Israel Matzav

About that Gaza 'blockade'

Someone forgot to tell the evil Jooos that the Gaza Strip is supposed to be under 'blockade.' Instead, the evil Jooos have allowed the 'poor Palestinians' to export hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of flowers and strawberries to Europe so that they will have money to pay for Hamas weapons and maybe a motorcycle and a pack of cigarettes the next time the apartheid wall on the Rafah border with Egypt gets knocked down.

For the first time since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in the territory in June 2007, Gaza's flower and strawberry farmers may be able to export most of their produce to Europe with help from The Netherlands.

"There are promises that the crossings will remain open for exports," the 33-year-old farmer says as workers clip carnations and pack them into crates in a sprawling greenhouse near the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

"Last year our losses were huge. I alone lost 800,000 dollars (550,000 euros)," he says. "We harvested the flowers and then we fed them to the sheep and cows."

Israel allowed only limited exports of flowers and strawberries -- Gaza's main cash crops -- during the season following the bloody Hamas takeover in June 2007 before halting all exports in January 2008, according to the Palestine Trade Centre (Paltrade), which works with the World Bank.

Exports only resumed after Israel's devastating 22-day war on Hamas in December 2008 and January 2009, when 14 truckloads of carnations were allowed out of Gaza, according to Paltrade.

Oh yes, and in the last sentence, AFP adds this little tidbit:

Each month Israel allows hundreds of truckloads of basic goods into the territory of 1.5 million people, but apart from the strawberries and flowers it has allowed virtually no exports since Hamas took power.

Some 'blockade.' The only things they keep out are the things Hamas could turn into weapons. Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:50 PM