Love of the Land: Gaza glutted with smuggled goods - profitability of tunnels plummets

Gaza glutted with smuggled goods - profitability of tunnels plummets

Avi Issacharoff
Haaretz
17 February '10

Owners of the smuggling tunnels bordering the Gaza Strip and Egypt have been suffering from financial problems due to their tunnels' inactivity, according to Palestinian sources.

The reason, it turns out, actually stems from the overall success of smuggling tunnels in Gaza. Hamas has recently set up 'legal' tunnels, which they use to smuggle various merchandise. As a result, existing, non-Hamas run tunnels are suffering financially.

The Hamas tunnels are used to bring in merchandise intended for sale in markets, such as food products and home appliances. Palestinians believe that the overflow of goods caused a complete smuggling standstill in dozens of underground channels. Moreover, work on digging additional tunnels has also stopped.

The tunnel owners explain that the increase in merchandise in Gaza made prices sharply decrease, which seriously reduced the earnings from the 'illegal' smuggling industry. One of the tunnel owners told a news agency that he is waiting for a reasonable business offer to come along, because at the moment it isn't profitable for him to open the channel to smuggling.

In 2008, the smuggling tunnel trade flourished due to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, and was also strong in 2009 in spite of growing Egyptian surveillance of the tunnels, which endangered diggers and smugglers. Since June of 2007, over 100 Palestinians lost their lives in tunnel collapses.

The Hamas-run tunnels, which are deemed legal by the government, are now experiencing continuous activity. Under Hamas rule, hundreds of underground channels have been dug between Gaza and Egypt.

The recent increase in smuggled goods in Gaza caused many factories to renew activity. Overall, if judging by the two most smuggled products - gasoline and cement - tunnel activity has actually caused Gaza to experience an economic reawakening.

Ultimately, the tunnel owners' crisis came from being overly successful. "The last two weeks were the worst in the smuggling tunnel trade since the blockade in June of 2007," said a tunnel owner.

Love of the Land: Gaza glutted with smuggled goods - profitability of tunnels plummets

Love of the Land: B’Tselem And Bad Arguments

B’Tselem And Bad Arguments

Eamonn McDonagh
Z-Word Blog
05 February '10

I received an e-mail circular from B’Tselem today about Israel’s policies towards Gaza. The first substantial argument offered is this:

“The siege of Gaza is causing enormous suffering among innocents, and it’s hard to see how that deprivation can be justified,” said Uri Zaki, B’Tselem’s USA Director. “International law, as well as basic human and Israeli values, demands that Israel do its utmost to address its legitimate security concerns without inflicting unnecessary harm to the civilians of Gaza. The current policy doesn’t come close to meeting that standard.” Gazans’ rights to minimal standards of food security, shelter, health, education and to travel are protected under international law. These needs should not be held hostage to security and political issues.

I could quibble about the adjective “enormous” but I won’t. The argument is basically sound. To respond to it, the government of Israel would have to accept its premises, that is, it would have to say that the harm it’s causing to Gazans is not unnecessary and/or that it’s exaggerated and that in any case it’s the only viable option for protecting its security. I’m not saying that any of this is true or false, just that the way B’Tselem sets out its arguments obliges the government of Israel to put its case in terms of human rights.

Now let’s turn to the next set of arguments:

Israel’s closure policy is designed to weaken Hamas’ hostile leadership, to persuade Hamas to cease firing rockets at civilian targets in Israel, and to release Corporal Gilad Shalit. However, the closure has instead harmed Israel’s security by strengthening Hamas and adding to tensions that threaten renewed violence.

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Love of the Land: B’Tselem And Bad Arguments