L'économie gazaouie paralysée par le blocus israélien

Benjamin Barhe, Le Monde, 28/08/07. Des centaines de palettes de bouteilles de boissons gazeuses sont entreposées sous l'immense hangar de l'usine Pepsi Cola, à Jabaliya, dans le nord de la bande de Gaza. En temps normal, ces stocks sont écoulés en quelques heures auprès des épiceries du mince territoire palestinien. Mais depuis deux mois et demi, aucun camion de livraison n'est sorti du hangar, car les bouteilles sont vides. Le blocus de la bande de Gaza imposé par l'armée israélienne à la suite du coup de force du Hamas, le 14 juin, a en effet épuisé les réserves de l'usine en dioxyde de carbone (CO₂). Faute de ce gaz nécessaire à la confection de toute boisson à bulles, les bouteilles n'ont pas pu être remplies.

J'ai le sucre, les étiquettes, les bouteilles, les composants chimiques, les bouchons et les cartons, fulmine Mohamed Yazegi, le patron de cette entreprise familiale, ouverte en 1960. L'armée israélienne sait très bien qu'avec un seul container de CO₂, je pourrais me remettre à travailler pendant deux semaines. Mais parce que les dirigeants israéliens sont décidés à mettre le Hamas à genoux, ils refusent de laisser rentrer mon gaz. J'ai dû licencier 200 de mes employés."

"PUNITION COLLECTIVE"

Le patron de Pepsi Cola n'est pas le seul dans ce cas-là. Du fait de la fermeture du terminal de Karni, l'épine dorsale de l'économie gazaouie par où transitent en temps normal les importations et les exportations palestiniennes, près de 85 % des entreprises ont cessé de fonctionner. Selon l'agence de promotion du commerce Paltrade, 70 000 Palestiniens ont perdu leur emploi, qui faisait vivre plus d'un tiers de million d'habitants.

Soucieux d'éviter les contrecoups médiatiques d'une pénurie alimentaire, le gouvernement israélien laisse passer à intervalles réguliers des convois de nourriture et de produits de première nécessité par le point de passage de Sufa, au sud de Karni. En revanche, toute exportation demeure impossible, de même que l'importation de matières premières et de marchandises à usage industriel.

Le premier ministre israélien, Ehoud Olmert, justifie cette politique par la fuite des forces de sécurité et des employés affectés à Karni, dans la foulée de la victoire militaire du Hamas. En leur absence et compte tenu du fait qu'Israël refuse tout contact avec les islamistes, le terminal, dixit la version officielle, est condamné à rester fermé. Mais selon l'organisation israélienne de défense des droits de l'homme Gisha, l'Etat juif est tenu d'assurer le bien-être de la population de Gaza dans la mesure où le droit international considère toujours qu'il "occupe" ce territoire. "Israël veut atteindre des objectifs politiques, à savoir le renversement du Hamas, en exerçant une pression sur 1,4 million d'hommes, de femmes et d'enfants, explique Sari Bashi, le directeur de Gisha. Il s'agit d'une punition collective, qui viole le droit humanitaire international et contredit les intérêts d'Israël."

L'un des secteurs les plus touchés est le BTP. Privé de gravier et de ciment, tous les chantiers en cours ont été gelés. "Le premier mois, j'ai payé mes ouvriers ; le deuxième, je les ai mis en vacances ; le troisième, je les ai licenciés, explique Rafiq Hassouna, l'entrepreneur numéro un de la bande de Gaza. Il ne me reste qu'une secrétaire et un planton pour me faire le café." Parmi ses contrats arrêtés figurent la rénovation de la route Salaheddin, l'axe principal de la bande de Gaza, ainsi qu'un hôpital pour la réhabilitation des handicapés.

A demi-mot, certains hommes d'affaires palestiniens accusent le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas d'appuyer le bouclage israélien pour forcer le Hamas à lui rendre le pouvoir. "Il est clair que le Fatah ne fait pas tout ce qu'il peut pour résoudre la crise, dit M. Hassouna. Avec toutes les connexions qu'il a en Israël, Salam Fayad (le premier ministre palestinien) pourrait nous aider davantage."

Une thèse démentie par un conseiller du président Abbas. "Nous ne sommes même pas capables d'obtenir la levée d'un simple check-point en Cisjordanie, dit-il. Comment pourrions-nous obliger Israël à rouvrir la bande de Gaza ?" Pour débloquer la situation, diverses propositions sont à l'étude, destinées à confier le contrôle de Karni côté palestinien à une agence de sécurité privée étrangère.

Pour Mohamed Yazegi, l'urgence n'est pas seulement économique. "Les ouvriers que j'ai licenciés sont des proies faciles pour tous les extrémistes. Le Hamas a déjà proposé à certains d'entre eux de nettoyer les rues pour 100 dollars (73 euros) par mois. Bientôt, à la place d'un balai, il leur donnera un kalachnikov."

Benjamin Barthe

Article paru dans l'édition du 28.08.07.

Israel, PA agree impoverishing Gaza will topple Hamas which thinks to be strengthened

Amira Hass, Haaretz, 29/08/07. There are three different governments in this land, and all three are absolutely sure that Western nations and Arab countries will continue to pay for food packages for the million and a half residents of the Gaza Strip for an unlimited period of time. That is the only explanation for the continued closure of the Karni Crossing, the single transfer point for goods to and from Gaza for the last two and a half months. This is the only way to explain why the three governments - Israel, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Hamas in Gaza - are not taking seriously the solutions proposed by the Palestinian private sector to operate Karni privately with outside help.

It is still possible to transfer food, medicine and a small amount of raw materials through the Sufa and Kerem Shalom crossings. But the vast majority of the raw materials needed to continue production in Gaza and all of the products intended for sale outside of Gaza can only pass through Karni. And when Karni is closed, almost all production shuts down completely.

In the first two months of the closure, according to PalTrade, the Palestine Trade Center, the direct damage to local industry amounted to $8 million in the furniture sector, $15 million in textiles and $3 million in foodstuffs. The losses to agriculture reached $16 million.

The shortage of raw materials has halted 95 percent of all construction, which is valued at $160 million. About 85 percent of all industry is closed down temporarily and 70,000 workers have been laid off.

The three governments are disregarding common sense, reflected in the question asked by Salah Ayash of the Gaza textile industry: "Why should I ask for handouts when I am capable of supporting myself?"

Using economic power to maintain control is nothing new. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Israeli policy of impoverishment has only become more sophisticated and widespread. It has always been based on the knowledge that the Western world will subsidize it and compensate for the damage the Israeli government causes.

Israeli officials claim that Mahmoud Abbas asked to keep Karni closed. His people, of course, deny this - as expected. Gaza businessmen think this Israeli claim is not true, but still believe that Abbas is not making any effort to open Karni.

In any case, Israel is not waiting for orders from Abbas to open or close crossings. Israel has its own considerations, which converge with those of the government in Ramallah: In Jerusalem and in Ramallah they are convinced that the policy of impoverishment will make the population of Gaza disown Hamas and bring about its fall.

The Israeli government also does not care about the immediate damage caused to numerous Israelis in the private sector from the closure of Karni. For example, textile manufacturers have been dependent on Gaza workshops for decades. They are too unimportant for anyone to listen to them, but they are causing a chain reaction of damage to sewing workshop owners, workers, drivers and small shop owners.

Every day Israeli industry loses $2.2 million from the closure of Karni, according to what Shraga Brosh, the president of the Manufacturers' Association, said two weeks ago.

There is also long-term damage, according to Brosh. The chances of successful economic cooperation with Gaza subcontractors or the sale of Israeli products in Gaza are also in danger. But all this, and the tens of thousands of Israelis hurt by these policies, are small change compared to the political goal of defeating Hamas.

Hamas knows how to lead prayers in the mosques but does not know what economics is, explained one textile workshop owner. But it is probably more accurate to say that the Hamas government is convinced that the policy of impoverishment will actually strengthen its position among most of the Palestinian public, and draw it closer to uncompromising ideological positions and pan-Islamic power centers: Not just because of the many charitable organizations that Hamas established, but also because experience teaches us that people will accuse two other governments: Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which is increasingly considered to be a lackey of the U.S.

Karni closure is taking economic toll

business.jpost.com. 16/07/07. As the Hamas reign in Gaza stretches into its second month, local businesses on both sides of the border are suffering as the Karni crossing, the main thoroughfare for the passage of commercial goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip, has been open only for the transfer of humanitarian necessities since June 12. "Believe it or not, the Palestinian Authority is the second largest export market of Israeli manufacturers, trailing only the US," Uriel Lynn, president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, told The Jerusalem Post. "In 2006," said Dan Catarivas of the Manufacturers Association. "Israel exported about $120m. worth of products into Gaza, mostly textiles, metals, furniture and construction material, and while this may not seem like an awful lot, for those exporters who rely heavily on trade with Gazan customers, Israel's current economic boycott of Hamas is crippling."

"An economy cannot survive on food and medicine alone, without raw materials for industry and construction, and without the ability to export goods," said Dr. Bassim Khoury, chairman of the Palestinian Federation of Industries. "If we don't re-open the commercial crossings, the economy in Gaza will die out."

Khoury, speaking at a press conference on Sunday organized by the non-profit organizations Oxfam International and Gisha-The Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, noted that most of the industries in Gaza are manufacturing industries, of which there is a 95 percent dependency on imported raw materials and an 80% dependency on the import of machinery and maintenance parts.

"Interruption of these imports has led to the suspension of many production lines in Gazan factories," said Khoury, adding that since the Hamas takeover of Gaza and the subsequent decision by Israel to shut the Karni crossing due to security concerns, 80% of businesses establishments in the Gaza Strip are temporarily shut down and of those still operating, production is down some 60%.

"My future as a factory owner is bleak and I have already lost all my customers in the West Bank, 50% of my business," said Muhammed Al-Talbani, owner of the Al-Auda biscuit factory. "In Gaza, people are begging to work for NIS 10 per day, but I can't hire them because I have no work to give them."

According to numbers provided by the World Bank, over the last month, at least 3,190 businesses in Gaza have closed, some 65,800 employees have been temporarily laid-off and the local Gazan economy has suffered losses of an estimated $20.6 million.

"If conditions do not improve, we can expect unemployment to rise to 70%, poverty levels to rise even further and a total collapse of the Gazan economy," said Khoury.

While Gazan citizens and private sector businesses are hurting from Israel's closed-door policy in regards to a Hamas-ruled Gaza, Palestinian leaders, at least in the eyes of some experts, are not doing enough to get the borders open.

"This issue should be on the top of their agendas and we are hoping that [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Mahmoud Abbas will bring it up when he meets with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later this week," said Sari Bashi, director of Gisha.

Many believe that even though Abbas may pretend to want the crossings fully open, he may also be happy for the opportunity to weaken Hamas.

Part of the problem facing the Palestinians is the fact that despite a desire to unite the West Bank and Gaza Strip as one economic and political unit, the two are in reality very far apart.

"The Gaza Strip is the second largest market for West Bank exports, after Israel, however, it has become virtually impossible to send goods between the two areas - it costs more to ship a cargo container to Gaza [from the West Bank] then it does to China," lamented Khoury."

Today, despite the West Bank being responsible for the overwhelming majority of the PA economy, the complete shutdown of Gazan exports is taking its toll.

"A drop of some $150m. is almost impossible to recover from," said Khoury. "Therefore, we must unite the two areas in order to strengthen our competitive advantages. The only way for our economy to survive is if we are able to properly integrate - we either stand up together or we will fall together."

While the effects of the Karni crossing have been pronounced inside the Gaza Strip, Israeli exporters are also being hurt by the border closings.

"Believe it or not, the Palestinian Authority is the second largest export market of Israeli manufacturers, trailing only the US," Uriel Lynn, president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, told The Jerusalem Post.

According to statistics provided by the Manufacturers Association of Israel, the country does about $2.95b. worth of trade, including imports and exports, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip each year.

"In 2006," said Dan Catarivas of the Manufacturers Association. "Israel exported about $120m. worth of products into Gaza, mostly textiles, metals, furniture and construction material, and while this may not seem like an awful lot, for those exporters who rely heavily on trade with Gazan customers, Israel's current economic boycott of Hamas is crippling."

Recently, the Israeli Flower Growers Association announced that as a result of the Hamas decision to close the Kerem Shalom crossing to flower imports, local growers have suffered losses of NIS 20m., with this number increasing by millions of shekels each week. Similarly, exports of Israeli fruits and vegetables have also been banned by Hamas from entering Gaza, causing losses of NIS 3 and 5m. a day.

"I have hope that someday soon the situation will return to normal and we will be able to send our products into Gaza and even increase our cooperation with Palestinian flowers growers," said Haim Hadad of the Flowers Association.

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