Mohamed al-Sabawi, president of the Ramallah-based Ahlia Insurance Group, was arrested by Palestinian Authority forces and held for nine hours Monday after he publicly called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s resignation.
A complaint against al-Sabawi, a 68-year-old Palestinian-Canadian entrepreneur, was filed by one of Abbas’s guards, after al-Sabawi reportedly told the Palestinian press two weeks ago that “the people want the downfall” of Abbas.
Al-Sabawi’s comments followed his refusal to let Palestinian security forces use his roof during French President François Hollande’s visit to Ramallah.
“The PA claims my father ‘insulted’ a PA representative,” al-Sabawi’s son Khaled wrote on his Facebook page. “They showed up with 7 men, armed to the teeth, at our office building.”
Both the elder al-Sabawi and his son — founder and president of MENA Geothermal — employ hundreds of Palestinians in Ramallah.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The two have fiercely criticized both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships, primarily over policies that complicate the continued expansion of their businesses in the West Bank.
“This goes to show that the US Kerry Plan to bring 4 billion in private investment to the Palestinians territories is nonsense!” Khaled al-Sabawi posted on Facebook in the hours following his father’s arrest. “Come and invest in the PA areas, but if you don’t bribe their corrupt officials, the PA will arrest you.”
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
