Hatem Khadeir (r), with his brothers Ahmed (l) and Jafer (c), in front of their rented farmland.

Hatem Khadeir (34) rents 5 dunnums of farmland with his brother Ahmed (43) in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, just 700 meters from Israel’s border.  Their older brother Jafer (52) rents another 5 dunnums of farmland closer to the border.  On the surface it is an idyllic life, with all three brothers working together on the land to raise their families, and before the border closed, it was: “We farmed bell peppers, potatoes, honeydew, onions, flowers and strawberries.  We were able to provide for 50% of our needs by farming.  Now, we cannot provide for any of our needs from farming.  Our lives are completely different because of Israel’s closing of our borders.”

Hatem and his brothers are excellent farmers, producing a high quality crop: “Before the border closure, we were exporting 80% of our crop to the West Bank and abroad.  Last season we were only able to export 10% of our crop abroad.  We were only able to export this small amount because of a program funded by a European country.  All of our land is now funded by this program, but we still barely meet our needs.”  The majority of their crop goes to the local market now, where it is difficult to make an income due to the low cost of produce in Gaza: “In the Gaza Strip, 1kg of strawberries costs 3 NIS, but in Holland we can sell it for 20 NIS.  We lose a lot of income by not being able to export our goods.”

Hatem and his brothers discovered after the closure where their products were being shipped: “We never knew who we were exporting to before, but after the closure we found out that we were exporting to European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Holland.  We hope that these countries will one day place pressure on Israel to allow exports again.”  Until that day though, they have to cope with Israel’s difficult export process: “We have to ship through Israel, which can be very difficult.  Our produce gets ruined because of the security checks required by Israel.  We know that Israel is destroying our products because someone sent us pictures of our products, which we had worked so hard to grow, lying out in the sun at the border crossing to be ruined.  Last season, in January, we were only able to export 2 truckloads of flowers and 2 truckloads of strawberries, in total.” Israel only allowed approximately 45 truckloads of exports, in total, in January 2012.  Before the border closure, they allowed 70 truckloads of exports daily.

This loss of income has been felt by the families of Hatem and his brothers: “Before the closure, in the summer the children get to do something fun, like attend a camp.  There is no money for this anymore, so they have to help out on the farm during the summer instead.”  Without assistance from an organization like PARC, they would not be able to farm or support their family at all: “If we did not receive help, we could not afford fertilizer or products.  We would only be able to plant 1 dunnum of farmland and the quality would not be good.  But, even with help from Europe, to get a good product, we do have to go into debt.  We can no longer afford help, we have had to reduce the amount of fertilizer we can use and our equipment is wearing out.  Still, even with help, we are going into debt to farm our land.”

After 21 years of farming this land, Hatem knows no other trade: “All I know how to do is farm.  I tried to use my own car as a taxi once, but that is not my trade.”  He is a Global Gap certified farmer, capable of producing a product that meets European standards.  If the border closure was lifted by Israel, Hatem and his brothers would be able to succeed: “We hope that we can export our products again one day, but Israel will not allow it.  It is so hard and hopeless. But, we hope still.”

The closure of the Gaza Strip, enacted by Israel as a form of ‘economic warfare,’ constitutes collective punishment, and is explicitly prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  The closure regime also violates a number of provisions of international law, including, for example, the obligation under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations to maintain the material conditions under which the occupied population live.  Given, inter alia, the resultant poverty in the Gaza Strip and the foreign aid needed to support the population, it is clear that Israel’s policy also violates its obligation under international human rights law to ensure the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights in the Gaza Strip.

To see a video narrative given by Hatem Khadeir  please  click here