Last update - 00:00 18/12/2007
Gazans: IDF restrictions deny us of animals for holiday sacrifice
By The Associated Press
Israel's closure of its border with the Gaza Strip has caused a shortage of livestock for sacrifice at the annual Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday
beginning Wednesday, according to merchants in the coastal territory.
Ibrahim al-Kedra, a senior agriculture ministry official in Gaza said the average demand for the feast among Gaza's overwhelmingly Muslim population of 1.5 million is around 10,000 cows and 50,000 goats.
At the Eid, Muslims slaughter sheep, goats, cows or camels, sharing the meat with friends and family and donating one third to the poor.
Al-Kedra said around 7,700 cows were allowed through by Israel in November and around 1,600 more were set for shipping Monday, but no goats or sheep were permitted, apart from 30 goats and 30 camels donated by Israeli Muslims for the Gaza poor.
Israeli military officials had no comment Monday.
After the militant Islamic Hamas seized control of the strip in June, Israel imposed stringent restrictions on its crossings, restricting the passage of goods and people to essential humanitarian cases.
Gaza meat company owner Salah Affana said most of the cows shipped into Gaza were under two years old, which according to Islamic tradition is the minimum age for them to be sacrificed.
Affana said the shortage could mean that the needy, for whom the Eid is a rare chance to eat meat, might have to go without this year.
Many poor families are waiting to get meat on the Eid, he said. We hope that we can get the animals on time so we can bring the smile to the faces of the poor children.
Even for the relatively better-off, the shortage is pushing prices beyond many pockets, with a 600-kilogram (1,300- pound) cow selling in the Gaza cattle market for about 9,000 shekels ($2,250) compared to 7,200 shekels ($1,800) a year ago.
"I am lucky, I found a cow over two years old, but it's very expensive this year," businessman Sami Abdel Jawwad, 44, said. "I will share the cow with my brothers , each one will pay 2,000 shekels ($500)."
Adel Charif, a 33-year-old driver, was less fortunate.
"This year is a very bad year for me, I have no money to buy animals or to share in one," he said. "I used to buy a goat for 1,000 shekels ($250, 175) but this year it is 1,800 shekels ($450) ... I will pray to God to forgive me because I will not able to sacrifice this year, and I will pray for revenge against the (Israelis), who imposed the blockade and make it impossible for us to celebrate our Eid."
The festival commemorates the biblical story of Abraham and his readiness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who provided a lamb to be used instead.