Sunday, December 9, 2007

Exchanging Donkeys for Cars

Donald McIntyre for the Independent,

For, while working donkeys have been bought and sold in Gaza since before Samson pulled down the Philistines' temple, it is a long time since they have been as valuable as they are now. Prices have risen, according to the traders, by up to 60 per cent since Israel closed off the enclave after Hamas's enforced takeover of the Strip almost six months ago.

Yet despite that – and, he says, that the donkey feed has also gone up from five to 15 shekels (£1.95) a day since June – Mr Sabour has decided it makes sense to sell his car and buy the creature instead. The unemployed Mr Dabour has sold his car and now intends to use a donkey and cart to sell cucumbers, onions and other vegetables door to door. "There are no jobs here, so I am going to create my own work," he said.


read on

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like Gaza is successfully forced towards de-modernization. This is crazy.

KGS said...

Brought to you by the Palestinian people themselves. It would be humorous if it weren't so sad.

David said...

you know somethings not going right when a man has to sell his car in order to sell cucumbers.

Anonymous said...

This might seem like an odd question, but what brought you to Gaza? I can understand how your love for the people keeps you there, but how did this even get started?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the excellent resource list. I just looked at the interactive map and video of the debate on the israel lobby. Outstanding!

The siege of Gaza is now escalating but has been going on for about 15 years. See Amira Hass's book 'Drinking the Sea at Gaza (Days and Nights in a Land Under Siege)'. See Sara Roy's books and writings for documentation of Israel's planned destruction of the Gaza economy and society. I hope readers will support the international efforts underway to break the current siege! Israelis and Internationals have many good actions in preparation.
- Rick

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