Gaza: A Field of Ruins?

March 10, 2006 — -- Muhammad El Masrek's tomatoes are ruined, his strawberries are rotting, and his dreams of earning a decent living have vanished.

El Masrek's berries usually sell at $45 a crate in markets in Israel and around the world. But the only way to get his produce to market is through Gaza's Karni Crossing.

Dozens of Palestinian produce trucks now sit idle, waiting for the crossing to open.

Karni has been sealed shut with Israel controlling the crossing, saying that it cannot be opened because there is a security threat.

After intense lobbying, patrols briefly let trucks transporting humanitarian goods cross the border on Thursday. Farmers still have no right of passage.

So El Masrek can't sell his produce.

"I am going to be in so much debt," El Masrek said. "I will either be put in jail or I will have to leave the country."

"The problem is there is a very specific, defined and targeted threat on the Karni Crossing," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Regev won't define what that threat is and will not give a date as to when the crossing will reopen.

The closure is a serious blow to Palestinians.

Farming is essential to the 1.3 million people in Gaza. It is considered the one chance to get the beleaguered economy off the ground.

After Israel pulled out of the densely populated Gaza Strip last fall, land left by the Israelis was cultivated by Palestinians.

Americans donated $57 million to rebuild greenhouses and boost agriculture. The infusion of cash created an astonishing 10,000 jobs and produced thousands of tons of fresh vegetables to be sold around the world.

Reaping the benefits of such abundance has turned sour.

The closure of the crossing violates a deal brokered last November by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that guaranteed the crossing would stay open and provide a much-needed lifeline to the poverty-stricken people of Gaza.