For Jamal Abu al-Naja, a father of 14, farming is like breathing. Having been in this occupation for more than 12 years, he recently planted herbs intended for European markets, attempting to defy Israeli restrictions on exports.
Piles of green basil and mint have ripened at Abu al-Naja’s field that he rented from the government in the middle of Gaza Strip, ready for export. But the plants were not to be loaded onto trucks for export. Instead, they were to be burned after becoming rotten due to Israel’s closure of the only commercial crossing point connecting it with Gaza.