West Bank: food parcel scheme is good for business in Hebron’s souk
10-10-2006 Feature
By working with local shopkeepers to distribute food aid to needy residents, the ICRC aims to avoid problems at checkpoints – and stimulate the local economy. The ICRC’s Bernard Barrett reports from Hebron’s old city.
" People receiving the ICRC parcels come here to pick them up and do their shopping at the same time, " explains 66-year-old Abdelhafiz Al-Bakri. " This generates business for the shops in the area – many remain open but often have little or no revenue. "
Al-Bakri is one of six shop owners in the souk (market) area of Hebron’s old city whose shops serve as distribution points for ICRC food parcels. These are given each month to about 1,800 families living in areas of the city that are badly affected by restrictive measures imposed by the Israeli authorities.
The ICRC gives the shop owners a small incentive payment and covers the costs of bringing the parcels from its warehouse to the shops. " It’s not a big benefit for me, " he says, " but the scheme benefits the people living in the area. They need shops to remain open here.”
Al-Bakri’s spice and nut business has been in the family for 20 years. He took it over from his father in 1996. " At that time the souk was so full of people, " he says, " it was difficult to walk in the street. There was even a rope down the middle to separate the pedestrian traffic! "
Few shoppers
Now, he explains, " the situation is not good, not good! Few people come into the area, so even if we open our shops, the luckiest shopkeeper might earn 50 shekels in a day. " He says the down payment required to rent a shop like his is now a tiny fraction of what it was before 20 00.
Access to this area, like much of the old city of Hebron, is tightly controlled by military checkpoints. Al-Bakri says the soldiers who patrol the old city often stop people from coming to the souk . At times, he adds, he and other shopkeepers have been prevented from opening their shops in the morning. Sometimes they were delayed at the checkpoints for up to an hour or more.
" Because I am old, I can afford to spend my time here – I am not going to start a new career! " says Al Bakri. " But my sons will not sit here doing nothing; they will have to find some other kind of work. "
At the beginning of the second Intifada, about 400 shops were closed by military order. With the restrictions on access to the area, another 700 shut down because of the lack of business.
Fear on the streets
" People are still afraid to go out because of the army presence and the general security situation, " explains Dusan Vukotic of the ICRC’s Hebron office. " They fear they could be trapped because of an incident somewhere and not allowed to return home.
" By distributing the food parcels through the local merchants we hope to bring people back to the souk and other parts of the old city, " says Vukotic. " We coordinate with the Israeli authorities to get restrictions within the area eased on distribution days, so that people do not get stuck at checkpoints when they come to get their parcels. "
Laway Awni Mohfaseb, aged 27, is one of the ICRC’s beneficiaries. He is a casual labourer but, because of the economic situation and the restrictions on movement, he is often without work. He lives in the old city with his w ife and two daughters, his mother and brother. He used to work in Israel, but no longer has a permit.
“Because of the closures, daily workers are stuck here on the West Bank, " he explains. " There is such a surplus of manpower, wages have dropped, " he says. " The food parcels are a great help make a big difference. "