'The Israelis Have Returned Us To The 5th Century'

By Avi Issacharoff
Last update - 07:37 26/05/2009
Courtesy Of Haaretz NewsPaper

Hussam, a resident of Gaza City, is an eternal optimist. He expected good tidings to emerge from Sunday's cabinet meeting on the Gaza Strip's border crossings - namely, that due to American pressure, Israel had finally decided to reopen them.

But for now, Israeli policy remains unchanged: Numerous basic items, including certain types of food and drink, are barred from entering Gaza. According to Hussam, the banned list includes shoes, clothing, glassware and, of course, cement and steel.

To Gaza residents, it sometimes seems as if the situation in the Strip could not get any worse. But then, another week or month passes, and Hussam and his fellows realize that indeed, it could.

The problems caused by the ongoing blockade have been exacerbated by the need to reconstruct Gaza following January's Operation Cast Lead. Some 20,000 houses were damaged during the fighting, and thousands were completely destroyed.
.
.
.
...Tent cities can still be found in northern Gaza, near Beit Lahiya and Jabalya, housing families whose homes have yet to be rebuilt. And many residents of Sajiyeh and Zeitoun, two Gaza City neighborhoods that suffered heavy damage, are still living with relatives or neighbors.

In southern Gaza, the lack of standard building materials has prompted a few residents to begin building houses out of mud. In a sense, this is a gimmick - but it attests to real distress.

"The Israelis have returned us to the fifth century," charged Hussam.

Meanwhile, Gazans' efforts to escape reality have led to a surge in addiction to painkillers: According to the local press, hundreds of Gaza residents are now getting high on a heavy-duty painkiller that is supposed to be used only to treat severe pain. Hamas, which rules the Strip, has ordered pharmacies not to sell the drug, but neither that nor its price tag - a few shekels for a single pill - has stopped the trend. Nor has Hamas been able to stop smugglers from bringing the pills in via tunnels from Egypt.

"Since the war in Gaza, the entire Strip has been living on these pills," said Mohammed, a Palestinian journalist.