Israel’s blockade will have far-reaching repercussions on the future sustainability of Gaza and on the Palestinian-Israeli political process
Monday, 26 April, 2010 - 18:27
Trade and travel in Europe may be returning to normal after Iceland’s volcanic eruptions, but the Gaza Strip remains paralysed not by a natural but by a man-made disaster –a systematic policy aimed at destroying its cultural, social and national infrastructure.
Since June 2007 Israel has tightened its blockade of Gaza and sealed all Gaza’s commercial and travel crossings. Travel in and out of Gaza through Israeli-controlled crossings is banned except for rare humanitarian cases, and Rafah crossing into Egypt has been closed to regular passage. Gaza’s airport was shut down nine years ago although no ash clouds halted its operations.
Israel has blocked entry of all but about 70 items including basic foodstuffs, medicines and grocery items. It argues that it is blocking items allegedly used by Hamas in manufacturing rockets or for military operations. These include stationery, toys, crayons, pencils …
The blockade has disrupted the normal lives of 1.5 million people and wreaked havoc on Gaza’s economy. The ban on the entry of raw materials, construction materials and on exports has made most industry impossible to sustain.
Gaza traders have sustained significant losses because of the breach of supply contracts and the paralysis of Gaza’s industry; an estimated 1500 containers have been stuck at the Israeli seaport since June 2007.
More than a thousand days of blockade, closure of terminals, denial of permits to traders and deletion of Gaza’s custom code have suffocated Gaza’s businesses, thousands of which have shut down and laid off their workers. As a result, one third of Gaza’s industries have migrated to neighbouring Arab countries.
What remains of Gaza’s economy has become completely dependent on the tunnels economy, which exposes the vulnerable and the poor to skyrocketing prices, due to the monopoly of black-market tunnel operators.
Israel has deliberately transformed 80% of Gaza’s residents into beggars, living on humanitarian handouts.
The 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza put even more pressure on Gaza’s economy. A systematic destruction deprived Gazans of many of their remaining assets. Damage to Gaza’s economic and civil infrastructure is estimated by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics at about $1.9 bn. Between 600 and 700 factories, workshops and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Between 35 and 60 per cent of the agricultural sector was ruined hitting the livelihoods of almost 13,000 families who depend directly on farming, herding and fishing.
Israel argues that its blockade of Gaza aims to undermine Hamas rule, to stop rocket firing and to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in a cross-border attack in June 2006. But in practice, it has failed to achieve any of these declared objectives.
Are these really Israel’s objectives? The continuity of the collective punishment of Gazans suggests, instead, a systematic long-term plan to further the fragmentation of the political, economic and cultural structure of the Palestinian people and consolidate the separation of the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli policies seek to convey a simple message to Gaza’s residents: “You are governed by Hamas, a ‘terrorist organization’ which ‘vows to destroy Israel’. This brings you poverty, unemployment and isolation, while the West Bank, governed by a friendly Palestinian Authority that talks to Israel and fights ‘terrorism,’ enjoys ‘economic peace’. So you need to choose who rules you.”
Many Palestinians resent this reasoning, but it receives tacit support from the international community. Seldom does Gaza appear in US officials’ statements - as if Gaza does not exist or is of no significance. European officials do mention Gaza, but only in the context of an appeal for a relaxation of the closure. The larger political issue of the deliberate marginalisation of Gaza is ignored.
Living in destitution and denied basic dignity, Palestinians are subject to a dirty game that aims to change the political discourse to that of a so-called ‘economic peace,’ played according to Israel’s terms.
Instead of focusing on the core issues including ending the Israeli occupation and its corollary, the settlement project in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinians are cornered into bargaining for the opening of a terminal, a relaxation of a restriction, a removal of a checkpoint or a change to the route of the wall.
The people of Gaza do not need your handouts; many others across the world deserve them more. What the international community needs to understand is that we seek freedom and ownership of our economy. We want to produce and manufacture, sow and reap our harvests, and raise and educate our children.
Said Almadhoun is a Palestinian Human Rights activist from the Gaza Strip. He was one of the few students allowed to leave Gaza for his studies in July 2008, following a campaign by civil society. He recently received his LLM from the American University in Washington, DC.
This article may be reproduced on condition that JNews is cited as its source
Further reading:
IMF: Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework for the West Bank and Gaza: Fifth Review of Progress, April 2010: http://www.imf.org/external/country/WBG/RR/2010/041310…
Gisha: Restrictions on the Transfer of Goods to Gaza: Obstruction and Obfuscation, January 2010: http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:Wiyps3roB-kJ:www.gi…
Israel’s blockade will have far-reaching repercussions on the future sustainability of Gaza and on the Palestinian-Israeli political process
Since June 2007 Israel has tightened its blockade of Gaza and sealed all Gaza’s commercial and travel crossings. Travel in and out of Gaza through Israeli-controlled crossings is banned except for rare humanitarian cases, and Rafah crossing into Egypt has been closed to regular passage. Gaza’s airport was shut down nine years ago although no ash clouds halted its operations.
Israel has blocked entry of all but about 70 items including basic foodstuffs, medicines and grocery items. It argues that it is blocking items allegedly used by Hamas in manufacturing rockets or for military operations. These include stationery, toys, crayons, pencils …
The blockade has disrupted the normal lives of 1.5 million people and wreaked havoc on Gaza’s economy. The ban on the entry of raw materials, construction materials and on exports has made most industry impossible to sustain.
Gaza traders have sustained significant losses because of the breach of supply contracts and the paralysis of Gaza’s industry; an estimated 1500 containers have been stuck at the Israeli seaport since June 2007.
More than a thousand days of blockade, closure of terminals, denial of permits to traders and deletion of Gaza’s custom code have suffocated Gaza’s businesses, thousands of which have shut down and laid off their workers. As a result, one third of Gaza’s industries have migrated to neighbouring Arab countries.
What remains of Gaza’s economy has become completely dependent on the tunnels economy, which exposes the vulnerable and the poor to skyrocketing prices, due to the monopoly of black-market tunnel operators.
Israel has deliberately transformed 80% of Gaza’s residents into beggars, living on humanitarian handouts.
The 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza put even more pressure on Gaza’s economy. A systematic destruction deprived Gazans of many of their remaining assets. Damage to Gaza’s economic and civil infrastructure is estimated by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics at about $1.9 bn. Between 600 and 700 factories, workshops and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Between 35 and 60 per cent of the agricultural sector was ruined hitting the livelihoods of almost 13,000 families who depend directly on farming, herding and fishing.
Israel argues that its blockade of Gaza aims to undermine Hamas rule, to stop rocket firing and to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in a cross-border attack in June 2006. But in practice, it has failed to achieve any of these declared objectives.
Are these really Israel’s objectives? The continuity of the collective punishment of Gazans suggests, instead, a systematic long-term plan to further the fragmentation of the political, economic and cultural structure of the Palestinian people and consolidate the separation of the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli policies seek to convey a simple message to Gaza’s residents: “You are governed by Hamas, a ‘terrorist organization’ which ‘vows to destroy Israel’. This brings you poverty, unemployment and isolation, while the West Bank, governed by a friendly Palestinian Authority that talks to Israel and fights ‘terrorism,’ enjoys ‘economic peace’. So you need to choose who rules you.”
Many Palestinians resent this reasoning, but it receives tacit support from the international community. Seldom does Gaza appear in US officials’ statements - as if Gaza does not exist or is of no significance. European officials do mention Gaza, but only in the context of an appeal for a relaxation of the closure. The larger political issue of the deliberate marginalisation of Gaza is ignored.
Living in destitution and denied basic dignity, Palestinians are subject to a dirty game that aims to change the political discourse to that of a so-called ‘economic peace,’ played according to Israel’s terms.
Instead of focusing on the core issues including ending the Israeli occupation and its corollary, the settlement project in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinians are cornered into bargaining for the opening of a terminal, a relaxation of a restriction, a removal of a checkpoint or a change to the route of the wall.
The people of Gaza do not need your handouts; many others across the world deserve them more. What the international community needs to understand is that we seek freedom and ownership of our economy. We want to produce and manufacture, sow and reap our harvests, and raise and educate our children.
Said Almadhoun is a Palestinian Human Rights activist from the Gaza Strip. He was one of the few students allowed to leave Gaza for his studies in July 2008, following a campaign by civil society. He recently received his LLM from the American University in Washington, DC.
This article may be reproduced on condition that JNews is cited as its source
Further reading:
IMF: Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework for the West Bank and Gaza: Fifth Review of Progress, April 2010: http://www.imf.org/external/country/WBG/RR/2010/041310…
Gisha: Restrictions on the Transfer of Goods to Gaza: Obstruction and Obfuscation, January 2010: http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:Wiyps3roB-kJ:www.gi…