Edited by abgsedapmalam at 23-1-2015 08:23 AM
A Coca-Cola factory is coming to Gaza
By Adam Taylor December 23, 2014
Palestinians warm themselves by a fire near the ruins of houses which witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the east of Gaza City December 1, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
One of the most controversial aspects of Israel's policy on Gaza is economic: A blockade of the Palestinian territory began in 2007 after Hamas gained control of the region. Most experts agree that it has had a dramatic effect on life in the region (over the summer, the Economist said the siege had made Gaza "the world's biggest open-air prison") yet many also argue that it has failed to achieve its aims of weakening Hamas. In this light, the impending opening of a Coca-Cola factory in Gaza seems important. Reuters reports that Palestinians – with Israeli approval – began importing machinery for the factory on Monday. The plant is expected to open in 2015 and will provide hundreds of jobs for Palestinians, Emad al-Hindi, director-general of the Palestinian National Beverage Company, told the news service. There are already three Coca-Cola franchises in the West Bank, and a Pepsi factory in Gaza, but this marks the first time Coca-Cola has appeared in the region. “We’ve been shipping to Gaza on a regular basis with the approval of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli authorities,” Zahi Khouri, chairman of the Palestinian National Beverage Company told the Jerusalem Post in November. “It made commercial sense to have a plant [in Gaza] so we could sell the product at a much a lower cost.” It was no easy task: The company needed approval from the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Defense Forces, Khouri told the Jerusalem Post. The company pays taxes only to the West Bank-based PA rather than the Hamas-controlled Gaza government, in part to get around terror financing laws. The timing is important. While the plan to build the Coca-Cola factory predates it, the dramatic conflict in Gaza this summer had a dire economic impact on Gaza's already fragile economy. The Washington Post's William Booth, reporting from Gaza in August, noted that hundreds of factories in the region appeared to be heavily damaged after Israeli strikes. Some suspected this was a deliberate policy, though Israel denied this. “I’m 45 years old. To be honest, I always thought of the Israelis as having morals and good sense. This time, I am positive, they hit our factories with intent, with a clear eye,” factory owner Ayman Hamada told The Post. “The Israelis don’t make these kinds of mistakes.” International corporations have faced criticism in the past by operating in Palestinian territories. WorldViews readers may be familiar with the case of SodaStream's factory in the West Bank, for example, which was especially controversial due to the fact it was located in an Israeli settlement (SodaStream recently announced that it would be relocating this factory). Coca-Cola has been criticized for a perceived support for Israel, and is one of the most prominent targets of the “Boycott Israel” movement. That the construction of the Coca-Cola plant comes at a time when so many feel that broader reconstruction efforts are failing may only adds to the tension: Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, recently told the Financial Times that just 130,000 tons of construction materials entered Gaza, far from the 5 million tons needed.  Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University.
 An elderly Arab man tries the first Palestinian Coke productin Palestinian-ruled Ramallah August 1. The Palestinian producer of Coca Cola products began distributing soft drinks in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday in Coke's first partnership with a private Palestinian firm. Coca Cola's Israeli bottler previously supplied the Palestinian market. RH
Credit: © Reuters Photographer / Reuters
Gaza Strip to get Coca-Cola factory
Monday, Dec. 22, 2014 | 9:50 a.m. JERUSALEM — The war-battered Gaza Strip is getting a Coca-Cola factory. The Israeli military said it allowed nine trucks into the territory Monday carrying assembly line machines for the factory. Imad Hindi, a director of the Palestinian company licensed to produce the fizzy drink, said the factory would create 300 jobs in the impoverished territory, where the unemployment rate is at least 40 percent. Hindi said production will begin at the end of 2015. He said the factory is costing $20 million to build. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. International donors have so far failed to deliver billions of dollars in aid money that was promised to rebuild the war-battered Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said Monday, saying the rift between rival Palestinian factions is deterring foreign governments from sending aid. In the wake of a 50-day war between Israel and Palestinian militants over the summer, international donors promised $2.7 billion to help rebuild Gaza at a conference in Cairo in October. But Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa said "not even one penny" has been received from major donors such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
"Frankly speaking, what is happening now is not encouraging," Mustafa said. He said just a trickle of money has been received, but refused to elaborate. "All the parties still have fears about the situation, whether the political situation or the reconciliation or the border crossings," he said. Rival Palestinian groups Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and the Western-backed Fatah, which governs the West Bank, formed a unity government earlier this year. But the government is still not functioning, and the sides have argued over how to carry out reconstruction, including who will control crossings with Israel from where building materials will pass.
This summer's war devastated parts of Gaza, destroying thousands of buildings and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the fighting. In Israel, 66 soldiers and seven civilians were killed.
Also Monday, the Israel military said a Palestinian man was arrested after a foiled attack on a soldier in the West Bank. The army says other soldiers intervened to stop the unidentified Palestinian from stabbing his intended victim in the town of Tulkarem. The attack came at a time of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Over the last two months, 11 people have been killed in five separate Palestinian attacks — mostly in Jerusalem, but also in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. Five of the Palestinian assailants were killed by Israeli security forces.
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Israel to allow Coke into Gaza
New Coca Cola factory at the Karni industrial area will create jobs for 3,000 Palestinians; Israel hopes new factory can drive economic growth in Strip, decrease terrorism.
Yossi Yehoshua
The construction of a Coca Cola factory in the Gaza Strip, set to create jobs for thousands of Palestinians, will begin this week after it has been green-lighted by Israel's defense establishment.
A Palestinian entrepreneur had to submit a request to build the factory to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon then decided to accept COGAT head Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai's recommendation.
The factory will at first create jobs to hundreds of Palestinians and later on to 3,000 workers.
Coca Cola factory in Bnei Brak (Photo: Zvika Tishler)
It will be built in the Karni industrial area, and its construction will take six months.
While the Karni border crossing is closed, the industrial area is still active, and includes mostly storage spaces used by international organizations and cooling structures used by Palestinian merchants.
The Karni border crossing, however, will remain closed even after the factory is operational, and any transfer of goods will be done through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
The defense establishment hopes this factory, like other planned factories, will drive the Strip's economy, decrease terrorism and lead to the acceleration of Gaza's rehabilitation.
So far, Gaza residents received Coca Cola products from a factory in Ramallah, which often led to a shortage whenever the border crossings closed. |
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