A 25-year-old nicknamed Guevara because of his admiration for the Latin American revolutionary returned to his home in Gaza after days of hiding, but he was not giving up.
He had avoided home after a warning that Hamas security forces were looking for him due to his role as an organizer of protests over severe electricity shortages.
In a mock army jacket and with a Che Guevara-like beard, Mohammed al-Taluli was being greeted by dozens of supporters from his neighborhood of Jabalia, a crowded, overgrown refugee camp north of Gaza City.
Photo: AFP
“We are going to continue asking for our humanitarian demands,” he said seated at a plastic table in a room in his home he called his office.
Hamas, the Muslim movement that runs the Gaza Strip, has ended a series of protests over the electricity crisis with a security crackdown and aid from Qatar used to purchase more fuel.
However, frustration in places like Jabalia remains and there are once again warnings that deteriorating conditions in the Palestinian enclave of 2 million people might be leading to a larger eruption of anger.
Gazans face electricity shortages all year, but the problem is exacerbated in winter and mid-summer, when power use spikes.
The Hamas authorities in the coastal enclave usually provide electricity in eight-hour intervals, but supply was reduced to four hours this month.
Protests began modestly, with dozens of people holding candles, before culminating on Thursday last week with thousands marching in Jabalia toward the electricity company.
Hamas security forces fired into the air to disperse the crowd and carried out arrests.
Further protests were prevented by a show of force by Hamas security.
Perhaps sensing the urgency, Hamas sought help, including from Turkey and Qatar, which agreed to donate US$12 million for fuel purchases.
On Monday, Hamas said it was returning to eight-hour electricity — and was releasing all those arrested in connection with the protests.
A Gaza government spokesman said that Jabalia protesters were attacking security forces and public buildings, but also said that Hamas was responding to demands by working to improve electricity supply.
“There is no security solution,” Salama Maroof told reporters.
Taluli felt safe enough to return home after the announcement that those arrested would be released, but for him and others, the electricity shortages are only one in a series of frustrations.
Many young people feel trapped between Hamas’ strict rule and Israel’s blockade of the enclave, which has been in place for about a decade and prevents them from leaving.
Egypt’s border with Gaza has also remained largely closed and unemployment is about 42 percent.
Three wars since 2008 between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have left behind death and destruction, not to mention psychological scars.
Even those with longtime businesses have suffered.
“I need electricity for more than eight hours to complete my work for the customers,” said 29-year-old Mohamed Abu Sharaf, whose family has had a print shop in Gaza City for 40 years.
As he spoke, the electricity supply ended again.
The reasons for the electricity shortages are multi-layered, with the first simply a lack of capacity. Gaza has one power plant that runs on diesel fuel.
It also imports electricity from Israel and Egypt, but it is not nearly enough.
Old power lines and theft add to the problem, with Gaza losing up to 20 percent of electricity that makes its way onto the grid, Maroof said.
The recent shortages were complicated by a dispute with the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank and dominated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.
Fatah and Hamas remain divided, despite repeated attempts at reconciliation.
The Palestinian Authority handles fuel purchases from Israel, as Israeli authorities do not deal directly with Hamas, which Jerusalem considers a terrorist organization.
The Palestinian Authority requires Hamas to reimburse it for bills and taxes, but Gaza’s electricity company faces cash shortages, because many customers do not pay.
Maroof said the company should collect about US$13 million per month, but only collects about US$6 million.
He blamed it on poverty and simple reluctance to pay, while calling the Palestinian Authority’s taxes excessive.
Many Gaza residents are well aware of the complications, but have become fed up.
Those who know the situation well say Hamas must be seen as responding to their frustrations.
“This is for them a strong message that you can’t count on your stick or your gun to undermine the people and to silence the people,” said Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas member and former government official.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese