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In Gaza, a Complex, Dysfunctional Way of Life

(Washington Post) Janine Zacharia - What the ill-fated aid flotilla bound for Gaza didn't have on board were the things that Gazans say they need most: jobs, reliable electricity and a ticket out. Gaza has been turned into a mini-welfare state with a broken economy where food and daily goods are plentiful, but where 80% of the population depends on charity. If you walk down Gaza City's main thoroughfare, grocery stores are stocked wall-to-wall with everything from fresh Israeli yogurts to Cocoa Puffs smuggled in from Egypt. Pharmacies look as well-supplied as in the U.S. "When Western people come, they have this certain image of Gaza," said Omar Shaban, an economist who heads Pal-Think for Strategic Studies in Gaza. "We have microwaves in our homes, not only me, everybody. If you go to a refugee camp, the house is bad, but the people and the equipment are very modern. The problem is the public infrastructure."
2010-06-04 10:07:29
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