Bashar Masri

Biography

Bashar Masri was born on February 3, 1961, in Nablus, then under Jordanian administration. As a teenager during the occupation he was repeatedly detained by Israeli forces for organizing demonstrations, and during the First Intifada he served as a conduit between the uprising's local leadership and the exiled PLO, becoming close to Yasser Arafat. He later earned a degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1983. Masri built his early fortune as a management consultant and through real estate ventures across Morocco, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and beyond. In 1994 he founded Massar International, a development and investment company, becoming one of the most prominent advocates of private-sector growth in Palestine. He also established and manages the Siraj Fund, the first Palestinian private equity fund. His most ambitious and defining project is Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city, built north of Ramallah in the West Bank. Conceived as the largest private-sector development in Palestinian history, Rawabi spans some 1,600 acres and was designed to house tens of thousands of residents, with housing, commercial districts, a tech hub, and a 20,000-seat amphitheater. The project created thousands of construction and engineering jobs and aimed to demonstrate that Palestinians could build a modern city and middle-class life under occupation. Rawabi drew international attention and also controversy, with critics raising questions about cooperation with Israeli authorities over access and water, debates Masri has confronted publicly while insisting the city is an act of national construction and economic empowerment, not normalization. Masri's work has earned wide recognition: he was named a World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow and listed by Fortune among the World's Greatest Leaders in 2018, and he has served on international development bodies. He represents the contemporary generation of Palestinian entrepreneurs who treat large-scale economic development as a strategic pillar of nation-building, betting that physical and economic infrastructure can help secure a Palestinian future.

Why This Person Matters

He built Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city and the largest private-sector project in Palestinian history, redefining economic development as a tool of nation-building.

Historical Context

Bashar Masri was born in 1961 in Nablus under Jordanian administration, and his political coming-of-age took place under Israeli occupation, where as a teenager he was repeatedly detained for organizing demonstrations. During the First Intifada he served as a conduit between the uprising's local leadership and the exiled PLO, growing close to Arafat, before studying engineering in the United States. His business career and his defining Rawabi project unfolded in the post-Oslo West Bank, a landscape of fragmented territory, Israeli control over land and water, and a Palestinian Authority struggling to build statehood. The very controversies surrounding Rawabi, over access and coordination with Israeli authorities, reflect the constrained conditions under which any large Palestinian project must operate.

Historical Context

1. 1961 — Born in Nablus, Jordanian-ruled West Bank
2. 1967 — Six-Day War and occupation of West Bank and Gaza

Legacy & Influence

Masri's defining legacy is Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city, built north of Ramallah across some 1,600 acres with housing, a tech hub, and a 20,000-seat amphitheater, the largest private-sector project in Palestinian history. Through Massar International and the Siraj Fund, the first Palestinian private equity fund, he reframed large-scale economic development as a pillar of nation-building. Named a World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow and listed by Fortune among the World's Greatest Leaders in 2018, he gained global stature. He endures as the standard-bearer for a generation betting that physical and economic infrastructure, and a Palestinian middle-class life, can help secure a Palestinian future under occupation.

Topics & Themes

• Nakba Generation
• West Bank

References & Sources

1. Bashar Masri — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_Masri
2. Meet the Palestinian Who Built the First New Town — https://time.com/4018306/rawabi-bashar-masri/
3. Bashar Masri - DFC — https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/development-accountability-council-dac/bashar-masri