Chairman Arafat has invited me several times to visit him in Ramallah and to see El Bireh again.
For me, it was an amazing experience. I saw where my father came from. I was given a royal welcome in El Bireh - they even slaughtered a sheep in my honor.
When the people gave them the mandate to govern in 2008, these UDP leaders had one thing in mind: They run things. They forgot all their lofty promises to the people. They set out to crush the PUP and to erase all the accomplishments of the PUP years in government.
We need to diversify the economy. We need to get away from sugar.
We in the small developing countries are beginning to understand that our own citizens share a common fate requiring the active role of government to ensure that every citizen has a chance and means to participate productively within the society and to curb society's dangerous encroachment on the physical environment.
