Despite massive nonviolent protests, flower growers unable to export
Mohammed Khalid / PNN – After days of protest during which Palestinian flower growers in the Gaza Strip dumped their creations at the feet of the closed borders, those flowers that were intended for Valentine’s Day have become food for sheep and cows.
The flowers could not be exported to Europe where they normally go due to the complete Israeli closure of the Strip. Exporting is also difficult, with transportation and tariffs outrageous as imposed by the occupiers, this year was worse.
Some 65 million flowers are normally exported from the Gaza Strip to European countries, but after only 13 million roses were allowed out, farmers began to uproot rose bushes because there is no longer any point.
President of the General Land Owners, Mahmoud Khalil, said that berry and flower exports are one of the most important points of commerce for the Strip. With Israeli attacks on agricultural lands and production facilities of all sorts, in addition to the complete closure, the number of the Strip’s 1.5 million residents living under the line of poverty is on the rise.
Khalil told PNN, “Flowers that were supposed to make it to the festival of lovers in Europe instead offered a free meal to cattle herds. We cannot export.” He had expected to export between 60 and 65 million flowers this year, depending on production, with a profit for farmers at approximately 13 million dollars. “The loss to farmers for berries is estimated at eight million dollars.”
The Society of Beit Lahia and the General Agricultural Cooperative decided early in the week to stop cultivation of flowers and roses in the Gaza Strip as they could not be exported to Europe while the spokesperson for Shafi Ahmed rose farmers in the Gaza Strip warned during a a press conference that “if the problem of exporting agricultural products is not solved the Gaza Strip will face yet another catastrophe.” He estimated the loss at 15 million dollars.
All are demanding Israeli compensation, which they do not expect to receive.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mahmoud Hebbash, is calling to provide urgent assistance to farmers in the agricultural, floral and berry sectors, which are the main staples of export from Gaza, in order to prevent the complete collapse of these sectors.
Flower shop owner in Gaza City, Ihab Abu Ni’el, told PNN, “This is a good time to buy flowers here. The prices of roses are cut in half.” If there were money to be spent in Gaza, perhaps Valentine’s Day would be been a bit more beautiful this year.