‘We will not give up’: Palestinians in Gaza rebuild from the beginning | Business and Financial Issues
Gaza City – Many years of hard work, sweat, and effort went to Mohammed Abu Matar’s 3D printing company, Tashkeel 3D.
Its only location was in the entire Gaza Strip capable of producing essential equipment such as stethoscopes and tourniquets, essential items and Gaza hospitals but hard to find under the 14-year Israeli-Egypt.
Many weapons have been banned by Israel from entering the Gaza Strip for years because they are known to be “double users”, making Abu Matar’s 3D printing of a blockade solution and print out essentials, life-saving at a low price.
But on May 18 at 6 a.m., airstrikes in Israel beautified a house with its own lab, a disaster for Abu Matar and his party of three.
“When I heard this story, all my local memories flooded in front of me like a movie. It was my childhood dream,” Abu Matar, 35, told Al Jazeera.
“Israel does not allow the entry of printers or high-tech machines into the Strip, so we have to start from scratch and develop our own skills. Some of these things, machines, research that was damaged.”
After failing to import, Abu Matar and his team created the first 3D printer in Gaza on their own in 2014 by cutting down on other weapons and following open source sources online.
He developed CNC printing presses and 3D scanners that were unprecedented in Gaza.
As of 2017, Abu Matar is thought to have invested more than $ 150,000, but it is not about that amount.
“It led us to do research and to use the brain. It is very important, “said Abu Matar.
Abu Matar and his team had collaborations with various hospitals and NGOs including Doctors Without Border (MSF), which relies on 3D-printed medical equipment.
“It means a world to me when I know that my professionalism and work are helping patients in Gaza,” he said.
The remains of the Abu Matar laboratory are visible in Gaza City [Courtesy: Mohammed Abu Matar]
A weak end to the war has taken hold in Gaza since the first Friday after the Strip had been severely persecuted for years, resulting in at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, killed in a plane crash in Israel.
Many of the trade and commerce sites that the Israeli military had during the 11 days of the eruption were valuable fortifications. Israeli forces have also destroyed a bookstore by Abu Matar’s father-in-law, who keeps rare books anywhere in Gaza, Abu Matar said.
‘Start from zero’
To the east of the industrial Gaza Strip, 18 factories were strengthened by Israeli threats, according to Bajes El Dalou, director of investment department.
Ten factories were destroyed and eight were damaged, including 200 now unemployed workers, El Dalou told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t think there was any purpose [for Israeli air attacks to target factories] but to violate our will as human beings is to destroy us. This is what we are used to, “said El Dalou.
When Nihad al-Sawafiri heard that his furniture company had been demolished on May 17 in an industrial area near the al-Muntar border – known as Karni to Israel – it was like a “dream that suddenly disappeared”, he said.
Before setting up his own company, he explored the safest place in Gaza to run his business.
A Palestinian trade commissioner has told him that there are international agreements and treaties that have protected eastern Gaza as a safe haven for Israeli demonstrations where businesses can grow, al-Sawafiri told Al Jazeera.
“However, it was shot down and I lost my business. Just imagine working hard for 30 years and you lose this overnight. It’s a disaster, ”said Sa-Safiri.
“I do not know how long it will take to revive the business, but if things go well and I get my money back in Gaza, it will take me six months to get back from zero.
“Money and business can be paid for but human lives cannot, so I’m glad we came out of this war alive.”
A Palestinian woman is cooking while another lives in the homes of Israeli fire extinguishers in Gaza [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]‘Everything is missing’
Mohammed Fora, 28, owned a barber shop in southern Shejaiya in Gaza Strip, when Israeli warplanes crashed on May 16.
Fora and her brother started a business to provide for their families, including their brother who is disabled and in need of full-time care.
“Now, it’s all over,” Fora told Al Jazeera.
He had to rebuild from scratch, but it cost him $ 15,000 10 years ago, and it was difficult.
“I am waiting for the construction committee in Gaza to pay me, but it will take several months if that does not happen. In the meantime, my brother and I have been searching for various jobs, such as rebuilding. We have to move on, otherwise we will not survive, ”said Fora.
“We do not want anyone to feel sorry for us, but let us live. Just leave us alone. I’m disappointed [the international community]. It’s just the lips. If he cared enough, he could [something] long ago. ”
He also said that his barbershop was destroyed when Israeli eagles attacked a nearby cemetery. “Why do you go to the dead? It is amazing that even the dead should not be free, ”said Fora.
For Abu Matar, he only thanks him and his loved ones for surviving the attacks.
“In this war, no one expects to survive,” he said. “Losing my business – which my team and I have struggled with financially – was a tragedy, but people’s lives are very important.”
To bring back more people page can help make his lab work again. Within 36 hours, donors recorded about $ 27,000, more than half of the target.
“We were all very sad about this [when we heard it was destroyed]”But we also understand that our company’s seeds were opposed to the project, and we are going somewhere to rebuild what Israel has destroyed,” said Abu Matar.
“This message is hopeful and difficult. We will not give up. We will continue and we will rebuild our company. Gaza is just talking about ridicule and making the impossible possible. We will do this.”
