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GAZA ZOOS























Vet Dr Saud Shawa and founder of the first zoo in Gaza; Gaza Zoo, treats a sheep at his "Vetco" clinic in Gaza City. Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories.






















Gaza zoos The idea that imprisoned people can make a business out of smuggling, locking up, and exhibiting animals is, of course, deeply ironic. The inhabitants of Gaza are quite aware of this. “A zoo is a small prison”, they say. “Gaza is a big prison. A huge zoo in itself.” But it doesn’t mean they are keen on identifying with all those cats, birds, ostriches, and camels living in tiny cages under dismal conditions. They don’t give them names. They don’t pet them. Children throw stones at them, or kick them with their feet. It seems like the people of Gaza can’t afford to waste their sensitivity on animals; sensitivity is a rare commodity in a society ravaged by Israel’s blockade and “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008/09 that damaged 22,000 homes, 280 schools and 16 hospitals and killed 1400 people, amongst them 353 children. There are now about a dozen zoos in Gaza and their story is intertwined with world politics in a way that would be unimaginable anywhere else. It all started with great hopes. In 2005, Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza. It was then that Dr. Saud Shawa, a veterinarian, decided to establish Palestine’s National Zoo. For Dr. Shawa, this was about education and showing people how to care for animals. Supported by international donors, he built a spacious compound with big cages, a theatre, a library and research centre – Gaza Zoo, the first one ever in the strip. It opened in January 2006. That very same month, however, Hamas, the radical Islamist movement, won elections in Gaza. That was when things started to go astray. Israel closed its border to Gaza, and the local economy collapsed. Businessmen didn’t know how to invest their money anymore. So they tried to emulate Dr. Shawa’s example; they started building their own zoos, hoping to collect entrance fees from visitors, especially from schoolchildren. (Half of Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants are younger than fifteen years.) Restaurant moguls and entrepreneurs like Abu Ismail Bargouthi, who had made a fortune selling car seats, transformed themselves into zoo directors. The entrance fee is around 3 Shekels, usually – something like 50 pence. But having been cut off for three years, Gaza is now devastated. Almost everyone depends on international aid, and most people can’t afford to pay the zoos’ entrance fees. As of today, not a single zoo has been profitable. In fact, there is only one person in the strip who benefits from the business. That’s Abu Nadal Khalid, an animal trader. Taking purchase orders from the directors, he has animals drugged and smuggled through the infamous system of tunnels leading from Egypt into the strip. For a gazelle, he takes 1000 Dollars. A tiger would be 20,000 Dollars. Text by Malte Henk.