Hunger across Gaza as Bread Runs Out

Christmas 2008
Source: dissidentvoice.org, 25-12-2008
By Samah A. Habeeb

The misery in Gaza pushed me to report on the hunger of my people.
I stopped by Al Shanty Bakery in the middle of Gaza City. It is one of the biggest bakeries in Gaza and provides tens of thousands with bread. Hundreds of people were crowded outside the bakery in a very long, long line waiting for bags of bread, which is running out in Gaza.

Abed Mas'od, 24, is a labour working in Al Shanty Bakery. I spoke to him while he was very busy preparing bread for thousands. I managed to get some information out of him.

Before the deadly crisis of a bread shortage, which started 2 days ago, this bakery was preparing 30 bags of flour. But since today, 25 December, it is making bread from around 100 bags, each bag weighing 60 Kilograms. Abed refers to this rise of bread-making quantity to the unrprecedented requests from the population for bread, which came after "Israel" banned flour coming into Gaza and closed the border.

"Our bakery is out of bread since days and what we have is only for another 24 hours. In fact, we stopped our work yesterday as we ran out of flour. Now, we use grain (fodder) used for animals which will finish in hours," a bakery lworker said.

Among the crowd, a woman's voice arose above the people in the row. She started to scream and appealed for God requesting a salvation and easing of life's conditions. I came closer to the woman, introduced myself, and asked her some questions. The woman, Om Ali Shoman, 45, with a pale, bleak face draws upon the suffering of the population.

She said, "This is our destiny. It's a conspiracy machinated against us. What's the fault of my children at home to stay with no bread. Did they fire rockets? Did they kill ‘Israelis'? Are they holding guns?"

There are 47 bakeries in Gaza, but now only 14 are in operation.
Normally, Gaza needs 450 tons of flour; 100 goes for bakeries and 300 for household use. Part of the household share flour is being provided by UNRWA which halted its work lately. The remaining flour and wheat quantities will cover the needs of people for only a few days.

Samah A. Habeeb, is a photojournalist, peace activist, humanitarian, and child relief worker in Gaza, Palestine. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Read other articles by Samah, or visit Samah's website.