 Palestinians had taken up residence. As more units are completed, more Palestinians, who can afford the price, are moving in. 

"At first, sitting in the mixed-use public square that forms the heart of Rawabi, I couldn't shake the feeling that I might as well be in Maryland, where such shiny new developments abound. But as we sat, Masri pointed out the details: the pedestrian town center and the tiled walkways are based on the old cities of Nablus and Hebron, the city has five gates like the old city of Jerusalem, and the corniches and arches are drawn from Arabic architecture. Above us towered American-style office buildings."

The symbolism is moving. It looks like Masri's "City Upon a Hill' in the West Bank will become the shining star from which the state of Palestine rises up and with it, hopes for peace at last. 

A 15,000 seat Roman-style Ampitheatre for concerts, Broadway plays, cultural events.
Several concerts have been held here already.  Impressive, and beautiful!  

sources:
*  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/israeli-military-law-stifles-palestinian-rights-watchdog-says?CMP=share_btn_tw

**   https://www.businessinsider.com/west-bank-palestine-rawabi-city-israel-news-2018-10. Good article by Harrison Jacobs. 

*** Google article on Rawabi--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rawabi