Vegans for Palestine: This one's for you.

For the newly formed group "Vegans for Palestine", which appears to be one person with a facebook page (I'm looking at you, Ariel!):  presenting the charming Eid greetings from starving Gaza's upscale grocery market, Meat city.

If this makes you want to buy lamb, you are a deeply disturbed human being.

Do you still believe Gaza is  "starving"?   Check out Meat City's Facebook page.  In addition to local products, they carry a variety of European, American, and  (I'm thinking BDS fail, here), Israeli products.

Snapshots from starving Gaza: Meat City Grocery

Snapshots from starving Gaza: Meat City Grocery

Business is brisk at Gaza's Meat city.

The Gaza Palace of Justice: Snapshots from Concentration Camp Gaza

Today was the grand opening celebration for the Gaza Palace of Justice, a multimillion dollar complex bankrolled by Qatar.

Grand Opening of the Gaza Palace of Justice

Grand Opening of the Gaza Palace of Justice

The complex consists of 3 buildings, each consisting of 7 floors and will house the Supreme Judicial Council, the Magistrate's Court, an administrative building, chapel, cafeteria and clerks' offices

Gaza Palace of Justice

Gaza Palace of Justice

This administrative and judicial complex, on ten dunans of Gaza real estate cost nearly $12 million dollars to build.  Yet, people like Lynn Gottleib of the Rabbinic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace still claim "Israel does not permit building materials to come into Gaza."

New Mall to open in Gaza

Oh, that cruel, cruel "siege".

The mass media and  social media are full of testimony claiming the "siege" of Gaza has prevented rebuilding and construction. The reality is quite different.

Gaza is anxiously awaiting the grand opening of its new "Capital mall"

The new plan was designed by Gaza's Innovative Design team

It seems modern and quite luxurious.

Its yet another snapshot from Gaza that you'll never see in the mainstream media, because it doesn't play into the Palestinian narrative of eternal victimhood.

Snapshots from Concentration Camp Gaza. The Al -Jayyar chocolatier

More snapshots from Concentration Camp Gaza.  The Al- Jayyar chocolatier.

Trigger warning:
The scenes of tragedy, suffering and deprivation can be overwhelming

This is the Gaza you'll never see in the mainstream media

From the looks of its Facebook page,  Al Jayyar for chocolate is becoming a popular destination in Gaza

If you are not deeply moved by these scenes of  heartbreaking suffering in Gaza can you in good consciousness call yourself a human being?

Dinosaur City Opens in Gaza

More Dispatches from Prison Camp Gaza

Gaza has a new theme park. Opening last month, Dinosaur city is part of Sharm park, located just south of Gaza city.  Life-like animatronic dinosaurs that move and growl fill the park to the delight of the children of Gaza. There are already plans to expand the park.

Dinosaur City in Gaza

Dinosaur City In Gaza

From Al-Monitor:

Abdallah Joudeh, the park’s manager and guide, told Al-Monitor that the main purpose of building the theme park was to establish a link between what students learn in school and an entertaining experience. He said that Dinosaur City was developed after a number of engineers saw similar projects around the world. The dinosaurs were designed in Gaza and ordered from China. 

Adults pay seven shekels (around $2) and children pay three shekels (around $1) to enter the park.

The 25 mile long coastal enclave already boasts two other theme parks- Asdaa City and Kids Land  

Dinosaur city in Gaza

For more information:

Gaza's very own Jurassic Park

Jurassic world comes to Gaza

Welcome to the new Blue Beach Resort in Gaza

Gaza rebuilds.
A brand new resort has opened up in Gaza this month
The Blue beach resort boasts 2 swimming pools, a Jacuzzi, and a computer and video game hall for the kids

From their facebook page

Blue Beach Resort overlooks the Mediterranean Sea from the west and Al-Rasheed Street from the east, located on the other side of Al-Mashtal Hotel.

Blue Beach Resort is one of PRICO’s (Palestine Real Estate Investment Company) investments, which has been established in 1994 as a public limited shareholding company. Blue Beach is a luxurious resort and one of the finest of its kind in Palestine. The resort has been specifically designed to be the ideal escape for family vacations and for recreational and relaxation purposes, away from the daily life hustle and bustle.

The total area of the resort is 21,000 square meters, within which 15,000 square meters are built areas consisting of four buildings for chalets and one for leisure services and facilities, whereas the remaining 6,000 square meters are green areas, consisting of two swimming pools, a Jacuzzi and family sitting areas. The entrance has been designed to be accessed from the fifth floor, as the land -where the Resort are built- are higher from the sea level.

The Chalets are designed in a unique and elegant manner, featuring a distinctive architectural form and luxurious interior spaces, available in various areas; as it consists of 52 single chalets and 80 double chalets.

Blue Beach resort in Gaza

Blue Beach resort in Gaza

Blue Beach resort in Gaza

Blue Beach resort in Gaza

More heart rendering scenes from Gaza, "the world's largest open air prison".

Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise in Gaza

More dispatches from Concentration Camp Gaza, via  Al-Monitor

Pregnancies significantly changed Safa Ahmad's physical appearance, which began to affect her marriage and cause her psychological problems. About five months ago, Safa, a 28-year-old living in Gaza City, had breast implants in the hope they would help her feel better psychologically and improve things at home. 

“My husband wanted to marry someone else because of the changes in my looks after I gave birth to three sons," she told Al-Monitor. "But by coincidence, I heard about cosmetic surgeries in Gaza, and I suggested to my husband that I have one. He immediately agreed, so I got silicon breast implants, and they drastically changed my looks as well as my marital and family life. My husband then let go of the idea of marrying someone else.”

The mainstream media continually carries stories of the "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza- of critical shortages of food and medicine. We are not getting the full story.

Al-Monitor continues

The difficult economic and social situation in Gaza does not appear to be preventing Gazans from undergoing cosmetic surgery in search of happiness, which is difficult to find given the siege of Israeli occupation and recurring wars.

Dr. Salah Zaanin, a cosmetic and laser surgery consultant, started working in the field three years ago in a private hospital in Gaza City. The high demand for cosmetic surgeries, by men and women, led him to open his own clinic.

Zaanin told Al-Monitor that three years after returning from Greece and working in the Gaza Strip, he found that rapid progress had been made in this area and that the demand for surgery, despite the economic and other problems Gaza residents were experiencing, had increased. “We are a people who love life and beauty like all other people," he said. "Because of the psychological pressures, a lot of women began looking after their emotional and physical well-being, especially after learning of the advances in cosmetic surgery and the presence of modern equipment in Gaza.”

Zaanin said he has conducted hundreds of cosmetic operations in Gaza, all of which were successful. Some clients even began entrusting him with operations that used to be referred to the outside.
He said that the most common procedures in Gaza are liposuction, breast augmentation and “tummy tucks” for women. Tightening eyelids and removing bags under the eyes are popular as well. “In the past month, using Botox to fill and remove wrinkles in men and women rose by 600% in my clinic, indicating that despite the blockade and the stress, we are trying to be happy by looking better," Zaanin said. "In addition, there has been a 300% increase in lip augmentation and beautification.”

The economy, of course, still plays a role in the demand for certain types of operations even with the prices in Gaza being low compared to other countries. Zaanin said that the fees for cosmetic surgeries in the Gaza Strip are the lowest in the world and that they depend on the materials used in a procedure. “Cosmetic surgeries range in price from $1,000 to $2,000, while nonsurgical [silicon injections] cost up to $300," Zaanin said. "Therefore, all social classes are resorting to cosmetic surgery. For example, the poor opt for low-priced operations. Everyone should have the right to enjoy and live life, and I feel happy when I can make that happen for someone.”

Zaanin also said that the changes in Eastern societies, such as women entering the workforce, their financial independence and the importance of looking good, have all played a role in the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery among women and men. He said that all operations are conducted within Gaza's religious and social frameworks and medical standards. “Women come accompanied by their guardian, either the father or the husband, and we do not conduct operations without them," Zaanin said. "In fact, many men choose to have such operations because of these visits...”

h/t Elder of Ziyon

Another Glimpse at Concentration Camp Gaza

More snapshots of Gaza, reminiscent of the Warsaw Ghetto. Clearly the world's largest open air concentration camp.

Check out the Facebook page of the Orhan Center

Orhan Center in Gaza

    

It has everything for the modest Gazan 

And the not so modest Gazan

The shoe collection is stellar

The Orhan center is a shopping experience for Gaza's elite.

      

 Not a single stiffing black tarp in sight
                                       

Yes, this is the Gaza under rubble we've heard so much about. The starving Gaza. The humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. This is the Gaza without power, without water, where children freeze to death on the street.

All of these photos were added to the Orhan facebook page within the last month.

 

More scenes from Concentration camp Gaza

Today is day one of ExpoTech Gaza 2014

Among the invited are

• More than 200 Palestinian ICT companies.
• Palestinian Academics, opinion leaders and other role models from Palestine and abroad.
• Key governmental bodies and other Palestinian partners from the public sector.
• Non-profit developmental organizations and think-tanks in Palestine.
• Palestinian and International media.

 

All photos are from the Facebook Page of Palestine's Technology Week [Expotech]

 Truly a humanitarian crisis of massive proportion exists in Gaza

i Phones selling well in Concentration camp Gaza

Lets hope the Estelle, the Swedish Boat to Gaza is bringing in i Phones

From Reuters, of all places.

Apple's new iPhone 5 is selling well in the Gaza Strip despite inflated prices, reaching the Palestinian enclave via smuggling tunnels even before high-tech hub Israel next door.

The cutting edge smart phone is being snapped up for almost double what it costs in the United States, its price jacked up by middlemen on its circuitous delivery route from Dubai via tunnels linking the blockaded territory with Egypt.

The iPhone 5 will not be available until December from mobile operators in tech-mad Israel, which along with Egypt maintains a partial blockade of Gaza to prevent the entry of anything that could be used for military purposes.

But the phones have been available for a couple of weeks in Gaza and they were on display on Monday in three independent mobile stores in a one-block radius in downtown Gaza City.

Prices ranged from 4,500 Israeli shekels ($1,170) for the 16 gigabyte model to 5,700 ($1,480) for 64 gb.

"I ordered 30 and I've sold 20 so far," said one dealer. "We can order as many as we want. But most people are waiting for the price to go down. They're pretty expensive."

iPhones in poor suffering Gaza.   My soul cries out in anguish over the inhumanity of it all.