Roses for Europe: Israel eases Gaza blockade to allow flower exports
GAZA CITY 鈥� Flower farmers in the Gaza Strip exported a shipment of 30,000 flowers through an Israeli crossing on Thursday in a rare easing of the Gaza blockade that will see continued flower exports until the season ends in May of next year.
This marks the first time since the 2006-07 season that Gaza鈥檚 flower growers, on a request local agricultural officials say was brought by the Netherlands to Israel鈥檚 Defense Ministry, will export their entire harvest of some 35 million roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums to markets in European countries.
It is also one of the only exceptions Israel has made for exports from the impoverished Palestinian territory. Israel imposed a tight economic blockade when the Islamist movement Hamas seized control in 2007.
Key European supplier
Gaza was one of Europe鈥檚 main flower suppliers before Israel halted commercial and agricultural exports from the territory. Gaza鈥檚 last shipment of flowers was a truckload of 25,000 stems symbolically allowed out for Valentine鈥檚 Day earlier this year.
Yusuf Shaath, the cash crops project manager for the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a local development organization that works closely with farmers, says the sector expects to earn $6.3 million with this year鈥檚 harvest, after a near-total collapse over the past two years.
鈥淭he farmers are very excited 鈥� they had lost totally their markets with the blockade,鈥� says Mr. Shaath. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 ask why the Israelis decided to lift the blockade for us, we鈥檒l just do our work.鈥�
Ideal soil for growing flowers
An Israeli official confirmed the shipment had been made, but would not elaborate on why the exception had been made. The next shipment of 250,000 flowers is slated for next week, local officials say.
Gaza鈥檚 mild coastal weather and well-drained soil is ideal for commercial flower farming, local agricultural specialists say.
There are more than 100 flower farms in Gaza, mainly in Rafah in the south and Beit Lahiya in the far north, that employ some 7,000 workers, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).
Gaza鈥檚 flowers will be transported from the Kerem Shalom crossing by Israeli exporters to the world鈥檚 premier flower auctions in Holland, Mr. Shaath says. From there, they will be sold to European distributors at an average of $0.20 a stem.
Ranked No. 3 in quality, flowers were fed to livestock due to blockade
Shaath says Gaza鈥檚 flowers, of which there are approximately 45 varieties, are ranked No. 3 by Dutch flower growers in terms of quality.
Unable to sell their entire harvests in local markets under the blockade, Gaza鈥檚 flower farmers fed the past two seasons of their crops to livestock.
