RE: WHY CAN'T PITA DO MORE ??? RE: There is hope..., Al-Quds news paper 26/4/01

["Sam Bahour" <sbahour@palnet.com>]

Tareq,

That falls perfectly in line with what I wrote:

"...making a wider inquiry in hopes of gaining insight/awareness to what 
has/is happening..."

Salaam,
Sam


On 6 May 2001,, Tareq Maayah wrote:

> Greetings Sam and all,
> Let us remember that HP is a member in PITA and it is only natural that
> we inquire with them. We have not yet judged HP at all. The issue must
> be tackled on the principle level and that can be done through different
> measures like the one I mentioned in my first message. In addition, the
> issue must be tackled on the individual level and firm actions must be
> taken. 
> Once more this is important for PITA.
> 
> Let us inquire with the HP local office. Maybe we get an answer that is
> a relief.
> 
> Tareq Maayah
> CEO
> __________________________________________________
> SIEMENS Information and Communication Technologies Ltd.
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> 
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From:	Sam Bahour [SMTP:sbahour@palnet.com]
>  Sent:	Sunday, May 06, 2001 6:13 PM
>  To:	Members of PITA
>  Cc:	Abudaka@pita-palestine.org
>  Subject:	RE: WHY CAN'T PITA DO MORE ??? RE: There is
> hope..., Al-Quds news	 paper 26/4/01
> 
>  Mashhour, Tareq and all,
> 
>  If I may weigh in (God forbid) on this issue;-)
> 
>  I agree with Tareq of the critical nature of this issue and I
> also agree with 
>  Mashhour that we cannot play the role of the judge and
> jury...given our legal 
>  system is just as demobilized as every other infrastructure
> institution in the 
>  country, I am not holding my breath for justice to be served.
> 
>  In the meantime, I suggest that we adopt Tareq's approach of
> making a wider 
>  inquiry in hopes of gaining insight/awareness to what has/is
> happening but 
>  we should not rush to put PITA in the role of the judicial
> system.
> 
>  Maybe Tareq or someone can volunteer to articulate the issue of
> Palestine 
>  being "labelled" and multinational firms "potentially
> contributing" to the mess 
>  we are in via a solid op-ed to the local media ... at the end of
> the day we can 
>  only educate and pick our business partners.
> 
>  ...just like in economics, if there was no demand for corrupt
> practices supply 
>  would not be so abundant.
> 
>  Regards,
>  Sam
> 
> 
> 
>  On 6 May 2001,, Tareq Maayah wrote:
> 
>  > Mashhour, let us be clear, we all know what we are talking
> about. And I
>  > mean it. We need to ask HP to give us an explanation. The
> issue is more
>  > important than names. The issue is about PITA.
>  > Tareq
>  >  -----Original Message-----
>  >  From:	PITA [SMTP:abudaka@pita-palestine.org]
>  >  Sent:	Sunday, May 06, 2001 1:35 PM
>  >  To:	Tareq Maayah; Members of PITA
>  >  Subject:	RE: WHY CAN'T PITA DO MORE ??? RE: There is
>  > hope..., Al-Quds news paper 26/4/01
>  > 
>  >  Tareq,
>  >  I am in agreement with the tone of your msg but very
>  > disappointed to see you
>  >  mentioning names. If we want to be a respectable country
> surely
>  > we cannot
>  >  start pointing finger until there is a formal indictment and
> a
>  > verdict,
>  >  which is not available in this case. I am sure you will not
> be
>  > happy if
>  >  someone, God forbid, starts dragging you company name in some
>  > un-acceptable
>  >  financial deals! All what we have here are rumors and counter
>  > rumors
>  >  PITA has asked for details and we hope will we will get these
>  > details. Also
>  >  we can ask for transparent and procurement procedure.
>  > 
>  >  Let us think how to deal with this matter definitely the PNA
> has
>  > a lot to
>  >  answer on this subject.
>  >  Regards
>  > 
>  >  Mashhour Abudaka
>  > 
>  >  -----Original Message-----
>  >  From: Tareq Maayah [mailto:tareq.maayah@ict.siemens.com]
>  >  Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 12:48 PM
>  >  To: 'abudaka@pita-palestine.org'; Members of PITA
>  >  Subject: WHY CAN'T PITA DO MORE ??? RE: There is hope...,
>  > Al-Quds news paper
>  >  26/4/01
>  > 
>  >  Hi Mahhour,
>  >  I am just wondering why nothing else can be done at this
> time.
>  > HP is a
>  >  member of PITA and should immediately be asked to provide an
>  >  explanation.
>  >  This is a real test for PITA. Is PITA going to act when
> needed
>  > against
>  >  practices that hinder the development of the sector. OR is
> PITA
>  > going to
>  >  be another 3rd world country organization that provides lip
>  > services
>  >  only while its members (HP and others) are working against
> the
>  > benefits
>  >  of the sector which they claim they would like to develop for
>  > their own
>  >  good.
>  >  I  warn, that if this issue goes unchecked then all other
>  > international
>  >  companies will refrain from even looking at Palestine as we
> will
>  > all be
>  >  "labeled".
>  >  Please remember that this issue comes about when all donor
>  > countries
>  >  (and even Arab countries) are restricting their help to us on
>  > the basis
>  >  that we are corrupt. This case shows that international
>  > companies are
>  >  adding to the corruption. I propose that we send an urgent
>  > message to
>  >  the American consulate (commercial section) and inform them
> of
>  > the issue
>  >  and ask them to provide clear directions to American
> companies
>  > to work
>  >  in Palestine in accordance to a clear code of business
> ethics.
>  > We should
>  >  also forward this letter to all other international and Arab
>  > commercial
>  >  sections in Palestine.  BUT most importantly, HP as a member
>  > should be
>  >  asked to clear its position or be expelled from PITA in a way
>  > that
>  >  clears our reputation. What would be the position of Paltel,
>  > which we
>  >  all fight its monopoly ( as an impediment to the development
> of
>  > the
>  >  sector)?  If they see a member of PITA engaged in such
>  > practices? DO we
>  >  owe Patel an apology?
>  > 
>  >  Guys, we need to act fast.
>  > 
>  >  The above is only a personal opinion.
>  > 
>  >  Tareq
>  > 
>  > 
>  >          -----Original Message-----
>  >          From:   PITA [SMTP:abudaka@pita-palestine.org]
>  >          Sent:   Sunday, May 06, 2001 9:49 AM
>  >          To:     Members of PITA
>  >          Subject:        FW: There is hope..., Al-Quds news
> paper
>  > 26/4/01
>  > 
>  >          Dear members,
>  >          To keep you informed, PITA has sent a letter to
> Minister
>  > Abu
>  >  Medain in
>  >          connection to this article, PITA offered its support
> to
>  > the
>  >  minister and in
>  >          this letter PITA asked for further information
> regarding
>  > the
>  >  case.
>  >          Obviously, as a responsible organization we could do
>  > nothing
>  >  further in this
>  >          regards except to request the governmental
> departments
>  > to have
>  >  clear and
>  >          transparent procurement procedures. As soon as we get
>  > the
>  >  minister reply I
>  >          will keep you informed.
>  > 
>  >          Meanwhile, if you have any question please do not
>  > hesitate to
>  >  directed to me
>  >          or simply send it to the board or you can send it to
> all
>  > members
>  >  at
>  >          members@pita-palestine.org advocacy is one of PITA
> major
>  >  strategic
>  >          interests, definitely PITA should not let this case
> die
>  > away.
>  > 
>  >          Regards
>  > 
>  >          Mashhour Abudaka
>  > 
>  >          -----Original Message-----
>  >          From: general-request@itsig.org
>  >  [mailto:general-request@itsig.org]On Behalf
>  >          Of Sam Bahour
>  >          Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 3:21 PM
>  >          To: general@itsig.org
>  >          Subject: There is hope...
>  > 
>  >          Read today, before tomorrow's edition is posted...
>  > 
>  >          http://www.alquds.com/today/front/news2.html
>  > 
>  > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Sam Bahour, Partner
>  Applied Information Management (AIM)
>  P.O. Box 2323, Ramallah
>  West Bank, Palestine
>  Tel. 970/2-(0)2-298-1566
>  Fax. 970/2-(0)2-298-1567
>  Cell.970/2-(0)59-378-278
>  E-mail: sbahour@palnet.com or
>  sbahour1998@alum.kellogg.northwestern.edu
>  http://www.aim-palestine.com
> 
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