Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barakat has issued a statement allowing for the import of palm fronds from Gaza to Israel. The agricultural product is highly needed in Israel as the Jewish festival Sukkah is arriving soon. The Sukkah is celebrated around the harvest of crops in fall and signifies the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. The palm fronds are needed to perform a traditional ritual prescribed by the Torah. This occasional opening of the siege is done to avoid a crisis, after Egypt stopped the export of palm fronds to Israel for unsaid reasons. Local Israeli merchants feared that the Egyptian trade freeze would prompt prices to rise aggressively. Normally, Egypt exports 700,000 palm fronds anually. In the Hebrew daily Maariv, the defense minister explained how he had approved the sale of 100,000 palm fronds to be sold from Gaza to Israel. This is a “highly exclusive” opening of the trade with agricultural products from Gaza, as trade from Gaza has been shut down due to “security measures.” “What a revealing double standard,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told the Palestinian news website Ma'an. “When Israel's theocratic echelons need agricultural produce for a Jewish religious celebration, imports from Gaza are authorized, yet since June 2007 this has apparently been an insurmountable security threat.” The Israeli Defence Ministry had no comment as to why the palm fronds were of any less security threat than any other Gaza crops. Since Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006, Israel has put an economic embargo on the strip, which limits export and trade forcefully. The European Parliament opened their internal market this September for the entrance of products from Gaza and the West Bank. This was good news, as crops and goods would now be able to give some air to a people living under a hard economic blockade and control. But the siege is still in effect, and has severe repercussions on Gaza's daily life. Israel argues that the blockade is to put political pressure on Hamas, which will prevent rocket-firing from Gaza into Israel. Critics contend that Israel is engaging in “collective punishment” of the Palestinian population, which is illegal under international law. ”We live in a big rabbit-cage,” explained local Gaza farmer Ahmad Shafi. In May, Egypt opened the border at Rafah into Egypt for the first time in five years. Shafi had hoped that the opening would soften the effects of the blockade, but was disappointed as only people are allowed to cross, not goods. Egypt is under severe political pressure not to open the border for goods, as Israeli officials claim it will be a haven for veapon smuggling into Gaza. Instead, people are dying in the tunnels, smuggling goods or simply trying to leave the strip. In May last year, an international flotilla attempted to bring goods into Gaza from sea. Nine activists on board lost their lives in clashes with the Israeli coastguard, and many other wounded. The ships never reached Gazan soil. The international community was outraged over the incident, and moderate pressure was put on Israel to lift the blockade. But despite the fact that the situation in Gaza is often described as a humanitarian crisis, the Israeli government is not hesitant to keep it going. But the recent news of a limited opening demonstrates the absurd double standards that Israel is governing by, activists and observers say. “Now the truth is laid bare,” UNRWA spokesman Gunness said. BM
