Rafah Fishermen's Syndicate

article by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

"I've been a fisherman for thirty six years, ever since I was fifteen years old. Myoriginal village, Il Jura, was famous for its fishermen. When my father migrated toGaza in 1948, he came here by boat."

Jamal Mohammed Bassalla is the spokesman of the Rafah Fisherman's Syndicate inthe southern Gaza Strip. The syndicate represents around 450 local fishermen, and itsheadquarters are on the beach just outside Rafah. This morning, however, Jamal andhis crew are sitting under tarpaulin on the beach, drinking tea round a small driftwoodfire. Conditions at sea are treacherous, and they're waiting for the weather toimprove.

"It takes two or three hours to prepare the boats, but we are on stand-by every day"says Jamal. "We check the nets, the diesel for the boat, batteries, our food supplies,the GPS (Global Positioning System), everything we need in order to work. When theweather improves we're ready almost immediately." In summer Jamal has a crew ofeighteen men, and they stay out at sea for up to twenty four hours at a time. But inwinter the crew is just six or seven in total. The crews work together for years, andunderstand each other intimately.

There are around 3,500 professional fishermen working along the forty kilometrecoastline of the Gaza Strip. Between them, they economically support almost 40,000people, including mechanics, fishmongers and thousands of local fishing families. Butthe Gaza fishing industry has been decimated, especially over the last five years,because of increasingly punitive Israeli restrictions on how far out to sea thefishermen can sail without being shot or harassed. The Interim Arrangements on theGaza Strip and West Bank signed between Israel and the PLO in 1994/5 did notconform to international human rights standards, as they restricted the movement ofPalestinian civilians, including the right of Gazan fishermen to fish off their owncoastline. However, the Interim Arrangements did stipulate that Palestinian fishermenare permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles from the Gaza coastline.

But Jamal and his colleagues claim that now they cannot fish more than 2.5kilometres offshore without risking being shot. "If we sail any further out to sea, theIsraelis can open fire, destroy our nets and boats, or force us back to shore," he says."We've suffered these restrictions since 2003, and recently they have started usingrockets and helicopters against us as well." The Rafah Syndicate fishermen say theIsraeli gunboats are at sea 24 hours a day 7 days a week, so they have no chance ofventuring any further offshore.

Israel claims the fishing restrictions are part of an overall security strategy to combatPalestinian gun-smuggling and suicide-bombing. But Khalil Shahin, Director of theEconomic and Social Rights Unit at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)points out that Israel has never honoured the Interim Arrangements. "Israel has neverpermitted Gazan fishermen to fish 20 nautical miles from the shore" he says. "Thefurthest they have allowed them to fish is 12 nautical miles offshore. That was back inthe mid 1990's, when Gazan fishermen were hauling approximately 3,000 tons of fisha year. But productivity has plummeted since 2002, because of the increasingrestrictions. Now the fishermen are hauling less than 500 tons of fish a year. This is aninevitable consequence of Israel continually violating the Interim Arrangements"As well as having their boats, nets and other fishing equipment damaged or destroyed,more than 70 Gazan fishermen were arrested by the Israelis last year. Jamal Bassallaand his colleagues are angry and frustrated they can no longer earn a sustainableliving from fishing without risking their lives. Another syndicate member, Abdullah,says he does take risks. "I take my boat 4 or 5 kilometres from the shore - what choicedo I have! Sometimes we manage, but other times we are actually hauling our catchwhen they start firing and force us back. Then we have to abandon the whole haul."

The Rafah fishermen say these restrictions have also affected the type of fish theycatch, making them increasingly reliant on shallow-water fish like sardines. Manyhave resorted to using smaller nets, catching smaller and younger fish in order toincrease their haul. Jamal claims they have no choice because of the Israeli blockade,but the fishermen have been criticised for severely over-fishing remaining localstocks. Ironically, the number of fishermen in Gaza has increased since the midnineties, because some of the thousands of men who used to work in Israel haveturned to professional fishing in order to survive.

The sea is Gaza's greatest natural resource, and for the men at the Rafah Syndicate,the solution to their crisis is radically simple: they will settle for their rights as statedin the Interim Arrangements. "We need open seas" says Jamal. "I am an educatedfisherman: I have a geography degree from Beirut University, but I returned to fishingbecause I love the sea." He has two brothers and six sons. All of them are fishermen."We have nets and our boats" he says. "We are ready to work."