Word: nasser
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Neither the Israeli army nor Palestinian activists managed to force Nasser Hemeid to quit his job in Israel. Arising each morning at 4, he defied Arab strikes and army curfews as he made the eight-mile trip from the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem to Jerusalem, where he put in nine-hour days as a plasterer for an Israeli construction firm. After nine years on the job, his wage had risen to nearly $3 an hour, just enough to support his wife and five children...
Israeli policymakers say the international community should fund new jobs in the territories, but they consistently squash any Palestinian efforts toward economic independence, fearing the political implications. George Nasser, a textile-factory owner in Bethlehem, says he was repeatedly refused permission to expand from 35 to 140 workers. "If we were allowed to modernize, nobody could compete with us," he says...
...Indian bazaar was of an age where he no longer cared that government informers might overhear him. "Listen to me," he demanded, urgently tapping a Westerner on the knee. "Any time an independent Arab leader looks strong," he boomed, "the West beats him down. They did it with Nasser. They have run a vilification campaign against Assad. And look what they did to Arafat. It dates from the Crusades, and it will never change." The man, a retired printer, paused. "Saddam will not win this war," he said, "but we hope he gives the West a hard time trying...
...Nasser started thinking about it and started laughing," says Fisher, smiling as he tells the story, "and he said, 'oh, would she have trouble at home...
After the Nasser interview, Fisher continued his examination of the Middle East, urging all involved with the tumultous region to look beyond their own position. In that vein, Fisher penned a book called Dear Israel, Dear Arabs, composed of separate open letters to Palestinians, Egyptians, Israelis and the U.S. State Department...