Hamas might not like it, but Israelis and Palestinians are working together to beat COVID-19
Israel Today
April 3, 2020
As strange as it might sound, a factory in the terrorist-ruled Gaza Strip is busy producing much of the protective medical clothing for Israel’s healthcare workers to battle the coronavirus.
No, Israel and Gaza are not suddenly at peace. In fact, the coastal enclave’s Hamas rulers continue to threaten the Jewish state with terrorist violence.
But one enterprising Gaza man realized that if he didn’t pivot his business, the 850 people he employs would soon be without work.
Unipal 2000 has been around for about 50 years, and their clothes could be found on store shelves throughout Israel, that is until those stores were all forced closed by the current pandemic.
Demand for clothing and other textiles has plummeted almost to zero, putting companies like Unipal 2000 in grave danger. But the company’s chairman, Nabil Bawab, was smart, and quickly recognized that Israel’s healthcare system was facing a severe shortage of medical masks and protective suits.
Since the start of March, Unipal 2000 has been producing 20,000 masks and 2,000 protective suits a day, and Bawab has contracts to provide Israeli companies with one million masks and 50,000 protective suits by the end of April.
Those Israeli middlemen then sell the gear to hospitals and other medical facilities. It is possible that Bawab is unable to sell directly to Israel’s government-owned hospitals because of restrictions placed by Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to even exist. But the fact is that this type of trade is benefitting the economies of both Gaza and Israel at a time when commerce has come to a near standstill.
Hamas might not like it, but stories of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in the face of the corona crisis are coming to light every day, and will continue to do so as long as there are men like Nabil Bawab with the foresight and courage to work together.
No comments:
Post a Comment