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href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazas-blue-gold/22051">https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazas-blue-gold/22051</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Gaza's blue gold<br>
</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted"> <span class="field"><span
class="field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/mohammed-asad">Mohammed
Asad</a> and </span><span class="field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/tamara-aburamadan">Tamara
Aburamadan</a></span></span> <span class="field
field-publisher">- </span><span class="field
field-publication-date"><span class="date-display-single"
content="2017-10-24T11:09:00+00:00">24 October 2017</span></span>
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<article class="node-22051 node node-story view-mode-full
node-is-page image-landscape">
<p>Being a <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza-fishermen">fisherman
in Gaza</a> means to practice one of the world’s
most dangerous professions.</p>
<p>Israel severely restrains Palestinian fishermen’s
access to the sea and regularly fires on fishing
crews, damaging and confiscating their boats, and
often detaining the fishermen as well.</p>
<p>Two Palestinian fishermen have been <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gaza-fisherman-second-killed-israel-year">killed
by Israeli naval forces</a> this year alone.</p>
<p>Because of Gaza’s chronic electricity crisis, a
direct result of Israel’s repeated military assaults
and decade-long blockade, 100,000 cubic meters of raw
sewage are <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/life-septic-tank/20826">pumped
into the Mediterranean Sea each day</a>, polluting
fishing waters.</p>
<p>A sharp increase in poverty since the siege was
imposed means that fewer families can afford to put
fish on the dinner table – half of Gaza’s population
of 2 million is moderately to severely food insecure.</p>
<p>All of this has taken a hard toll on Gaza’s fishing
industry, upon which more than <a
href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/restricted-livelihoods-gaza-fishermen">35,000
Palestinians still depend</a>.</p>
<p>But crab season offers a respite – and rare period of
profit – to Gaza’s beleaguered fishing families.</p>
<p><em>All images by Mohammed Asad, a photojournalist
based in the Gaza Strip.</em></p>
<p><em>Reportage by Tamara Aburamadan, a lawyer and a
writer based in Gaza City.</em></p>
<figure id="file-52211--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>“I wake up at daybreak, take my paddle and head to
the sea to pull in the fishing nets that I threw out
the day before,” Abu Foul told The Electronic
Intifada.</p>
<p>During crab season Abu Foul needs to replace his nets
every few days, as the animals’ pincers tear them up
when they are caught. Each net costs around $70.</p>
<p>“All fishing materials in Gaza are scarce because of
the siege,” Abu Foul said.</p>
<figure id="file-52236--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Abu Foul’s 10-year-old son Muhammad helps his father
with the catch.</p>
<p>Muhammad has been learning the fishing trade from his
father since he was 7. The profession is traditionally
passed down from one generation to the next.</p>
<p>“My father can depend on me to sail alone with the
paddleboat,” Muhammad said. “When I am off from school
I rush to the sea and help him.”</p>
<p>Some other children of fishermen, however, are not
being encouraged to pursue the trade. Their families
want them to continue their education to secure a
white-collar job with a stable income.</p>
<p>But that’s not the future Muhammad envisions for
himself.</p>
<p>“I want to become a fisherman like my dad; my
favorite thing to do is to catch fish and crabs with
him,” he said.</p>
<figure id="file-52221--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Mohammed Zidan, 36, has been fishing for 20 years.</p>
<p>“The amount of crab caught each time is not
consistent; it depends on the luck of our catch,”
Zidan said. “Crab season is definitely our salvation.
The rest of the year is so harsh; days and months
might pass without catching or selling anything.”</p>
<p>Sewage pollution initially deterred buyers this
season.</p>
<p>“People were afraid at the beginning to buy crabs,
thinking they are full of sewage, but it looks like
they couldn’t stand to go the whole season without
tasting the gold of the sea,” Zidan said.</p>
<p>Abdel Fattah Abd Rabou, a teacher of environmental
sciences at the Islamic University in Gaza, said that
it is safe to eat Gaza crab provided it is caught 200
to 300 meters from the shore. Raw sewage affects areas
some 100 to 150 meters from the shore, which fishermen
avoid.</p>
<p>“Many people were reluctant to buy fish this year,
but as I’ve stated many times on public TV, it depends
on the fishing area and it is mostly not dangerous to
eat the fish as long as it is caught away from the
sewage pumping area.”</p>
<figure id="file-52216--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Mohammed’s 9-year-old daughter, Safaa, helps by
untangling crabs from the fishing net.</p>
<p>“I enjoy helping my father during crab season; it is
a festive time for our family,” Safaa said.</p>
<figure id="file-52186--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<figure id="file-52226--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Mousa Abu Riyala, better known as Abu Hatem, has
worked as a fisherman since 1973. The 54-year-old was
arrested by Israel in 1987 and imprisoned until 1995.</p>
<p>Mousa and his 49-year-old wife Hanaa, nicknamed Um
Hatem, sell crabs in front of their home in Beach
refugee camp.</p>
<p>The couple is one of the camp’s more successful
sellers, and they are well known in their community.</p>
<p>“People in the camp call us ‘the love birds’ – we
never leave each other’s side. In the morning we’re
catching crabs from the sea, and in the afternoon we
sit on the beach and have our cup of tea together,” Um
Hatem said.</p>
<p>None of the couple’s five children will continue the
family business. The Abu Riyalas worked hard to
provide their children a high level of education and
boosted socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>Outside of crab season, the couple can go days
without catching anything, Abu Hatem said.</p>
<p>But during crab season, he explained, “in the worst
case we make $6 a day, and in the best case, $85 a
day.”</p>
<figure id="file-52206--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>A seven-kilogram box of crabs costs around $15. It’s
a good deal for the average family in Gaza, and makes
a sweet profit for fishermen, as the demand for crabs
is higher than any other kind of catch.</p>
<p>“Imagine having a barbecue of crabs right on the
coast with your friends; it’s like a holiday by which
we celebrate crab season,” Abu Hasira said.</p>
<figure id="file-52231--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Crabs are a traditional staple of Gaza cuisine. On
Fridays, families gather for meals of fish, with a big
dish of grilled crabs in the center of the table.</p>
<p>“This year’s demand for crabs is higher than any
other,” al-Ruwadi said.</p>
<p>“Gazans have crabs as appetizers, not as the entrée.
I believe this is why it’s a successful and profitable
business for fishermen: It’s cheap and people buy them
in big quantities all season long,” he added.</p>
<figure id="file-52191--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Ammar has been arrested by the Israeli navy three
times in the decade he has worked as a fisherman.</p>
<p>“I have worked at sea for 11 years now, and during
that time I have witnessed Israeli naval forces
arresting us, confiscating our fishing equipment and
threatening to destroy our way of life,” he said.</p>
<p>Ammar said that he was within the Israeli-designated
six-nautical-mile fishing zone off Gaza’s coast each
time he was arrested.</p>
<p>The first time Ammar was arrested came in <a
href="http://www.mezan.org/en/index.php/post/10427/IOF+Arrests+Two+Palestinian+Fishermen+in+Beit+Hanoun">2010</a>,
when he was a 17-year-old child, and the second in <a
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=648889">2013</a>. He was
near Gaza’s maritime boundary with Israel in both
instances.</p>
<p>“They detained me for one day and confiscated my boat
and fishing nets,” he said.</p>
<p>Ammar’s third arrest was <a
href="http://pchrgaza.org/en/?p=8681">a year ago</a>
when he was fishing with Abd al-Hafiz.</p>
<p>“Suddenly naval gunships surrounded our boat and
started shooting rubber bullets toward us. I was shot
in my leg,” Ammar said. “Over their speakers they
commanded us in broken Arabic to take off our clothes
and jump in the water, and so we did.”</p>
<p>The brothers were detained and interrogated
separately.</p>
<p>“[The interrogation] was full of threats and
offensive curses,” Ammar recalled. “I was so afraid;
it was the first time they arrested my brother, and I
had a dark feeling that they would take him away.”</p>
<p>He added: “After I was done being interrogated, they
asked me to look at my brother and to say goodbye to
him. His eyes were full of tears. At that moment I
knew my brother was not coming back home with me.”</p>
<p>Abd al-Hafiz was held without charge or trial for 30
days. He was detained in Ashkelon prison, located
inside Israel.</p>
<p>The transfer of Palestinians arrested in the occupied
West Bank and Gaza Strip to detention centers in
Israel is “a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva
Convention,” <a
href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/04/israel-must-end-unlawful-and-cruel-policies-towards-palestinian-prisoners/">according
to</a> Amnesty International.</p>
<figure id="file-52196--2" class="media
media-element-container media-figure_wide file
file-image file-image-jpeg"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"></figure>
<p>Despite his ordeal, Abd al-Hafiz al-Sultan insists on
pursuing fishing as his livelihood.</p>
<p>“Regardless of all the restrictions, we will never
give up, and we will keep sailing in our sea because
this is our legitimate right as fishermen,” he said.</p>
<h3 class="field-label field field-tag"> <span>T</span></h3>
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