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In Gaza, unpaid government salaries dampen Eid joy
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, June 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Hani al-Laham
sits down to a family dinner after a long day of fasting, but he has little
to celebrate as the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches.
Despite Laham having a monthly salary of 1,700 shekels ($475), tied to a
job in the security services, the Palestinian government has repeatedly
failed to pay him.
He is one of nearly 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza on the payroll of the
internationally-recognised administration based in the West Bank. More than a
decade ago the Palestinian Authority (PA) ordered its employees in the
enclave to stay at home, over a dispute with Gaza rulers Hamas, promising to
continue paying their salaries.
But now the money has been cut back.
“This is a disaster, Gaza is collapsing,” said Laham, whose financial woes
have seen the family evicted from their rented home in Khan Yunis in the
southern Gaza Strip.
They have now moved to a homemade shack on the coast near Gaza City, but
even that meagre existence is threatened.
The local municipality is trying to demolish their temporary home, claiming
it was built without the necessary permits.
“If they give me back my salary, I will rent an apartment. I am tired of
this life,” the 55-year-old told AFP.
Last week Laham finally received a small sum of money, ahead of the Eid al-
Fitr Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan, but it doesn’t cover the
family’s basic needs.
“Where should we go? Burn ourselves?” his wife Noor, 33, asked.
– West Bank protest –
The family’s situation — and that of thousands of other Gazans — is one
of the idiosyncrasies of the bitter intra-Palestinian conflict.
MORE/MR/ 1057 hrs
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The Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza in 2007, after a near
civil war with the PA which is led by president Mahmud Abbas.
Hamas argued it had won 2006 parliamentary elections and been deprived of
the right to rule after the international community refused to accept the
result.
The Gaza takeover was deemed a coup by Abbas, who eventually told his
employees not to go to work until Hamas ceded power.
The salaries of staff including judges, doctors and ministry workers
continued to be paid while they waited for bickering politicians to allow
them to return to jobs.
But years later they are stuck, with Israel imposing a blockade on Gaza
that has crippled the economy and no realistic employment opportunities under
Hamas.
Recently, facing financial shortfalls and seeking to isolate Hamas, Abbas
sought to make cuts to the Gaza salaries.
Last year they were reduced by 30 percent, while in March the PA paid
nothing at all — without explanation.
The following month Abbas promised the salaries would be paid within a few
days, but nothing happened.
Finally 50 percent of one month’s salary was paid on June 5, ahead of Eid
which will likely be celebrated Friday.
The Ramallah government has said the lack of payment is a “technical”
issue, but it has long had budgetary problems.
Critics also argue that by cutting salaries the PA is seeking to sow
discord among Gaza’s two million residents, and make life difficult for
Hamas.
Hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank took to the streets of Ramallah
on Sunday and Wednesday to demand that salaries be paid in Gaza, a rare show
of opposition in the city where Abbas’s government is based.
The latter protest had been banned by the Palestinian administration and
security forces dispersed demonstrators with tear gas and sound grenades.
The United Nations warned last month that Gaza could be on the brink of
war, after at least 129 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in border
protests.
Hamas, which has strongly backed the demonstrations, has fought three wars
with Israel since 2008.
– A ‘humiliating life’ –
The salary cuts have also affected Gazans’ health.
Sabara Abu Ali, 67, has kidney failure but can no longer afford the
necessary care after her income was stopped.
“I get dialysis three times a week,” at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, she
said. “I don’t even have the 30 shekels I need for transport each day.”
“How could you desert us Abu Mazen?” she asked, using Abbas’s Arabic
nickname.
Yasser, an employee of the health ministry, said even if he were to receive
his full salary, his debts are such that once the bank takes its loan
repayment and electricity and telephone bills are paid he would have only 75
shekels left.
“I have debts to the supermarket, the greengrocer, the pharmacy, university
fees for my daughter and school fees for my youngest,” he said.
Yasser said his financial situation led his wife to desert him, taking the
children and returning to her family home.
“Suicide is better than this humiliating life,” he said.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1057 hrs