Posted on February 8.
Walking
into a supermarket in Gaza might come as a great surprise for a person
visiting the coastal enclave for the first time. At first glance, the
visitor would be amazed by the level to which the shelves are packed
with all kinds of products, ranging from basic food supplies to
expensive chocolates and Coca-Cola. A father pushing a heaped stroller,
or a toddler restlessly pulling her mother's hand and pointing at a
lollipop, are scenes one is likely to encounter.
A closer look into the shelves, however, reveals a
paradox that finds a manifestation in almost every aspect of life in
Gaza. On the surface, everyone seems to be normally going about their
daily lives, but even purchasing behaviors are controlled by Israel. The
Israeli government brags about the truckloads it allows into the Strip
through the Karem Abu Salem commercial crossing point, but it always
forgets, deliberately or not, to mention that the products that enter
the Strip through this very crossing are mostly marked with 729, the
made-in-Israel barcode. The same story repeats itself in the fishing
sector. A broad look shows Palestinian fishing boats dotting the sea in
summer evenings. But the fact is that these fishermen continue to suffer
from the Israeli-imposed restrictions aimed at setting off-limits to
their activity. The list of Israel's restrictive and intrusive measures
is too long to be covered in a single essay.
First-time visitors are usually lured by this façade
of normalcy. Many wonder how a territory under siege can have all that
it has, and the supermarket example is often cited to prove that the
blockade is not as bad as is often publicized in the media.
This simplistic view of the terms "siege" and
"occupation" make it necessary to clear out some of the common
misrepresentations of what it means to force a population of 1.6 million
to live under a military siege and occupation for more than five and
sixty years respectively.
First, it is important to note that life under siege
does not mean that the population in question is necessarily starving.
However, it necessarily means that this population constitutes a huge
consumer market to its jailer — Israel in this case.
The Palestinian people in Gaza are forced to import and buy Israeli goods.
With Israel's restrictions on local production and its more-than-once
bombardment of Palestinian factories, it has become almost impossible
for the besieged population to use available resources for local
production.
Prior to Israel's deadly assault on the Turkish aid
flotilla in late May 2010, Israeli products barely reached the Strip.
But after a massive wave of criticism that was hailed on Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he vowed to "ease" the blockade. Netanyahu
fulfilled his promises. What followed was a tremendous inflow of Israeli
goods that continues to be pumped in to this day.
The problem associated with consuming the goods of
the occupying authority has two faces at least. Israeli products are
high-priced, and, with few alternatives in place, Palestinians are
forced to pay more for products that could be much cheaper if produced
locally. A report released by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics on
the eve of the International Population Day in November revealed a
poverty rate of 38.8% among Palestinian individuals in Gaza in the first
quarter of 2012.
This means that 38.8% of Gazan people cannot afford
the prices charged for the goods. For them, the siege is more than
whether the supermarket shelves are crammed; it is the fact that it
makes them poor and causes difficult life conditions.
Due to the higher quality of Israel's exports to
Gaza, combined with restrictions on domestic production, local
businesses can hardly compete and rapidly lose market share to
their
Israeli counterparts. With limited amounts of money going for domestic
production, Palestinian factory owners do little to enhance the quality
of their output.
The more complex face of the problem lies in that
Palestinians not only boost Israel's economy, but also make the
occupation less costly. Israel,
which denies the Palestinian people in the occupied territories the
right to vote in the country's elections, controls what they eat and how
they furnish their houses. Palestinians are made to fund the
illegal settlements in the West Bank and deadly assaults such as that
waged against Gaza in November, to name only two.
Mainstream media constantly ignores these facts and
focuses on what it dubs as fancy resorts and hotels in the Strip. Here,
it is worth noting that the five-star hotel Israel relentlessly uses to
counter accusations of collective punishment was established under the
auspices of the Palestinian multi-millionaire and Palestinian
Authority-affiliated businessman Munib al-Masri. The hotel is mostly
attended by diplomats and politicians who visit Gaza as well as an
upper-middle class Gazan minority.
Living under siege does not result in a famine such
as that in Somalia and other parts in Africa. It results in deteriorated
living conditions and forced consumerism
of the besieged population. Moreover, Israel's siege has cut Gaza off
from the rest of Palestine and the world. Therefore, humanitarian and
Western-funded projects help improve life conditions in the short-term
only. A long-term solution can be reached when Israel abides by its
obligations under international law.
Rana Baker, 21, is a student of Business Administration in Gaza. She writes for the Electronic Intifada.
Comment: Note the absence of Hamas, terror etc-very interesting strategy!
No comments:
Post a Comment