Swiss company cancels deal to sell cement to Gaza flotilla organizers

Interbulk to return 25,000 euros to Swedish activists who intended on transporting some 3,000 tons of cement as aid to Gaza on flotilla.



http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomac...izers-1.371740

Israel blocks import of cement to Gaza, and apparently some Swiss company agrees that Palestinians do not deserve to use cement...

I suspect that Interbulk by claiming "Force Majeure" were prevented from performing the contract by elements outside of their control. ie the Greek govt refused permission to load the cement at the designated port of loading.

I don't know. Are western companies allowed to sell chemical products through a 3rd country party to Iran more sympathetic to rights issues then others?

How on earth are the people of Palestine supposed to go further in a peaceful state if they can't even build a house or irrigation for a toilet system? I wasn't aware the were building Katusha rockets out of cement these days.

Keeping the people down, longer, will only add to extremist, and basic human beliefs that if you can't allow a person to live, dying to to achieve that not only more likely, but rather a necessity.

I think that would be unusual if a company went all social activist like that...

The main ingredient of cement is limestone is it not? And there's plenty of that in Palestine. So why on Earth are they importing Swiss cement?

There's alot of limestone in the states and we import plenty of cement from else where as well. It could be cheaper to "refine" it outside, as the facilities in that tiny territory are limited.

after your ingenious suggestion Palestinians may indeed stop importing cement, only if they read EF threads...

here, I will change the title of the thread to: "do Palestinians deserve Swiss cement?"

I don't know why you're blaming the Swiss company, as grumpygit has already indicated it's not their fault. The Greeks have a ban in place on all ships leaving for Gaza. http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_686693.html

But the USA doesn't face embargoes and restrictions of the type Palestine does. And a cement kiln is realtively low-tech and shouldn't be too difficult to rig up. And with the high unemployment and low costs of labour that the Palestine territories have I don't think it matters that they don't have the latest high-tech methods. Sometimes labour can be chaaper than technology. Even the ancient Romans knew how to make cement and many of their buildings are still standing today.

If they were being cut off from water or medical supplies I would see that there is a crisis. But cement? honestly? Next they'll be telling us they can't import rocks either.

and its fairly easy to find it at 10000 ft on the hud of a fighter jet

Sadly - this happens often enough, palestinian quarters being cut off from water, electricity and gas. And it's not recent, it happened these past 10 years over and over again.

NO, that Swiss company does NOT agree to this, but clearly regards the governments of Greece and Israel as "force majeure" which means equivalent to pest & cholera & earthquakes & thunderstorms .

If a company wants to deliver cement to the Gaza Territory it has to deliver the stuff to somebody in the el-Arish Directorate, who will then organize the onward-transportation into Gaza via the now open Egypt-Gaza border


As THIS compilation reveals

Exports: Gaza and W. Bank – $682 million Commodities:
W. Bank – olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone;
Gaza – citrus, flowers
Exports partners:
W. Bank – Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip;
Gaza – Israel, Egypt, W. Bank
Imports:
W. Bank and Gaza – $2.5 billion Commodities: food, consumer goods, construction materials

there is no limestone in the Gaza-Territory !! and you will rather get a Camel through the needle-hole than a kilo of cement from Palestine to Gaza

Here is the list of goods you are allowed to send to Gaza.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/h...azaimports.pdf

Goods must go over an Israeli port where the shipment is searched for contraband. The cleared goods are then sent on by Israel.

Cement is banned because it can be used for building bunkers and reinforcing tunnels. Gaza is like a rabbit warren underground. When the Israeli army has to go in, they send dogs down to ferret the Palestinians out.

Edit: Note that the West bank and Gaza pose different threats and are therefore handled differently.

Edit 2: The list is from April 2010. I don't know what applies now.

The now-open Egyptian border does indeed change things on the ground, as W has pointed out.

... Apparently a Swiss company decides not to ship to a country they cannot legally ship to. ( Even if the legality is ...erm... illegal).

So really this thread should be retitled. "Israeli embargo on cement to Gaza still in place".

but, why do they want to make bunkers and tunnels? could it be because they want to shelter their children when bombs start falling, or that they need tunnels to bring in medical supplies, food and such?

and, how would they re-build their houses when they are blown away by bombs and razed by bulldozers? Should they just use animal dung instead of cement?

my attempts as sarcasm should not be taken indicative of my amusement of your comment, i am quite appalled actually

Or could it be to smuggle in weaponry, to be able to gain access to enemy territory to launch raids, to be able to ambush enemy soldiers/convoys, to be able to take cover when you've successfully launched an attack on the enemy?

That's what the Viet Cong used them for. Most effectively.

btw - welcome to the forums. Why not introduce yourself in the introductions forum?

not sure if that is the purpose of tunnels, but nevertheless, that sounds like pretty common military tactics to me...whats the problem here?

do you have issues with a people trying to arm themselves to protect themselves?

No. But the Israelis do, (well, they have issues with people launching attacks on their people) and that's why they've put an embargo on cement. See here.

gee, they once put an embargo on parsley. listening to their explanations about such nonsense is very naive