Abbas Decides to Convert Opulent Presidential Palace into National Library

Traveling north from Ramallah en route to Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city, visitors being shown the area by journalists of The Media Line invariably ask, “What is that imposing structure?” as we pass by. From now on the answer is no longer “PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s super-opulent presidential guest palace,” – a combination of Camp David, the Blair House, Taj Mahal and Shangri La. Here on, it’s the National Library, perhaps the only one that houses a large indoor swimming pool. Built on a plot of land measuring some 290,000 square feet, the structure itself measures 50,000 square feet. In addition to the pool, the facility has gardens, courtyards and a helicopter pad. Abbas recently told the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction that he wanted the complex to be made available to the people. Nothing has been said about criteria for access to the facility which is nearing completion after five years of construction.