From Gaza with love

[Violet_Crumble]

The Dutch have persuaded Israel to let Gazans export flowers in time for Valentine's Day. Now it's time to end the blockade

Khaled Diab
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 14 February 2009 15.00 GMT

Valentine's Day – that festival of naff consumerism and kitsch infatuation – is not an occasion close to my heart. Love is a year-round ethereal pursuit and efforts to box it in on a particular day or package it in the form of cards, chocolates and flowers does not appeal.

But this year, I'm feeling a little more charitable towards old St Valentine after he made a foray into the Middle East. While Gazans, living amid the rubble of the recent Israeli invasion, are unlikely to be celebrating Valentine's Day this year, the festival could mark a small step towards breaking the siege under which they live.

In a literal display of flower power in action, the Dutch government persuaded Israel to loosen its blockade of Gaza and let through a shipment of Valentine's carnations destined for the Netherlands – the first exports from Gaza in a year.

The Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen decided that the best way his country could start to mend fences was to say it with flowers. "The Netherlands would like to help the Palestinians pick up the pieces and give them a chance for a better future through Israeli-Palestinian economic co-operation," he said.

It may surprise many to learn that the Netherlands, the world's foremost flower trader, is importing carnations from Gaza, where more things seem to go boom than bloom. However, prior to the Israeli embargo, Gaza had a blossoming flower industry.

With its mild coastal climate and well-drained soil, the Gaza Strip is ideal for commercial flower cultivation. As a reflection of this, there are more than a hundred small flower farms across the Gaza Strip, and they employ some 7,000 workers. But Israel has barred even this harmless cash earner – a wilting wreath on the tombstone of the Gazan economy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/13/gaza-flowers-valentine-s-day-trade