In Mideast, plan to reopen casino sparks new feud

Greg Myre

Thursday, April 26, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

JERICHO, West Bank -- With its chained gates, empty parking lot and missing plate glass windows shot out months ago, the ornate Oasis Casino represents an early casualty of the current Mideast conflict.

Now, with Israelis and Palestinians casting for ways to restore a bit of normalcy to their relations, they've raised the possibility of reopening the once bustling casino, which was a money maker for the Palestinians and a magnet for Israeli gamblers.

But even this seemingly modest proposal, which appeared to have support earlier in the week, has sparked a mini-crisis.

The Palestinians say all their towns and villages, sealed off by Israeli army checkpoints, should be opened -- not just Jericho.

"The Palestinian position is (for Israel) to lift the siege and the closure all over," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian leader who lives in biblical Jericho, one of the world's oldest cities. "It may be just a public relations campaign by the Israelis. Deeds are what count."

Israel said the restrictions were for security.

"As long as terrorism continues ... Israeli citizens won't be allowed to visit the casino," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told army radio. "We are not paying protection money. We are not saying, 'Don't kill us, and we will open a casino for you.' "

The casino, which sits in an isolated patch of scrub brush on the outskirts of Jericho, was a symbol of Arab-Israeli economic cooperation after it opened in 1998.

Israelis arrived by the busload and spent freely at Oasis, the only casino in either Israel or the Palestinian territories. The casino provided more than 2,000 jobs, and was one of the biggest money earners for the Palestinian Authority, which holds a $60 million stake in the Austrian-owned project.

But shortly after the Palestinian uprising began last September, shootouts erupted near the casino, and Israeli gunfire shattered the black plate glass windows at the front.

Without the casino business, the luxury Hotel Intercontinental next door shut down shortly after it opened, and a fish restaurant across the street still bears the scars of Israeli tank fire from last fall.

Alon Arnon, who handles public relations for the Oasis, said "Management will open the casino when the time is right." But for now, he said, it is a matter between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Jericho, a few miles north of the Dead Sea and just across the border from Jordan, depends heavily on tourism. But on a typical weekday afternoon the town had a sleepy, empty feel, and no tourists were in sight.

"We hope the casino will reopen. We would welcome the Israelis back -- they love to gamble," said Nur al-Din, 32, a casino dealer who was passing his afternoon with a card game in an alley off Jericho's main square. "I'm sure the Israelis would be 100 percent safe if they returned."