Palestinians mark Ramadan with sadness, anger
For more than six months the Gaza Strip has been mired in its worst financial crisis for 13 years, the economy throttled by being sealed off by Israel and then by the international boycott of the Hamas-led government.
Adel Zaanoun AFP September 26, 2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza -- A customer is a rare sight in the souks and shops of the Gaza Strip these days: the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is a difficult time for Palestinians in the grip of a severe financial crisis.

"We didn't feel anything when Ramadan arrived, certainly not the joy that usually accompanies it," sighs Abla, who works at the Gaza courts.

The holy month is supposed to be a period of piety and tranquillity for Muslims, but under contemporary Islam it also means party time and long evenings spent at home with the family.

"How will we make sure we have the food to break the fast and for sohour?" asks Abla, referring to the last meal before fasting resumes at dawn. "It's a tragedy."

One Gaza businessman blames "increased poverty, the suspension of salaries, and the fact that it is impossible for people to buy what they need for the holy month."

There are few goods available anyway, mainly because of the closure of the Karni crossing, the sole entry and exit point for merchandise passing between Israel and Gaza, he adds.

For more than six months the Gaza Strip has been mired in its worst financial crisis for 13 years, the economy throttled by being sealed off by Israel and then by the international boycott of the Hamas-led government.

International financial aid was in effect suspended when the Islamist Hamas assumed the reins of power in March after trouncing the outgoing Fatah administration in January legislative elections.

Some 160,000 Palestinian Authority civil servants have received only parts of their salaries since March, and unemployment benefits to those with no jobs have not been paid either. More than half of those living in the Gaza Strip are without work.

Yunes Soda is too young to have a job, but he, too, is sad. This year he will not have firecrackers or any of the other pleasures that a 10-year-old boy associates with Ramadan.

This is not just because his father is unemployed and does not have the money to buy them for him, but also because the interior ministry has banned bangers and other fireworks "because they terrorize people."

"We greeted Ramadan with an empty fridge. If we didn't have faith in our hearts, we would no longer be able to resist," says Mondher, a Palestinian security worker. "I borrowed money from a close friend so I could meet my expenses during Ramadan. Some of my friends had to sell their wives' jewellery" to keep their heads above water, he adds angrily.

Residents of the Gaza Strip have also had to cope with regular power cuts over the past three months - ever since Israeli warplanes targeted the territory's sole electricity generating station after one of the Jewish state's soldiers was captured in a June 25 cross-border raid.

Ismail Abu Shemala, head of the Palestine Electric Company (PEC), says that the organization is trying to find a solution to the crisis.

The PEC was able to acquire three generators for the start of Ramadan, and is now trying to get another seven as a temporary solution to the crisis, Abu Shemala says.

The border town of Rafah will also benefit from a boost to its power supply from Egypt in the coming days, he adds.

Nearly 1,000 people, most of them striking civil servants, staged a weekend protest outside the offices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, demanding that their salaries be paid.

"How are we going to buy what we need for Ramadan with empty pockets?" read one banner carried by the demonstrators.