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<div class="ViewDetails_Title"><b><big><big>Touring the devastated
industrial zones of Gaza</big></big></b></div>
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<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=721265">http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=721265</a></small></small></b><br>
Published today (updated) 17/08/2014 22:32</div>
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<div style="text-align: left; margin-top: 10px"><b>By <a
href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/Search.aspx?AUTHOR=Martin%20Lejeune">Martin
Lejeune</a></b></div>
<br>
<div id="BODYdiv" class="ViewDetails_BodyDiv">On the night of the
July 27, the first day of the Muslim Eid-Al-Fitr festival
following the fasting month of Ramadan, the Israeli air force
dropped three bombs on Al-Hurani's carpentry workshop. Each of the
three bombs had an explosive force of 250 pounds. <br>
<br>
Al-Hurani pointed towards the charred left overs of the tables,
armchairs and beds, "all designed according to the desires of each
individual customer, processed with the best woods and decorated
with passion, as our customers expect from us," he told Ma'an.<br>
<br>
The carpentry of the Al-Hurani family is well-known across the
northern Gaza Strip city of Jabaliya, and is respected throughout
the Gaza Strip for its precise designs. In addition to family
members, Al-Hurani employed 25 workers in his workshop before the
Israeli assault.<br>
<br>
"Due to the total destruction of our plant everyone had to be
dismissed immediately and I do not know how to feed my family
anymore. We don't know how to move on from here," he said. <br>
<br>
The family possesses no savings for the construction of a new
workshop and they believe there is no hope for obtaining any kind
of compensation for the estimated $450,000 in damages they have
suffered.<br>
<br>
Abu Eida, one of the largest construction companies in the Gaza
Strip, is headquartered in the industrial area east of Jabaliya
that the air force also dropped several 250 pound bombs on Aug. 2.
<br>
<br>
Abed Rabou Abu Eida, CEO of the construction company, told Ma'an
he was not aware of the exact number of bombs being dropped. <br>
<br>
An on-site inspection of the premises, however, revealed the
extent of the destruction: Three large buildings, which had all
been reinforced by concrete, the warehouse containing cement and
bricks, as well as the construction machinery have all been
flattened. <br>
<br>
Abu Eida estimates the cost of the total damage to be around $7.5
million. As a result of the attack, he had to dismiss all of his
70 permanent workers because the company could no longer operate.
Hundreds of part-time workers that deal with Abu-Eida on a
sporadic basis are also out of work. <br>
<br>
"In 2008 and 2012 the factory premises were already completely
destroyed by the Israeli air force and our company has not
received any kind of compensation, due to the law passed in 2007,"
Abu Eida said, referring to an Israeli law that defined Gaza as
enemy territory and thus its residents ineligible for compensation
through civil suits. <br>
<br>
"This time we have no more money to rebuild our company a third
time."<br>
<br>
<b>'Where can we get new cows from?'</b><br>
<br>
At the end of Abu Khayr street in the Jabaliya industrial area
sits the Al-Fayoumi family farm. The farm once owned 150 cows and
sold milk twice a day to dairy factories. <br>
<br>
130 of the cows were killed in their stables during the Israeli
bombing on Aug. 2, according to workers on the farm. <br>
<br>
During a visit to the ruined courtyard on August 13, workers were
still trying to collect and burn the remaining corpses. The
terrible smell of the semi-decomposed carcasses of cattle lay side
by side with charred hens when Ma'an visited. <br>
<br>
A swarm of flies covered the corpses, trying to get its share. <br>
<br>
"Where can the Al-Fayoumis get new cows from?" asked a worker who
did not want to give his name. "The borders to Gaza are closed and
the smuggling tunnels destroyed."<br>
<br>
Wael Al-Wadia, owner of the Saraio candy factory in the same area,
showed Ma'an the remains of his completely ruined factory
buildings, where ice cream, biscuits, and cakes were once made. <br>
<br>
"I had 100 workers on permanent contracts. 100 workers who have
fed 100 families and now have no income," al-Wadia said. The
factory produced five tons of sweets on a daily basis, he said.
Now, everything is gone. <br>
<br>
Al-Qadia estimated that it would cost him $7 million to purchase
the same equipment again, which he had initially brought to Gaza
from Italy. <br>
<br>
"We have made the best biscuits in the Gaza Strip. Every market in
Gaza sold our products. Our biscuits were as good as the
Biscotti’s from Italy," he told Ma'an.<br>
<br>
<b>Israel has 'systematically destroyed' Gaza economy </b><br>
<br>
But it was not only factories, hospitals, schools, farms,
agricultural land, and the famous orange groves of Beit Hanoun
that were bombed during the worst of the Israeli assault between
July 6 and Aug. 3. <br>
<br>
Gaza's sole power station, its largest mosques, and the building
of the popular TV station Al-Quds were also hit, while tens of
thousands of private homes were destroyed or severely damaged. <br>
<br>
Muhsen Abu Ramadan, Director of the Arab Center for Agricultural
Economic Development in Gaza, told Ma'an that the damage to the
besieged coastal enclave's economy, however, predates the recent
Israeli assault.<br>
<br>
"The economic crisis began long before the aggression, and is a
result of the eight years lasting blockade of Gaza," he said. <br>
<br>
Abu Ramadan estimates that even before the beginning of the
Israeli attacks in July, 40 percent of the labor force was
unemployed, 30 percent lived below the poverty line, 57 percent
were at risk of malnutrition, and 70 percent received food parcels
from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East or other organizations. <br>
<br>
"These numbers have increased dramatically since the bombings,"
said Abu Ramadan. <br>
<br>
He also said that Israeli army completely destroyed 220 factories
in the campaign, while hundreds more suffered partial damage. <br>
<br>
Abu Ramadan estimates the cost of destruction of agricultural land
at around $200 million and the amount of the total costs to the
economy at several billion dollars. <br>
<br>
"Gaza would need five years to rebuild the destroyed
infrastructure," he said. <br>
<br>
But given the current economic conditions caused by the occupation
and the blockade of Gaza, he estimated that reconstruction will
take at least ten years. <br>
<br>
"We have the right to import building materials and this right
must be given to us immediately, especially with the help of the
international community. Otherwise, we will not be able to rebuild
our destroyed houses and factories," Abu Ramadan added.<br>
<br>
Tens of thousands have joined the ranks of the unemployed since
the imposition of the harsh Israeli blockade in 2007, and given
the scale of the damage suffered during the massive Israeli
assault, of those who were still employed in industry and
agriculture in July it is unlikely that more than a few thousand
are still working in either sector. A few thousand out of 1.8
million people. <br>
<br>
"Israel is not only attacking civilians and their homes, but also
systematically destroyed the economy of the Gaza Strip in order to
make people dependent on emergency aid," Abu Ramadan argued. <br>
<br>
"Now that almost the entire economy is destroyed, people can no
longer work, thus cutting their purchasing power dramatically. Now
youth wants to emigrate at even younger ages than before. Due to
the emigration of young skilled workers the economy is becoming
even weaker." <br>
<br>
"Israel has managed to transform a functioning economy into a
third world country through eight years of embargo and three
assaults in five years. Without ending the embargo, it is
impossible to break out of this vicious cycle ourselves," Abu
Ramadan added.<br>
<br>
<i>Martin Lejeune is a German journalist based in Gaza. Follow him
on <b><a href="https://twitter.com/Martin_Lejeune"
target="blank">twitter</a></b></i></div>
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