|
|
August 31, 2007
Gaza on the brink of total chaos
Israeli and Palestinian businesspeople advocate for the reopening
of the Karni crossing.
RHONDA SPIVAK
According to prominent Gaza businessman and engineer Ali Abu Shahleh,
"the collapse of the Gaza economy will lead to chaos."
Abu Shahleh was the keynote speaker at a forum this month entitled
Gaza's Economy ... Where To? which was held at East Jerusalem's
stately Ambassador Hotel, under the auspices of the Israel-Palestine
Centre for Research Information (IPCRI). Abu Shahleh spoke to a
diverse crowd of Palestinians, Europeans and some Israeli Jews,
and directed criticism at Israel, Hamas and Fatah for their roles
in the closure of the border crossings into Gaza.
"The Palestinian people cannot wait too long for the reopening
of the border crossings into Gaza," said Abu Shahleh, who ran
unsuccessfully in Palestinian elections in 2006 for a third-way
party that only won two seats. "They will wait until the international
summit in the fall to see if U.S. efforts bear fruit. After that,
if there is no change, the people may explode and the explosion
will be directed at everybody who is involved in closing Gaza's
borders – at Hamas, at Fatah and Israel. Desperate people can
do anything ... Palestinians in Gaza will not be willing to see
Palestinians in the West Bank get wealthier, while they starve."
Since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip on June 12, the Karni
crossing, which had served as the main passageway of goods into
and out of Gaza, has been open only for the transfer of humanitarian
aid. Israel and the Palestinian Authority continue to search for
a viable alternative to Hamas border guards manning the crossings.
Prior to Hamas's violent takeover, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority
was responsible for operating the crossings.
"I am not Hamas and I am not Fatah and I am being kidnapped
by all parties," said Abu Shahleh. He is involved in a project
to build 3,000 residential apartments in Gaza, which are being donated
by the United Arab Emirates. "I was on the design team,"
he noted. "We'll have to stop building within two months, because
we'll be out of materials. I used to have 30 people on staff. Now
I can only employ two."
Dr. Salam Fayyad, Fatah's newly appointed Palestinian Authority
prime minister, and Palestinian academic Hanan Ashrawi were the
only two candidates for the third-way party elected to the Palestinian
parliament. Abu Shahleh was the eighth candidate on the list.
"Israel is using economic pressure [by closing the border]
to get concessions from the Palestinians," he said. "Under
the unity deal between Hamas and Fatah, there were 700 trucks per
day of imports and 37 trucks a day of exports that passed in and
out of Gaza through the Karni crossing. Since the Hamas takeover
in mid-June, there are only 110 trucks per day of [humanitarian
aid] that are allowed into Gaza and zero exports." In a tone
of desperation, he added: "We want trade, not aid."
Abu Shahleh also had harsh criticism for Hamas. "Hamas accepted
to have elections under the Palestinian Authority, which was itself
created under Oslo. Hamas has to admit that they have to consider
all of the agreements that were signed. If Hamas cares about the
Palestinian people, they need to dialogue [with Israel]. Hamas signed
a unity agreement that said that if there will be any violent resistance
against Israel, it has to be agreed by all factions of Palestinians,
but Hamas breached this. Under the unity agreement, Hamas has to
give the ability to negotiate agreements to [PA Chairman Mahmoud]
Abbas, so why did they not let him negotiate?"
Abu Shahleh said he could never agree to the way that the Hamas
militia came to power last June. "We need new elections,"
he said, citing polls that show "that 70 per cent of the people
in the West Bank and Gaza feel Hamas has made mistakes and that
65 per cent of Palestinians want new elections." A 20-something
Palestinian woman in the crowd agreed with him. A middle-aged Palestinian
man asked him about the stream of Gaza businessmen who have been
fleeing to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen to escape the economic
chaos in Gaza. Other Palestinian businessmen in the crowd shook
their heads in dismay.
Abu Shahleh painted a picture of economic ruin for Gaza. "There
are containers of carnations waiting at the [Karni] crossing to
be exported," he said. "We will lose them all. Fruit ready
for export has rotted.... As of the middle of July, 50 per cent
of the factories in Gaza were closed. There were plans for the United
States to spend $155 million on a project to build a needed water
carrier through Gaza, but the U.S. has stopped the project. Prior
to Hamas's violent takeover, one person in Gaza had to feed eight
people in a family. Now, one person has to feed 15 people."
This Rosh Hashanah marks a shemitah (sabbatical) year in
Israel, where Jewish farmers are obliged to let the land lay fallow
and not be farmed. "When it is a shmitah year, Israel [usually]
imports all its agricultural goods from Gaza. But now, Israel has
made economic agreements to import agricultural goods from Jordan
instead," said Abu Shahleh.
Meanwhile, in the last month, Israeli businessmen in the private
sector have also begun to agitate for the opening of the Karni crossing.
Israeli businesses in textile, metal, furniture and food sectors
are suffering. Israeli builders have been prevented from working
with Gazan subcontractors, which has raised costs and made it hard
to remain competitive. Uriel Lynn, president of the Federation of
Israeli Chambers of Commerce, has called on the Israeli government
to do its utmost in opening the border, by setting up a private
security company if necessary.
According to Gershon Baskin, co-chief executive officer of IPCRI
along with Palestinian Hanna Seniora, there are currently efforts
being made to involve a third party in negotiating a way to reopen
the Karni crossings. "The government of Turkey, the Turkish
Federation of Industry and the government of Norway, who have some
contacts with Hamas, have been approached," he said. "For
an agreement to occur, not only Israel [and] the PA in Ramallah,
[but also] the donor states – the United States and Europe,
would have to approve of the arrangement. Hamas would have to be
a silent partner in order to guarantee the safety of the personnel
of the third party who would man the crossing."
Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that an agreement
has remained elusive.
As for a future Fatah-Hamas unity deal, Baskin said, "PA President
Abbas and Prime Minister Fayad will not re-enter any unity government
with Hamas that will result in freezing them out of getting international
aid."
Baskin rejected the notion that Israel could negotiate a peace treaty
"only with Palestinians in the West Bank. The West Bank and
Gaza must both be a Palestinian state together," he insisted
– but added, "there is no government in Gaza that one
can deal with."
In the meantime, IPCRI has just created the Israel-Palestinian Business
Forum. "This is being formed to serve the needs of those Palestinians
and Israelis who want to work together and who believe that economic
co-operation can help ease the political problem," said Baskin.
Still, Timea Spitka, who teaches mediation at Ben-Gurion University
and attended the event, noted: "I am one of the only optimistic
people around who thinks the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be
solved.... The only other optimist is Gershon Baskin. Everyone else
I speak to is pessimistic."
Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer who spends
several months of the year in Israel.
^TOP
|
|
