Ramadan Tales of Woe, live from the Gaza Strip...Gaza -- Ma'an report - As Ramadan comes to a close and the final celebration of Eid Al-Fitr approaches, Muslims in Gaza are flooding into markets to buy what food and small gifts they can find and afford.
They should go to the place where Blair's sister in law did her shopping. Looks like they had tons of shit. Snickers anyways...
The goods they find, however, have mostly been smuggled in through the network of tunnels that run beneath the Egypt-Gaza border. The events of Ramadan and of Eid in particular reflect the crisis brought on by the underground market and the tunnels that fuel them.
So how come you waited to the last minute, Abu?
Awwww, you know...since the truce, we've been really busy at the metal shop...
The goods, however, have so far this year cost 45 Palestinians their lives, having been crushed or suffocated by the debris and gas in the underground tunnels. Families of these victims have called for the opening of the Rafah crossing so goods do not have to cost lives. Despite the high wages tunnel workers can bring home, families of the dead tunnel workers say that it is better to get the goods legitimately, and put an end to the underground trade.
He told me, "Ma, don't kill the job". Shows what he knew, wise guy.
Informed sources in Gaza's security services have told Ma'an that the government plans to charge tunnel operators 40 thousand Jordanian dinars per worker that they send through the tunnels. This amount is in case of death, and will be handed over to the family of the deceased as a sort of social security.
Suuuure. It's...ummmmmmmmm...for the guys. Yessirree...
That operators are willing to pay this "tax" on the life of their laborers indicates how lucrative the business is, especially given the high price of goods on the black market. Moreover, since shop owners can claim anything as smuggled in, prices can go up on any goods at any time, with the justification that they were smuggled in.
So look for the smugglers label. It tells you this is an official product of the Gaza Tunnel Authority. You'll feel better paying through the nose for it.
A spokesperson for the families of tunnel victims said that Gazan youth go looking for jobs in the tunnels, since there are no other opportunities available in Gaza. "Thousands of youth," he said "have daily shifts in the tunnels" and added that 90% of those who died perished in accidents caused by Egyptian authorities trying to put a stop to the tunnel industry.
Anybody in there?
Nope.
Okay. BOOM...
"Recently," he added, "Egyptian police have even entered the tunnels to arrest people."
You're under arrest, tunnel boy.
Come and get me coppers!
Nah. BOOM...
All along the Gaza-Rafah border hundreds of tunnels, some barely a hundred meters apart, stretch beneath the "no man's land" separating Gaza from Egypt. The employees take home upwards of 300 US dollars per month, though the merchants are the real benefactors.
Nooooo I ain't gonna work in Mahmoud's tunnel no more...
The black market industry fueled by goods arriving through illegal tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border has been working overtime to fill markets with hard to find goods. Since goods have been brought in by smugglers and taxed to boot, prices are high and unemployed and poor Gazans cannot afford the goods.
Hey, Mo didn't have no cheap Egyptian motorcycle, so suck it up.
Gazan mothers traditionally head to markets and shop for new clothing for children before the Eid celebrations, this year they have come home empty handed. Umm Ramez commented, "people have paid their lives for bringing goods in through the tunnels, and the cost goes right to the citizens."
Hamas becomes the middleman and passes the graft onto you...
Abu Jamal, who is the bread winner of a family of five said "what drives my wife crazy is the high price of children's clothing these days. Every day she tries to buy what she needs but returns empty handed because of the high prices." He suggested that the government should begin monitoring prices, saying that local traders and merchants were gouging the people because they had no other options or places to purchase their holiday goods.
So then we go to the UNRWA and get it for nothing.
Some Gazans say prices have changed from one day to the next. One woman related her experience of shopping for a winter jacket for her children. She had a little money to spend and so visited one of the "elegant" Gaza shops and asked about the price of a jacket she had her eyes on. She found the price too much, but went back the next day to ask again and perhaps bargain with the owner. When she asked the price it had doubled, and again she walked out empty handed. She also suggested that prices be monitored.
They are monitoring them. How else would they know how much they can shake them down for?