Blockaded Gaza looks wryly on as world isolates itself

Monitoring Desk

GAZA: A sly dig at the international community, this is just one among a torrent of social media posts that has emerged from the blockaded Gaza Strip in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The sight of a world locking itself down seems to have unleashed a wellspring of emotions in Gaza, from sardonic political commentary to schadenfreude, emerging from Palestinian denizens of the tiny coastal enclave that has for years lived with enforced isolation and confinement.

“Have you got bored with your quarantine, the closure of your crossings, your airports and your trade? We in Gaza have been living this for 14 years,” one social media user posted this week. “Oh world, welcome into our permanent reality,” he added. Gaza, measuring 375 square kilometers (145 square miles) is home to around two million Palestinians, more than half of them refugees. Along 90% of its land and sea boundaries its access to the outside world is controlled by Israel, and by Egypt on its narrow southern border.

An Israeli-led blockade has put restrictions on the movement of people and goods for years, amid security concerns following the 2007 takeover of Gaza by the Islamist militant group Hamas, and three subsequent wars which killed thousands of Palestinians and around 100 Israelis. The irony is not lost on Gazans that the restrictions they chafe against may also have contributed to slowing the entry of coronavirus, with no cases reported thus far in Gaza. But prolonged closure and isolation have contributed to the crippling of Gaza’s economy, with unemployment at 52 percent and poverty levels of over 50 percent. (Reuters)