Gaza: The Right to Life and The Right to Work

The right to life is recognized as the most fundamental and basic of human rights. Every human being has the right to life. No one should be deprived of his or her life.

The promotion and protection of the right to life is no longer considered to be a matter exclusively within the domestic jurisdiction of a State. It is also a matter of international concern. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. The right to life is also entrenched in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which asserts that “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law.”

The right to work is also an inalienable right of all human beings. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection. This fundamental right it recognized in several international legal instruments. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment” and “Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worth of human dignity”. This right is also upheld in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.

So what about Gaza? What about their right to life, to work, to survive?

In Gaza, fishermen risk their lives for survival. A growing number of impoverished fishermen are risking crossing the Gaza-Egypt maritime border to buy fresh fish from the country’s nearby port cities and Egyptian fishermen out at sea.

Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with the Palestinian coastal enclave after Hamas seized power in Gaza in June 2007. The ensuing economic blockade, which bans all commercial imports and exports to and from the territory, also prohibits Gaza’s 3,500 fishermen from traveling beyond 5.5km, down from the 37m limit stipulated by the Oslo Accords.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, approximately seventy percent of Gaza’s annual sardine catch if found outside the Israeli-imposed fishing zone. Moreover, the other side of the barrier, which is heavily patrolled by Israeli warships, is also home to at least a dozen other varieties of fish and seafood.

According to the United Nations, the industry makes up 2-4% of the Palestinian gross domestic product (GDP).

“The fishermen do not feel at all safe at sea,” said Stephane Beytrison, the head of the Red Cross field office here. “Not all of them have GPS [global positioning systems], and in some cases even that doesn’t make a difference. They can be shot when they are three miles out or just two, they never know.”

“If our sea were open, our fish would be better,” Fathi Sayadi, a fisherman, said. “But in Egypt, they have access to all the things we don’t. I have four children and my brother has two. What can we do?”

“If our sea were open, our fish would be better,” Fathi Sayadi said. “But in Egypt, they have access to all the things we don’t. I have four children and my brother has two. What can we do?”

The fishermen buy the Egyptian fish for what they say are good prices in Egyptian pounds, then sell it at a higher price on the Gaza market. They claim to make about 500 shekels (USD $134) in profit with each trip, which goes towards fuel and paying the salaries of workers they hire to transport the fish to market.

In comparison, the average monthly salary of a Gaza fisherman is just 250 shekels (USD $67.13), down from 1,300 shekels (USD $349.09) before the blockade, according to the Red Cross.

“Isn’t it ridiculous that fishermen are required to buy fish from other fishermen, in another country?” said Abu Nidal, an elderly fisherman whom many of the Gaza City seamen consider to be their de-facto leader. “We used to export our fish. But now we import – and we barely do even that.”

The head of the fishing department at Gaza’s ministry of agriculture, who asked to be referred to as Abu Yusuf because of his affiliation with the Fatah-led government in Ramallah, estimates between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of the fish in Gaza’s market comes from Egypt, whether through the tunnels or from fishermen making the risky trip across the border. A further five per cent is imported from Israel, and the market works against other local fishermen as a result, officials here say.

“If they don’t want us to go to Egypt, then open the sea,” Abu Nidal said. “End the siege and just let us fish, so that we can live.”

Read Erin Cunningham’s Gaza Fishermen Risk Lives for Survival.