Election poll day in Gaza

An article on election poll day in the Gaza Strip highlighting: the party-like atmosphere at the polling stations, the voices of the people against occupation and corruption and the popular support for Hamas - born in Gaza. According to the author of the article, Eóin Murray: "Certainly anyone who has ever been to the Gaza Strip and witnessed Israeli human rights violations and the chaos on the streets because of the collapse of law and order is not shocked at a good showing by Hamas".

'Occupation' and 'collapse of law and order' reminded me to put the following figures:

• More than 1.4 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip.
• 90% of the population are refugees.
• Gaza has the highest birth-rate in the region – 5.5 to 6.0 children per woman.
• Eighty per cent of the population is under 50; 50 per cent is 15 years old or younger.
• Access to healthcare and education is rapidly declining.
• The half of the territory in which the population is concentrated has one of the highest densities in the world.
• Levels of unemployment are of 35 to 40 per cent.
• Some 65 to 75 per cent of Gazans are impoverished (compared to 30 per cent in 2000); many are hungry.
• About 42 per cent of Gazans are categorised by the World Food Programme (WFP) as 'food insecure'; in five areas of Gaza, the figure exceeds 50 per cent. An additional 30 per cent of the population is 'food vulnerable', i.e. under threat of becoming food insecure or malnourished.
• According to the World Bank, Palestinians are currently experiencing the worst economic depression in modern history, caused primarily by the long-standing Israeli restrictions that have dramatically reduced Gaza's levels of trade and virtually cut off its labour force from their jobs inside Israel.

The question is now: What comes next? What will be the relationship between the new leadership and the international community? Will violence excalate? Will the international donor community cut off aid? What will happen to Gaza?

Palestinian Fishing after the Disengagement

(Personal research work)

Prior to the disengagement, internal movement was almost impossible within the Gaza Strip. Fishers and farmers from Al Mawasi, a 14 kilometre long and one kilometre wide enclave caught between the Gush Katif settlement block and the sea had little access to the outside world, for example. Fishing was prohibited from the nearby wharf of Khan Younis and subject to restrictions from the other wharf, the Rafah wharf. People could only access Al Mawasi through a single internal checkpoint through which it was virtually impossible for non residents to enter- be they family, friends or merchants. Only one fisher a year was allowed into Gaza City to register all the other fishers. These registrations were important for fishers as they made them eligible for international assistance, in particular World Food Programme food aid, on which the restrictions on sea and land made them heavily dependent (see also Safety Net for Palestinian Fishermen).

It was clear from the Disengagement Plan that Israel would maintain marine authority off the coast of Gaza. Less clear were the restrictions, if any, Israel will impose on the activities of the fishers and whether Israel will continue marine inspection off the coast of Gaza.

Months after the disengagement, completed on 12th September 2005, internal movement has seen a dramatic improvement within the Strip. Yet, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reports that: since fishers have been allowed back into the sea they have been subjected to intensive monitoring by the Israeli military at sea, including shooting (see also Some relief for Gaza’s fishermen).

The lastest OCHA Humanitarian Update for November December 2005 reports that:

• Access for Palestinian fishing has improved in Al Mawasi;
• Due to the prohibition of use of Khan Younis wharf and the restrictions at the Rafah wharf as well as Palestinian looting in the aftermath of the pull out, the wharves are in need of repair (USD 675,000 and USD 460,000 respectively);
• There is growing concern in Al Mawasi about the ability to export agricultural products through Karni crossing.
  

As for access to fishing, the OCHA update reads that:

• Palestinian fishing remain restricted by Israeli measures up to 10 nautical miles from the coastline;
• Palestinian fishing is further prohibited one nautical mile north of the border with Egypt and one and a half nautical miles south of the border with Israel;
• Palestinian fishing was totally prohibited between 24 September and 6 October (see also Some relief for Gaza’s fishermen).

OCHA stands for Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - It is a United Nations agency whose mandate is inter alia to coordinate humanitarian response. On the OCHA Humanitarian Update Nov Dec 2005 link, you will find a map of access for Palestinian fishing dated November 2005 (p7) as well as maps of Gaza prior and post disengagement - practical to see where the Gush Katif settlement was. (personal research work posting to be continued)

Israel's sea access restrictions threaten the sustainability of fish stocks off the coast of the Gaza Strip

(Personal research work)

Israel's restrictions on sea access have led to the over-fishing of accessible stocks off the coast of Gaza. Under the Oslo Accords, Gaza Strip fishers are entitled to fish 20 nautical miles off the zone L coastline of the Gaza Strip, that is the central maritime zone of Gaza. In 2000, after the second Intifada, fishing in zone L was restricted to 6 nautical miles, resulting in a further reduction of the fishing zone for approximately the same number of boats (trawlers, purse seines and small boats). The consequences of this excessive fishing effort are: the degradation of fishery resources, the dissipation of food production potential and economic waste.

Fishers have been reported to use smaller mesh size nets resulting in the catching of young/undersized fish which will not reach maturity and thus will not replenish the seacoast and are not even be marketable. Half a tonne of fish a day is dumped because fish are too small or non marketable. Also, it seems that Palestinian fishers have started fishing breeding grounds. In the face of this, the Fisheries Directorate in Gaza is hand tied, as it does not have the capacity to implement regulations. Further fisheries management practices are few (but do exist, e.g. closing fishing season, withdrawal of small fish specimen on the fish market) and regulations are inadequate.

In 2003, the annual catch was 1,083 metric tons, mostly sardines, followed by mackerel, swimming crab, cuttlefish, horse mackerel, prawns and little tunny (sources: Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Agriculture). This represents a considerable decrease compared to 2002 when annual catch was 2,379 metric tons (sources: Food and Agriculture Organization, Fishstats). Seamus Dunne, Senior Social Development Officer for the International Management Group, a body working with the European Commission (DG Development) says that estimates taken from 5 years pre Intifada and 5 years post Intifada show that fish catches decrease 2,38 tonnes/day along the coast of Gaza Strip. At this rate, the fishing industry in Gaza has little left to live.

In the meantime, foreign flagged boats are said to be operating off the coast of Gaza reducing even further the social and economic opportunities the sea offers to Palestinians.

Has the disengagement from Gaza changed anything? To be continued

The 1993 Oslo Accords leading up to the Overfishing of Accessible Fishing Stocks off the Coast of Gaza

(Personal research work)

The Gaza Strip came under the autonomous rule of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, as a result of the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993. The same accords divided the approximately 41km long coastline of the Strip into three zones. The two zones at the ends of the Gaza Strip were defined as buffer zones and closed to Palestinian boats. The reason put forward was Israeli security and stopping boats getting to Egypt, to the area opposite the Israeli settlements of Gush Katif and to Israel itself. The consequences for the fishing communities in the southern parts of the Strip - where most fishing communities are located after Gaza City (approx. 1,100) - were devastating. They lost their immediate source of cash and food, and in some cases lost their source of living, as boats and nets were left unused deteriorating on the beach. Only the central zone of the Gaza Strip was open to Palestinians for fishing but only up to 20 sea miles out from the coast - which means that deep water fishing was prohibited.

After the al Aqsa Intifada, in 2000, all Palestinian vessels were forbidden to go further than six nautical miles out, further reducing the capacity of Palestinians to live off the sea.

Sometimes complete bans are imposed on fishers. It is estimated that in the five year period following the al Aqsa Intifada, fishers have been denied access to the sea for an accumulated total of one year. Recently, from September, 24^th until October, 8^th, 2005, the Israeli Defense Forces did not allow Gaza's fishers access to the sea. This complete closure occurred during the Sardine season and also at a time when the moon provides optimal light for fishing. Fishing being a seasonal activity, these bans are devastating. Vessels which do not obey restrictions are shot by the Israeli navy, with the consequences this entails in terms of loss of life and equipment. A Washington Times interview of Tarik Mousbah Saker, Fisheries Director in Gaza, reads that in 2004 an estimated $10 million in equipment was destroyed by Israeli naval forces in addition to millions more in lost income from fish sales. To be continued.

Fishing aside, there is no real industry in Gaza

(Personal research work)

Fishing has a long tradition in Palestine with fishers operating from Haifa (now Israel) to Port Saïd (Egypt). In 1948, following the tragedy of Palestine, the Nakba, many Palestinian communities were forced to flee the coastal areas between Haifa and Jaffa and took refuge southwards in the Gaza Strip. The displaced Palestinians who lived off fishing continued to do so, joining the fishing population of the Strip. Nowadays, there are 2,500 fishers in the Strip of Gaza and a further 2,500 people employed in the fishing industry (e.g. fish marketing, boat services, boat repair and maintenance). Out of the 1,4 million Palestinians living in the Strip, it is estimated that approximately 35,000 people rely on the fishing industry as a source of income or food.

The fisheries sector is relatively small compared to the major fisheries of neighbouring countries. But for the economy of Gaza, which has a high unemployment rate and suffers severe shortage of job opportunities, the fisheries sector is a significant source of employment and is an important source of high protein food. Fishing aside, there is no other real industry in Gaza. The hothouses, transferred as a gift to the Palestinian Administration, still have to prove their economic viability. There is doubt whether the export of their produce abroad by the Palestinians will succeed, as they do not enjoy the special privileges settlers had in terms of water use and border crossings.

Fishing activities along the Gaza Strip are carried out in four main fishing sites: Gaza City, where most fishers are, Deir El Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah which altogether count around 1,100 fishers. Since 1967, the year Israel occupied the Strip, fishing activities became severely controlled and restricted. to be continued. (Email me for bibliographical references)

Safety Net for Palestinian Fishermen

A baseline survey by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), dated September November 2004, noted that fishermen (65 percent) are highly dependent on fishing as their main source of income. 25 percent rely on external aid and charity as their main source of income. External aid and charity constitute the majority of their secondary and tertiary source of income (representing 86 percent and 77 percent respectively).

The WFP press release attached here (click on title) was published on August, 3 2004. It refers amongst other things to the WFP provision of food aid to fishermen; a safety net to help them cope with the crisis. “This is a category of people who have lost everything and are very food insecure".

Disengagement’ Affords Some Relief for Gaza Fishing Enclave

"When the settlers were here, I was prevented from fishing (...) The situation is a lot better but we are still forbidden from using boats, so the fishing is tough".

Written approximately a month after Israel's disengagement from Gaza, Jon Elmer's article published in The New Standard on 14th October 2005 points to: i) the restrictions on the freedom of goods (and movement) between the Gaza Strip and Israel, through the back to back transportation system (by which goods are unloaded from one truck at the checkpoint and reloaded onto another truck on the other side), resulting in spoiled produce (fresh fish cannot wait at chekpoints!) or inflated prices for merchandise; ii) the lack of free passage of goods from the Strip of Gaza to the outside world, that is the lack of export markets on which fishers are dependent for their survival, and; iii) the continuous restrictions on Palestinian boats in the sea off Al Mawasi (the Gaza Fishing Enclave the article focuses on). Unless these restrictions are overhauled, the disengagement will have little effect on Gazan fishermen' livelihood and the local economy.