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Jakarta - Erwin Dariyanto - At the age of 14, Bashar Masri was arrested and imprisoned by Israeli soldiers. When it was 1975, Masri, who was born in Nablus, Palestine in 1961 with his schoolmates, was active in a demonstration in the West Bank against the Israeli occupation.

As it was known in 1967 Israel managed to seize the West Bank territory from Jordan control. The young Masri rallies a demonstration of rejecting the Israeli occupation. "As a young man, I believe in violence at the time," Masri told Time.com , September 2015.

In addition to the protests, Masri also wrote to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Kurt Waldheim to protest against the Israeli occupation."We are Palestinians and nothing but the Palestinians," he said.

In the 1970s, Israel was cruel. The Israeli army may bring in anyone in the West Bank who is demonstrating and carrying a Palestinian flag. Masri became one of the Palestinian youths who were arrested and jailed for throwing stones at the Israeli army. He was forced to take the test from behind bars. At the age of 16, Masri sent his father to finish high school in Cairo Egypt.

From Cairo he studied at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech, and a field of management studies in London, England. In 1987 he returned to Palestine when the Intifada began to break.

However, Masri no longer demonstrate and throw stones at the Israeli army.He changed his struggle by planning the development of the Palestinian territories. "At that stage, I will not go out in the demonstration, I'm more on the planning side," he said.

At that time there was no job opportunities in the West Bank. Masri also worked abroad. He only returned to Palestine at certain times. In 1991 when he had just landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Masri was deported. He is considered a threat to Israel.

Masri was only allowed to return to Israel in 1994. During his time abroad, Masri worked in a number of real estate companies in Morocco, Libya, Jordan and Egypt. He also works as a management consultant in London, Saudi Arabia, and Washington DC.

On his return to Nablus, Palestine Masri meets with some of his accomplished but nonpermanent schoolmates. "They're in a sad situation," he recalled.

Encouraged by the Oslo Agreement, Norway in 1994, Masri was determined to build the Rawabi that would become the identity of the Palestinian pride.Rawabi's close development with Ramallah will create jobs for youth and Palestinian society.

In 2008, Massar International, a company founded by Masri in 1994 formed a subsidiary named Bayti Real Estate Investment Company - Rawabi. It is this company that built and developed Rawabi, the first metropolitan city in Palestine.

This Mega project managed to employ 10,000 more Palestinians. Engineers and architects are Palestinians. A third of them are women.

Through the Rawabi project, Masri wants to show the world that the Palestinians can build their own nation. "It brings national pride - yes we can, and Rawabi also sent a message to the international community that we are not what they believe to be a bunch of terrorists We are ready to build our country." This is the proof (Rawabi), "Masri told The Guardian. 

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