By Mya Guarnieri *

The ongoing Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip prevents Palestinian farmers from exporting their goods. (Hatem Omar/MaanImages)

Before the holiday, palm fronds are in high demand as religiously observant Jews build thatched huts that commemorate the 40 years that, according to Biblical tradition, the ancient Hebrews wandered the desert. Once Sukkot begins, however, palm fronds are no longer needed.

Initially, the decision to allow Gaza to export palm fronds seemed like an easing, however small, of the Israeli siege. But according to Gaza's farmers, exporters and the Israeli non-governmental organization Gisha, it wasn't.

The announcement came just three days prior to Sukkot. Because palm frond farmers in Gaza have not been able to export their crop since the blockade began in 2007, they were surprised by the decision and were left with insufficient time to harvest, dry and sell their product.

Kamel Aklook is a 43-year-old trader from Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. "In the beginning, I was happy to hear [Israel's decision to import palm fronds from Gaza]," Aklook said, explaining that he heard about it on Al-Jazeera. "I called my clients in Israel. And then I realized there was no time."

Aklook believes that the announcement was only intended to bring the prices of palm fronds down. "It was a political decision, just for show," he said, pointing out that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was under pressure from rabbis to break the local monopoly and lower the cost for Jewish consumers.
Before the siege, Aklook exported palm fronds from Gaza to Israel for more than 20 years. Aklook, his wife and their 12 children enjoyed the fruits of a brisk business with Jewish partners.

The first year of the blockade, Aklook suffered a $55,000 dollar loss and he was forced to throw the unsold palm fronds away. Now he is not working and relies on the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to feed his family, something he finds humiliating. "To ask for help from anyone, except for God, is dishonorable," Aklook says.

Jibreel Baraka, a 40-year-old palm frond farmer from Deir al-Balah, told a similar story. "In 2007," he said, "I prepared 4,000 units for delivery but I didn't get a permit and they went to waste."

When palm frond season came this year, Baraka didn't bother harvesting as he had no expectations of selling it. And the Israeli move to import palm fronds from Gaza didn't offer any hope, Baraka explained, as it would have taken him at least a week to prepare the crop for export.

Though business was good before the blockade, Baraka is now a subsistence farmer. Still, he worries about his ability to feed his wife and their 13 children. The vegetables they live off of aren't growing well, he said.

The troubles facing palm frond farmers and exporters underscore the devastating effects of the blockade on the whole of the Gaza Strip's agriculture industry. In 2008, the second season impacted by the Israeli closure, Oxfam estimated that Gaza's farmers alone took a $6.5 million hit.

Zachary Hijazi, a carnation farmer, says that he has lost between $9,000 to $10,000 dollars per dunam (the equivalent of 1,000 square meters) of land annually since the siege began.

In 2007, he cultivated and harvested his flowers in hopes of exporting them to Holland, as he had in years past. But in the end, Hijazi couldn't get his product to market. Like other farmers, he was forced to throw the flowers away or feed them to livestock.

In 2009, with assistance from the Dutch government, Gaza's carnation farmers, Hijazi included, managed to export just more than half a million flowers to Holland. While Hijazi appreciated the help of the Dutch, he pointed out that before the blockade Gaza's carnation farmers exported 60 million flowers annually. The trickle of flowers that made it out wasn't enough.

Israel's attacks on Gaza last winter made an additional impact on Hijazi's business; the irrigation pipes were damaged and he was forced to repair them. This is a serious problem facing many of Gaza's farmers; the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reports that the Israeli incursion inflicted $170 million of damages to the Gaza Strip's agricultural infrastructure and land. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture predicts that the agricultural industry will be impacted by an additional $88 million of indirect losses attributable to the bombardment.

Hijazi is now deep in debt due to three failed seasons. And he believes that the world has forgotten about the people in the Strip.

Ahmed Surani, spokesperson for the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee in Gaza, is not only concerned about the economic impact of the blockade. The widespread feelings of hopelessness are worrisome, too. "We feel like we are in a jail," he said. "We are compressed from all sides."

Fishermen can't access the Israeli-controlled Mediterranean Sea. And Israel has stepped up its patrol of the buffer zone, which eats up approximately 25 percent of Gaza's agricultural land.

Surani points out that this tight control of Gaza's borders hinders more than exports; it also poses an obstacle to subsistence farming and fishing. Due to the buffer zone, farmers who ordinarily would be able to grow food for their families are severed from their land and must rely on international aid instead, said Surani. Meanwhile, their fields lie fallow.

The total devastation of Gaza's agricultural sector, which prior to the blockade generated nearly 10 percent of the Strip's GDP, has serious implications for the future. "It affects the possibility for a viable Palestinian state," Surani said.

Rehabilitation and reconstruction of the agricultural industry is crucial, according to Surani. Borders must be opened so palm fronds, carnations and Gaza's other agricultural goods can be exported. The buffer zones must be dissolved so farmers can access their land.

Creating jobs and sustainable activity, Surani said, "gives hope to the people."

Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, remarked, "The palm fronds are just one example of the potential for mutual benefit -- currently stymied -- in allowing farmers in Gaza to import raw materials and to export their produce to Israel, the West Bank and third[-party] countries. It is not clear how Israeli security is enhanced by preventing Gaza residents from exercising their right to engage in dignified work."

* Mya Guarnieri is a Tel Aviv-based journalist and writer and a regular contributor to The Jerusalem Post. Her work has also appeared in Outlook India --- India's equivalent to and subsidiary of Newsweek --- as well as The National, The Forward, Maan News Agency, Common Ground News Service, Zeek, The Khaleej Times, Daily News Egypt and other international publications.

Wael Kubtan contributed to this article.

Source: The Electronic Intifada

By Nadia W. Awad

Dubai was the center of attention again last week as it spent $20 million on an exorbitantly lavish, all-night party to celebrate the opening of its latest hotel, the Atlantis Palm Jumeirah. Described as the party of the decade, no expense was spared. Two thousand celebrities accepted an all-expenses-paid invitation to join the celebrations, with Hollywood stars such as Robert de Niro, Lindsay Lohan, Wesley Snipes, and at least one Olsen twin found sipping Dom Pérignon with Dubai's royal family. Kylie Minogue was paid somewhere in the region of $1 and $3.5 million for a 45 minute performance, followed by DJ Sam Ronson and others. The 1,539 room hotel boasts the exclusive Bridge Suite, which alone costs $35,000 per night to stay in. We all know the Chinese like to do things big, but the fireworks display at the Beijing Olympics was dwarfed by the Atlantis's display, which was seven times the size of the Beijing show and could apparently be seen quite clearly from space.

$20m firework party of Dubai

But before you start wondering whether you've wandered onto the wrong site or are reading an article from The Insider, rest assured - this descriptive introduction does have a point! I don't believe I was the only person to read about the party and its copious expense without thinking that the timing of the whole event was in very poor taste. As I read a description of the elaborate fireworks display, I couldn't help but consider the 1.5 million Palestinians living in darkness in Gaza, courtesy of an Israeli blockade on food, fuel and medical supplies- 20 days and counting so far. Meanwhile, the world is sinking deeper into a global financial crisis which Dubai seems to be in denial of; millions of people have and will lose their jobs; and military and humanitarian crises are still ongoing in places like Darfur, Iraq, DR Congo and Zimbabwe. Not to mention the 2,000 or so flights to Dubai for the A-list celebrities that probably chipped off a little more from our melting polar icecaps. Still, there was no evidence of concern as tycoons and celebrities streamed into Dubai for what was reportedly the world's most expensive private party. In true capitalist style, the rich have once again found a way to ‘party as the world burns'.

However, this article is not a criticism of capitalism, or the activities of the world's rich. There are plenty of other people who are better adept at doing that job. Rather, my argument is with Dubai itself, as an emirate of the UAE and a member of the Arab and Muslim world. There is no denying that Dubai, along with the other emirates, has given millions in aid to the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority, for which Palestinians are ever grateful. There is even a section of Gaza named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi, who funded the construction of housing units there. Nevertheless, there is more than one type of support that can be given. Unfortunately, Dubai usually resorts to what it does best - it throws money at a problem, just as it has thrown money to the Palestinian people. When it comes to moral and political support, it is less forthcoming. While we are aware that the original residents of Dubai support the Palestinian cause, we rarely hear their government take a controversial stance on it. True, like most other Arab and Muslim nations, Dubai does not have diplomatic or political relations with Israel. However, it has relations of another kind. In this regard, the name Lev Leviev comes to mind.

Earlier this year, controversy erupted when Dubai announced it had allowed the diamond magnate, Lev Leviev, to open two retail stores in the Gulf emirate, including one just opened in the Atlantis. What it did not announce was that Lev Leviev is an Israeli billionaire and a major funder of illegal settlement construction in the Palestinian Territories, including infamous settlements such as Har Homa and Maale Adumim. Two of his companies, Africa-Israel and Leader Management & Development, as well as several other subsidiaries such as Danya Cebus, have been primary forces in the displacement of Palestinian villagers from their lands in the West Bank. Leviev is also a major donor to the Israeli Land Redemption Fund, which is known to use illicit means to obtain Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. Granted, the Dubai authorities initially displayed an unwillingness to award the Israeli billionaire a license to do business in Dubai; but apparently those feelings of reluctance were dispelled when Leviev used American and European connections to persuade Dubai officials otherwise.

To donate millions of dollars in assistance to the Palestinians and then to profit from business dealings with a primary funder of Palestinian land theft is hypocrisy at its best. The lavish hotel opening last week was just another example of Dubai's lack of tact and sensitivity. The Atlantis itself is owned by Solomon Kerzner, a South African billionaire, but the cost of the party was split between him and the Dubai government-owned Nakheel PJSC, also a developer of the hotel. Perhaps business is merely that, business. But in the heart of the Middle East, it would have behooved Dubai to express a little solidarity with the suffering of its fellow Arabs, the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, perhaps by donating some of the firework display funds to purchase fuel for Gaza's power plant, or by having a moment of silence. Or perhaps by kicking Leviev out of the emirate, or at least, putting pressure on him to refrain from illegal settlement building. Big business is not the only goal in life.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband infuriated the Israeli government when he informed them of his intention to press for EU tariffs to be imposed on produce and products coming from Israeli settlements. Londoners demonstrated outside a large supermarket to bring attention to the fact that produce coming from the illegal settlements is being sold in Britain under the misleading ‘West Bank' label. On the other hand, Dubai, who has more in common with us historically, geographically, culturally and religiously, is helping to bankroll a major Israeli settlement builder, indirectly causing untold misery for Palestinians. Dubai is not the first Arab state to have business dealings with Israelis, nor is it likely to be the last; but to have dealings with such a man as Leviev helps to undermine efforts to stop illegal settlement construction. As one Palestinian official in Gaza said, "We never imagined that a day would come when we would have to appeal to an Arab country to refrain from harming us and undermining our cause."

Palestinian children living in darkness as Israel block fuel deliveries.

To say Palestinians feel a bit betrayed is an understatement. We definitely need humanitarian aid, but more importantly, we also need Arab and other international nations to stand by us morally and politically, shoulder to shoulder, in the face of an ever-worsening Israeli occupation. And as always, actions speak louder than words.

The 2,000 years old seed was discovered in Occupied Palestine near the Dead Sea.

Its age has been confirmed by carbon dating.

Like any other Palestinian stolen historical pieces, the seed was planted on Jan. 25 in a black pot in one of the Israeli kibbutz's, southern Naqab desert (Israel now call that part Arava desert) and claiming it as a part of their history.

It is the oldest seed ever known to produce a viable young tree.

The ancient seeds were found 30 years ago during archeological excavations on Mount Masada, the mountaintop fortress on the shore of the Dead Sea where King Herod built a spectacular palace. When the Romans conquered Palestine and laid waste to the Temple in Jerusalem, Masada was the last stand of a small band of Jewish rebels who held out against three Roman legions for several years before committing mass suicide in A.D. 73...read on