'It’s Not A Life, It’s Mere Existence': Surviving The Siege In Gaza
By Ahmed Aldabba
13 July, 2010
Palestinenote
Gaza - The markets of Gaza are packed with a new variety of food after Israel decided to relax its four-year-old blockade, but to unemployed resident Saleh Al-Da’ma, 38, this Israeli decision is meaningless, because his pockets are empty.
Palestinian children pick up the pieces following Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, on 20 January 2009. [Photo: RafahKid via Flickr]
"Relaxing the siege means nothing to me since I can’t even buy a pair of socks for one of my kids," Al-Da’ma said, while collecting stones from a former Israeli settlement (abandoned in 2005) to sell to one of the stone crushers becoming common in the seaside enclave.
Al-Da’ma lost his job as a construction worker in Israel when Israel applied "closure" to Gaza in 2000 at the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada. He later worked as a day worker in Gaza, but he became unable to find work after Israel placed the territory under siege following Hamas' victory in Palestinian legislative elections in 2006.
"I have been jobless for years now, and I only make a few shekels, which are not even enough to feed my 10 kids," he bitterly said. "Life cannot get any better in Gaza unless the siege is fully lifted."
The Israeli government, led by right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, decided in June to loosen land blockade of the Hamas-ruled enclave to avoid growing international criticism of the embargo following Israel’s deadly attack in May on aid ships bound for Gaza and killing nine Turkish activists onboard.
"The markets were full of all kinds of food even before Israel eased the siege," Al-Da’ma said as dug up gravel with a broken axe under a pounding sun. "What the Strip really needs is a complete lifting of the siege and for construction materials to be allowed in."
At least 11,152 houses were totally or partially destroyed by Israel during its war on the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009, according to the Gaza-based Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.
Two months after the war, donor states pledged some $4.4 billion to rebuild Gaza. But Israel's ban on construction materials has meant that not a penny of the pledged aid has materialized. In its recent decision to ease some aspects of the siege, Israel decided to allow in construction materials, but only for certain projects organized by the UN and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority government.
Omar Sha’ban, a Gaza-based economist, said Israel’s blockade has gravely affected Palestinians ability to purchase goods. The unemployment rate is a staggering 55%, and more than 83% of Gazans are food insecure, he said.
"We cannot talk about relaxing the blockade while tens of thousands of workers and businessmen lost their jobs and industry," said Sha'ban. "It’s a positive step, but this must end with ending the blockade that destroyed the Palestinian economy."
Sha’ban stressed that the of the Strip will not have real possibility of economic development unless all crossings are open for the free movement of goods and people in and out of the territory.
"Gazans are still suffering from unemployment, poverty and destitution even after Israel’s steps to relax the siege," he said.
"The blockade made me a poor man," Al-Da’ma said miserably. "Two of my kids had to quit school to feed the rest of their siblings."
He added that there would be thousands of jobs for workers like him if Palestinians are allowed to bring in construction materials to rebuild what the war destroyed.
"Reconstruction would provide thousands and thousands with permanent jobs," he said. "But this cannot happen as the borders are closed."
For the Hamas rulers of the coastal enclave, Israel’s recent steps to loosen the blockade is are "new maneuver to win international credibility" after worldwide outcry over the flotilla raid.
"After all, the crossings will be fully controlled by Israel," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza. "What we need is constant opening of the crossings to let the Palestinians import raw and construction materials."
Hisham Rezeq, 37, used to own one of the largest concrete factories in Gaza, which was destroyed during the war. He believes that the new Israeli plan to ease the embargo is "a big lie."
"They [the Israelis] are lying to the whole world," he said. "They keep fooling the world by spreading lies of easing the blockade while they ban the entry of raw materials needed for construction and industries into Gaza."
It cost Rezeq more than a million dollars over three years to build the factory. Before the blockade he used to make at least $50,000 a month. However, Rezeq, once a millionaire and now virtually penniless thanks to the Israeli blockade, mainly depends on food supplies he receives from a local NGO that help poor Gazans.
"I lost my business, I spent my savings and all I have now is the rubble of what used to be a factory," he said.
"It’s not a life, it’s existence. I want a better life for my kids who are deprived of the basic needs," he said, almost in tears.
