Feature: Gaza livestock business declines before Muslim holiday

GAZA (Xinhua) - Due to economic recession in the impoverished Gaza Strip, Abu Eyad, a popular Gaza livestock dealer complained a decline in business on the eve of Eidul Adha, a major Muslim holiday they'll celebrate on Saturday.

A major tradition of this holiday is to slaughter a sheep, a goat, a camel or a cow, and the Muslims deliver two thirds of the meat to poor people, as well as to neighbors and relatives, and the last third they cook or store. Abu Eyad and other dealers admitted that their business severely declined.

In the narrow and overcrowded coastal enclave, which passed through a heavy destructive large-scale Israeli air and ground operation during July and August, the situation is different due to high rates of poverty and unemployment which deteriorated further after the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

"Eidul Adha will (be) on tomorrow (Saturday) and we haven't sold one-third of our livestock," Abu Eyad told Xinhua with sadness and anger. "Most of the customers stop by my farm, look at the sheep and cows, ask about the price, and then they leave without buying."

Abu Eyad's farm is in Jabalia town in northern Gaza Strip which was severely damaged during the Israeli army air and ground operations that lasted for 50 days.

"I was hoping that when the war ends and the season of Eidul Adha comes, I would be able to sell as many as sheep and cows to compensate my losses during the war," he said, standing on his farm with his sons who came to help him receive customers and sell the livestock.

Although they lowered prices, livestock dealers in the Gaza Strip said their business this year had severely declined compared to last year and the previous years. They believe that this recession was related to the deteriorated living conditions.

Eidul Adha is a major holiday for Muslims all over the world, where more than two million Muslims from around the world go to Saudi Arabia, mainly to the two holy cities of Mecca and al-Medina for the basic Muslims' principle of pilgrimage, or Haj. Slaughtering a livestock is a condition to succeed the Haj.

Economy in the Gaza Strip has declined in general since Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007 right after Hamas movement had violently seized control of the coastal enclave.

Cows, sheep and goats were filling the markets of the Gaza Strip, however, not every citizen can afford an animal. During the large-scale Israeli operations on Gaza, 3,000 cows were killed in farms closed to the borders with Israel.

Tahseen al-Saqqa, director of marketing in the Ministry of Agriculture,told Xinhua that after the end of the war on Gaza, the livestock businessmen and dealers imported 8,000 cows from Israel, adding that the imported livestock was supposed to be enough for the entire year, not only for this holiday.

"But unfortunately this year, due to the results of the Israeli war on Gaza, this business declined due to high rates of poverty and unemployment," said al-Saqqa.

Due to the stagnant economy, five relatives, neighbors or friends usually share a cow. Charities in Gaza also slaughter cows and deliver the meat to needy families, who suffer from poor living condition and saw their homes destroyed during the war.

The poor living condition and the deteriorated economy is not only in the business of livestock, it dominates all businesses, Maher Taba'a, an official in the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, told Xinhua.

 "Unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip climbed to 55 percent after the last Israeli large-scale attack on the Gaza Strip, where 500 economical, commercial and industrial establishments were either destroyed or badly damaged by bombs and missiles," said Taba'a. And poverty rates climbed to 60 percent.

In the Gaza Strip, Eidul Adha wasn't full of joy like in most other Arab and Islamic states in the world. There are many grieved families who lost their children, and children who lost their parents. Usually, it is a tradition that grieved families don't celebrate on holidays for at least two months.