The streets of Gaza City are deserted these days. Anyone who could make the 45-minute trek south to Rafah has gone into Egypt for supplies and a chance to break out of Gaza - if even for a few hours.
Overnight, the price of cigarettes was cut in half. At the beginning of the week, a pack of cigarettes in Gaza could cost more than four bucks. By week's end, the price was back down to two dollars.
The other reason Gaza's streets are empty these days is because many people can't get gas for their cars.
Israel is refusing to resume normal fuel shipments into Gaza until Palestinian militants stop firing crude rockets and mortars into Israel.
Israel is pumping in some fuel for Gaza's only power plant and offering some diesel, but Palestinians are actually refusing to accept the small shipments of diesel to protest Israel's policies.
This week, Hamas political strategist Ahmed Yousef was ebullient and boastful.
First, Rafah, he said. Next, maybe Erez, the sole passenger terminal linking Gaza and Israel.
On its face, the idea seems unrealistic and reckless. One can easily imagine what would happen if thousands of Palestinians tried to storm the well-defended Israeli border crossing - and it is not a pretty picture.
The Rafah events have given Hamas some new political leverage and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is offering to mediate talks between Hamas and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
So far, Abbas is refusing to talk. Abbas will meet tomorrow with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in what looks like an attempt to boost the PA president's profile at a time when he has been sidelined by events in Gaza.
After that, Abbas is reportedly heading to Egypt to talk with Mubarak about Gaza.
Abbas and his pro-Western caretaker government have been crafting a plan to take control of the Gaza borders. But the idea has so far failed to take hold.
In a speech today in Ramallah, Abbas renewed the offer to put forces on the borders. Maybe the idea will gain some traction in Egypt, though it's not likely that Hamas will accede to the plan without receiving some concessions...
Maybe Tel Aviv should try poison gas?
Posted by: Georgann Marks | January 26, 2008 at 07:54 AM
buenos,
was wondering if the mexicans might consider copying the palestinians?
keep up the good work.
Posted by: carlos townsend | January 26, 2008 at 08:18 PM
buenos,
was wondering if the mexicans might consider copying the palestinians?
keep up the good work.
Posted by: carlos townsend | January 26, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Dion, have you done much reporting from Gaza before? Have you actually done much now? I'm not seeing much reporting on your blog of how awful it is for Gaza's 1.4 million people to be cooped up in their Strip, so vulnerable not just to Israel's siege and economic strangulation but also to frequent lethal Israeli military incursions.
I haven't been there since March 2006. It was claustrophobic enough then. I can only imagine how much worse it is now. Can't you blog about this, since you're actually there?
Also, when you're talking Gaza Palestinians how do you feel, knowing that you can leave any time you want and go just about wherever you want? (Including to Jerusalem, the national capital that they love but which almost none of them have been able to visit since 1993.)
Anyway, I'd love to see a lot more reporting here!
Posted by: Helena Cobban | January 28, 2008 at 03:10 PM
Perhaps the reason Mr. Nissembaum isn't blogging about how awful life in Gaza is, is because it isn't so awful. It is also self-inflicted. Israel had hoped that when it left Gaza (with much Israeli industry intact) that it would encourage the local population to capitalize on this and to build their economy. But instead they focused their efforts on sending bombs into Israel. Perhaps if Hamas would take care of the people instead of it's political agenda the people in Gaza would have a better life. Maybe it's time the Palesinians took responsibility for their own lives instead of blaming Israel for everything.
Posted by: Tina | January 30, 2008 at 04:24 PM
Helena:
I spend a great deal of time in Gaza and have written extensively on this blog and in my stories about the problems in Gaza. I was the only US print reporter in Gaza when Hamas took over in June and have devoted a lot of time and writing to documenting what has happened there since then. You can read about it in many blog entries and stories if you take a look.
As to Tina' suggestion that life in Gaza isn't awful, I guess that's a matter of perspective. You can debate whether the problems are self-inflicted, but there is no debate that Gaza suffers from rolling blackouts, food shortages, persistent poverty, a shattered economy and pervasive hopelessness. And even with the broken border, Palestinians in Gaza are basically trapped and cut off from the world. I suspect a lot of Americans would consider life there awful.
Posted by: Dion Nissenbaum | January 31, 2008 at 12:32 AM