Electricity remains subject to long daily outages in Gaza, the problem not only Israel but also Palestinian disunity, writes Saleh Al-Naami Rehab, 41, was relieved and ecstatic as she reached for the package of meat in the freezer and found it relatively cold, although 12 hours had passed since the power went out in her neighbourhood. She could cook the meat for Iftar (the meal breaking the fast) on another day during Ramadan. But Rehab's neighbour Sanaa, a few metres away in Berket Al-Wez, west of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in central Gaza, was not so lucky. She found her thawed meat and fish spoiled and threw it out. Sanaa asked her husband Ali to quickly go buy more frozen meat so she could make Iftar in the remaining two hours before sunset. Ali came back with bad news: the frozen meat shop had closed because of the blackout, and the power generator at the shop was not enough to keep the freezers going. In the end, he had to order takeaway. "I'm over 50 years old, and I can't remember a Ramadan under such dire conditions," Ali told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Everything seems especially difficult. Not only is it a scorching summer, but we don't even have cold water when it's time to break our fast. I'm very proud of my eight-year- old son Anwar who is enduring these difficult conditions and insists on fasting, despite my trying to convince him otherwise, since he is not obliged to fast." Blackouts have become the most pressing issue for Palestinians living in Gaza, especially during high summer temperatures and with improbability that the crisis will end soon. Power outages have affected every aspect of life in Gaza. The electricity company and power authority drew up a schedule for when power will be out in different areas of Gaza, but the duration of blackouts is unpredictable and hence people are unable to plan their day or adapt to this reality which continues to worsen with no hope of improving soon. Since summer began, the people of Gaza have suffered power cuts that last for 13 hours or more every day. Blackouts have conspicuously affected the general mood of the people. "We live in continuous crisis, the latest of which is the electricity problem," Mohamed Jamal, 33, told the Weekly. "In Gaza, all we hear now is the sounds of power generators and we only smell their poisonous gases. Is it Gaza's fate to live like this? We are doomed with electricity problems and cannot escape them. The two governments in Gaza and Ramallah are oblivious to us and to our suffering; are we expected to solve this problem by ourselves? What are they waiting for?" Despite preparing themselves psychologically, the reality of the situation is very hard on the people in Gaza, unable to regress into a primitive life without electricity. For example, there are no alternatives to electricity for the preservation of food in a hygienic manner. But problems related to power shortages are not specific to Ramadan or food and drink only. It has overshadowed the quality of living and health in Gaza, since hospitals cannot function properly, especially for patients who rely on medical equipment. "The power outage is affecting all hospitals because electricity is vital to operations, x-rays, artificial respiratory equipment, heating, ventilation and other procedures," according to Muawya Hassanein, director of emergency medicine at the Ministry of Health. "The worst affected are units caring for paediatrics and chronic illnesses. Unfortunately, we expect major catastrophes." Hassanein underlined that although the health sector relies on power generators, these require constant maintenance with lubricants and spare parts. If one of these generators stalls for just five minutes, it could cause the death of tens of children and gravely ill patients in the operating room. He continued that hospitals in Gaza are now admitting patients who use oxygen tanks and medical aides because the equipment can no longer be operated in their homes without electricity. While some frozen food vendors have accrued many losses, others are relying on power generators to ensure a power source for their products. "I worry that the meat I'm selling will spoil when temperatures are so high," confided Yasser Al-Sawafiri, owner of a frozen meat store in Al-Zawya market in Gaza. "This meat is sold frozen and if it begins to thaw it spoils and should not be consumed." As the temperature rose, Al-Sawafiri bought large amounts of ice and put them in the freezer to prevent the meat from thawing. The people in Gaza have also resorted to using generators that burn solar fuel and gasoline, which emit harmful gases such as carbon monoxide. The downsides of these generators also include sound pollution. Ahmed Fayyad, a reporter for an Arabic-language news website, told the Weekly that he can no longer concentrate on his news reports because store owners around his office use large generators which create a deafening noise. Although the electricity problem was once caused by Israel's refusal to allow the passage of the necessary fuel to Gaza's sole power station, today the main obstacle preventing the station from operating is inter-Palestinian disharmony and endless jousting between the government in Gaza headed by Ismail Haniyeh and the one in Ramallah led by Salam Fayyad. According to Ghassan Al-Khatib, director of media affairs for the Ramallah government, the problem lies in the Gaza government's inability to collect fees for power usage in Gaza. Hence, they are unable to pay for the fuel needed for the power station. Al-Khatib added that government institutions in Gaza do not pay their electricity bill either, which makes matters worse. In response, the electricity authority in Gaza is blaming the government in Ramallah for using the electricity issue as a pressure tool to force the leadership in Gaza to make political compromises. Kanaan Obayed, deputy chief of the electricity authority, retorted that his department collects electricity fees from residents who are able to pay them, noting that the government in Gaza cannot force consumers to pay for electricity because of deteriorating economic conditions in Gaza and high unemployment. Several ideas have been proposed to solve power outages in Gaza, but the electricity company in Gaza said that the only solution is to rotate blackouts among different areas according to a schedule. It also warned of longer blackouts in the near future. The company's director of media affairs, Jamal Al-Dardasawi, stated that the short-term solution is to increase the amounts of fuel allowed into Gaza by Israel, to operate a second power station -- also increasing the amount of electricity coming from Egypt to quickly meet the needs of several districts in Gaza. The long-term solution, continued Al-Dardasawi, requires a local, national, regional and international salvage operation. He called on those in government to look beyond politics and view the situation as a humanitarian issue, in order to begin long-term projects to resolve the electricity problem in Gaza and make the lives of residents there easier. Haniyeh's government has accused Fayyad of rejecting a proposal to solve the problem of power shortages in Gaza during Ramadan. "The government recently proposed to Fayyad's cabinet a direct and indirect formula to secure a continuous flow of electricity in Gaza during Ramadan," revealed Youssef Rizqa, political adviser to Prime Minister Haniyeh. "But they ignored the suggestion." Rizqa explained that the plan suggested the Gaza government help the electricity company to collect more fees and provide funds for solar fuel. Also suggested was deducting 170 shekels ($45) from every civil servant whose income is more than 1,500 shekels ($400) a month, and redirecting the money to the Ministry of Finance in Ramallah. Despite these ideas, the crippling electricity crisis is likely to continue in Gaza as long as the governments in Gaza and Ramallah do not see eye-to-eye. It appears to be an unending game where people are paying dearly for having exercised their right to freely express their political will, as reflected in the results of the 2006 parliamentary elections that brought Hamas to power.
