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Confronting Energy Poverty in Gaza with Asmaa Abu Mezied
48 Plays1 year ago
Asmaa Abu Mezied joins host Yara Hawari to discuss the energy crisis in Gaza, situating it within the context of the Israeli regime’s unrelenting blockade and repeated attacks on the besieged enclave. Abu Mezied also explains how the international community is complicit in maintaining this unlivable status quo.
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Transcript
International Solutions vs. Root Causes
00:00:00
Speaker
So what the international community end up doing is really providing Palestinians with painkillers and very short term solutions, rather than addressing the big elephant in the room, rather than addressing the root causes, which is the role of the Israeli regime in perpetuating and maintaining energy crisis.
00:00:25
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From Ashabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, I am Yara Hawari, and this is Rethinking Palestine.
00:00:35
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The
The Siege's Impact on Gaza's Energy
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siege imposed on Gaza by the Israeli regime has made the strip unlivable in more ways than one. The worsening energy crisis in particular is affecting all areas of life. Indeed, since the imposition of the siege on Gaza in 2006, the Israeli regime has limited energy access and has even used it as a tool to collectively punish those living in Gaza. This, in addition to the destruction of energy-producing infrastructure by successive Israeli bombing campaigns, has led to acute energy poverty.
00:01:05
Speaker
Of course,
Solar Power: A Double-Edged Sword
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as ever, Palestinians have attempted to manage this unmanageable situation, finding alternatives and navigating these extreme living conditions, one of which is harnessing solar power to supplement the dwindling energy supply. But these alternative forms of energy come at a price and can even be used by the international donor community as a way to sidestep their responsibility in holding the Israeli regime to account for the siege of Gaza and colonization of Palestine.
00:01:33
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Joining us to discuss this is our Gaza visiting fellow and energy researcher, Asma Abul-Mazeed. Asma, thank you so much for joining us on Rethinking Palestine.
Overview of Gaza's Energy Crisis
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Speaker
Thank you for most thinking here. Asma, perhaps you can start us off by giving us an overview of the energy situation in Gaza and perhaps even in wider Palestine. I think it's extremely important to understand the energy situation in Gaza
00:02:02
Speaker
by looking at the broader picture, by really looking and analyzing and reflecting the overall energy situation in Palestine and seeing how the Israeli regime policies has been going for decades to control Palestinian, including in the energy space.
00:02:20
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The energy
Historical Dependency on Israeli Electricity
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crisis is not something very recent. It's not something that is happening only in the past two decades. It actually has been going on for several decades so far since the Palestinian dependence on Israeli regime for electricity supply from the Israeli electricity company in the 70s and the 80s until, of course, the 1994 Paris economic protocol
00:02:47
Speaker
that really conditioned Palestinian imports of fuel to a specific standards, usually the US and European standards, which makes it extremely and economically invisible for Palestinians to buy from other places than the Israeli regime.
00:03:04
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And therefore, it already comes to a point where Palestinian, regardless of where they are, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank, end up paying so much for electricity that they use the least in the region. And what happens is that we see a huge dependency on imports of electricity from Israel. So if we want to look at Palestinians in general, 83% of their electricity supply comes from the Israeli regime.
00:03:33
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For Gaza
Current Electricity Supply and Challenges
00:03:34
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specifically, the electricity supplies come from several sources. One of them is the Palestinian electricity company and of course from electricity line from the Israeli regime. Now, there has been a point in the past two decades where electricity supply used to come from Egypt, but the capacity was very, very minimum. Now,
00:03:55
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It's important also to highlight that the electricity supply that comes into Gaza can barely cover 40% of the electricity demands, particularly after the destruction of the diesel-powered plants in 2014 by the Israeli regime.
00:04:11
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In summary,
Future of Gaza's Electricity Crisis
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what we are seeing in Gaza is a very chronic electricity crisis that has been exasperated over the past two decades due to the bombardment of the power plant, due to the restriction and the manipulation of fuel entry to Gaza as part of political pressure. But even looking in the future with the increasing population, that electricity crisis will continue
00:04:40
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It will continue to widen. If we want to look at what are the electricity sources and what's the demand currently.
Impact of Energy Poverty on Daily Life
00:04:50
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So Asma, what does this mean for day-to-day life in Gaza? What does it affect?
00:04:56
Speaker
If you want to look at the effect of electricity crisis on Gaza, one has to understand energy poverty. And what I mean by energy poverty is really the extent to which the electricity bill, for example, constitutes or eats from the household income, and the extent to which households end up minimizing their electricity consumption in a way that affects their well-being,
00:05:24
Speaker
and their welfare. And this is something that happens in almost every Palestinian household in Gaza, but also in area C in the West Bank. Now, what does it mean? It means that the electricity crisis that we are seeing and experiencing is really crippling almost every aspect of life in Gaza. If we look at areas such as wastewater treatment,
00:05:50
Speaker
and the need for constant supply of electricity in order for plants to treat partially or completely the wastewater, so that at least we have a clean access to Mediterranean Sea. And that's not something that happens with the electricity cut. If we look at access to healthcare, the fact that there is electricity cuts happening in hospitals and clinics,
00:06:13
Speaker
It really affects the quality of healthcare services provided. People treatment gets delayed for a very long time, depending on the availability of electricity to do, for example, x-rays and so on. And most importantly, the increase in the daily cost incurred by Palestinians when it comes to electricity. If you look at the Palestinian household in Gaza, an average, like let's say income,
00:06:41
Speaker
is about like $340. And that's like not mentioning people who work in the informal sector, not mentioning people who work in a really precarious working conditions. And looking at the electricity bill, it constitute about $40 to $80. And that amount is not for getting electricity 24 hours. It's only for getting electricity for almost like 12 hours, maximum like 16 hours.
00:07:11
Speaker
So it means that one fifth of the Palestinian household income is going for electricity. And it puts families who are below the poverty line in so much dear circumstances that they have to resort to other alternatives in order to pass by the day and meet their needs on a daily basis.
Gender Disparities in the Energy Crisis
00:07:35
Speaker
Now, Asma, you've written about all of this in a recent policy brief for Shabaka. And in one part of the brief, you focus on how women are disproportionately affected by this energy crisis. Can you tell us a bit more about this? Yes. Usually when analysis is being done, it treats the Palestinian community as one community without
00:07:58
Speaker
delving deeper into the needs of different stakeholders that exist. So women, people with disability, children and so on. And in my opinion, the energy poverty that is resulting from the energy crisis has extreme circumstances and result affecting women in a very different way. If we look at the reality of Palestinian women, we find that Palestinian women are
00:08:24
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responsible for all the unpaid care and domestic work. That is cooking, cleaning, teaching children at home, taking care of the sick and the elderly, taking care of the children. And electricity is a very vital part of doing that unpaid care and domestic work. So what we see when electricity is off in Gaza over the past two decades is that women have two options. The first option is that either they intensify the labor
00:08:53
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in a very limited time when electricity is on. And I'll give you an example for that. So in times where electricity comes for like six hours, women end up doing everything that needs to be done using electricity in these six hours. So baking, doing the cleaning, doing the washing and teaching the children if it's connected to online education.
00:09:17
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So it's a very intense labor where women end up doing so much tasks in the same time so that they can do all the unpaid care and domestic work. The other option is that when electricity is off, women tend to resort to technology-free labor. So utilizing things that does not necessarily need electricity, and that would mean taking longer time in doing things. For example, when there is no electricity, women cannot use the washing machine.
00:09:47
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So they end up doing and washing the clothes manually and that usually takes like two to three hours. So or like even baking a bread and if they want to bake the bread without having electricity they will have to use wood fuel ovens. So that also results in a longer period of work for them but also health hazards and long-term health diseases on the long run.
00:10:12
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So if we really want to understand the manifestation of the electricity crisis and the energy poverty, we need to look at these small details because it might sound small, but it takes up so much of women's time. It takes up so much of their health.
00:10:29
Speaker
And also women have so much mental burden associated with the electricity cuts. And the example of how women have so much mental burden is usually happening in the summer where there is very high heat. The food spoilage is usually very high when there is no electricity and women end up having to cook every meal every day instead of like cooking for a longer period of time.
00:10:56
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or having to navigate that heat, taking care of the children who get like skin-borne disease and also managing the household. So all of that, it really affects the welfare of the family in general.
Class Disparities and Energy Shortages
00:11:10
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If you're enjoying this podcast, please visit our website al-shabaka.org where you will find more Palestinian policy analysis and where you can join our mailing list and donate to support our work.
00:11:22
Speaker
Asma, you're right in insisting on an intersectional-based approach to this energy crisis because it really shows us how the energy crisis exasperates already existing patriarchal structures and also class structures. Could you tell us maybe a little bit more about how class dynamics manifests themselves in this energy crisis?
00:11:44
Speaker
When we look at energy and access to energy, we need to think about two things, access and affordability. Looking at the socio-economic context of the Palestinian community in Gaza, you will see that over 60-70% of the population are living in poverty and 80% are depending on humanitarian aid.
00:12:08
Speaker
That means that even if there are solutions that can lessen or reduce the energy crisis, the ability of Palestinian households to utilize these solutions to incur some improvement in their daily life is very, very limited. But also means that, for example, workers are less likely to be able to have work safety and work security within the factories in which they work.
00:12:34
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An acute example of that, the electricity issue has resulted in shifting in the working hours, has resulted in reducing the working hours in most of the factories. Now, those factory workers has lost their income, has caused a reduction in their salaries because of the working hours has been reduced. So they end up having less security. Some of them get laid off from their work and also having less monthly income into their household.
00:13:04
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due to a structural issue that was initiated and exasperated by the Israeli regime. And that shows who the burden of being under occupation is usually the Palestinian household, rather than actually holding accountable those who contributed to the electricity and energy crisis.
00:13:26
Speaker
You mentioned a really stark statistic that nearly 80% of the population in Gaza depend on international aid in some way. Does this donor aid actually alleviate some of the issues caused by the energy crisis?
00:13:42
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In
Role of Donor Aid in the Crisis
00:13:43
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terms of alleviating some, yes, it does. If we want to look at the donor aid over the past like two decades, we see examples where donors like European Union has provided fuel to Gaza electricity.
00:13:58
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plant. We see also examples of Qatar and Turkey also covering the fuel bill and ensuring that there is enough diesel to supply the running of the Gaza electricity company. And we also see some aid money going into like the health sector, the education sector, and even the wastewater facilities to install some solar energy project. But
00:14:22
Speaker
If you really want to look at all of these solutions, let's say, that was provided, they were part of coping with the electricity cut. So kind of like normalizing the status quo and helping people to be okay and navigate the status quo, rather than, you know, challenging the root causes of why the electricity crisis happened.
00:14:45
Speaker
or why the energy crisis actually exists in Gaza. So there has been solutions, again, even provided for small businesses where some grants are provided to install solar energy and even farmers. But even in these solutions, there is the lack of any will, let's say, to change the status quo, to challenge the role of the Israeli regime in maintaining this status quo.
00:15:13
Speaker
And there is also patriarchal norms in terms of how this aid is being implemented. Can you give us an example of some of those patriarchal norms that you mentioned? Yes. So if we look at most of the aid that goes into the installation of solar energy system in Gaza, in the requirement to benefit from grants, from cost sharing, even from
00:15:42
Speaker
access to specific solutions, you will notice several criteria. One of them is that having a small business that is usually, for example, registered, or having a land if you are providing solar system for farmers who own a water well, having an ownership deed for the land, or having a guarantee who can support your application if you want to get a loan. If you look at
00:16:11
Speaker
these criteria, they are completely blind to the status of women in Palestine in terms of access to inheritance and access to ownership, but also in terms of owning businesses. So if you really analyze these criteria, it means that only those who are more well-off compared to the rest of the population can benefit from these. So what happens is that
00:16:38
Speaker
we end up enabling those who have more privilege.
00:16:41
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than those who are with the least privileged existing. Again, like just looking at all these criteria for these projects, it shows you. Now, it's important to note that yes, there is always like a quota at the end of the application that says that we encourage women participation, but then like if the criteria that is put there as part of the conditions is already biased,
00:17:08
Speaker
how it's possible that we are encouraging women participation. So in this way, the international community is often complicit in the perpetuation of this energy poverty, but also complicit in the upholding of current power structures in Palestinian society. Yes, totally. Like the energy crisis in Palestine, donors treat it as a humanitarian or a development issues.
00:17:36
Speaker
So by preparing Palestinians with capacity building, a technical capacity building, by investing in technology related solutions, by investing in solar power, for example, Palestinians supposedly should be able to solve the issue or listen the amount of
00:17:58
Speaker
energy crisis that they have. And this is a very depoliticized view to an issue that is very political in its core. The issue with the electricity and the energy crisis is very political because in order to have energy security and energy dependence, you need to have control and sovereignty over your natural resources so that you can work around coming up with solutions that is benefiting for the Palestinian community. But
00:18:27
Speaker
The whole structure in which Palestinians are living, they do not have any control over their natural resources because the Israeli regime is controlling these natural resources. So what the international community end up doing is really providing Palestinians with painkillers and very short term solutions rather than addressing the big elephant in the room, rather than addressing the root causes, which is the role of the Israeli regime in perpetuating and maintaining
00:18:57
Speaker
energy crisis. So any solution, if we want to talk about sustainable solution, it really needs to challenge the role of the Israeli regime. And it also needs to hold them accountable for all the challenges that Palestinians face. And I'll just give an example of Palestinians in an RAC
00:19:16
Speaker
where they need to have permits to establish any solar energy system and usually they get denied these permits. But even in donor support to the projects that establish solar panels, these solar panels are being destroyed and there is no accountability for the Israeli regime for destroying these infrastructure that has been paid by the international community.
00:19:40
Speaker
Asma, you touched upon this briefly, but I was hoping that you could tell us a bit more about the coping mechanisms or techniques that Palestinians in Gaza are using to navigate this energy crisis. So historically,
Resilience Amidst Structural Issues
00:19:55
Speaker
Palestinians in Gaza has really adopted several techniques to address the electricity and the energy crisis, starting from the early days of the siege in 27, where
00:20:07
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that has been cut off fuels and people had to use cooking oil for cars as an alternative for a fuel. Then like with the electricity crisis, how people have used like candles, then they shifted into using private electricity generator and then like a solar energy systems. And now people are also using private engines that is part of like commercial private sector to get electricity.
00:20:37
Speaker
Now, what happens is that Palestinian really end up deploying several techniques at the same time to obtain electricity. And each technique has its own cost, has its own accessibility and so on. But what's important and people do not usually talk about is what's the cost that households incur beyond the money aspect?
00:21:01
Speaker
What happens is that we in the Palestinian are forced to normalize.
00:21:08
Speaker
their life as it is, the status quo as it is, and are forced to find solutions by themselves as if the problem has been created by Palestinian and therefore it's their responsibility to find solution for it. And what happens is that those who are not hoping are kind of entitled as or titled as non-resilient or fail to be a successful innovator, let's say.
00:21:35
Speaker
That's a very problematic narrative. And this is a narrative even we see on like media with most of the success stories and the projects that we see. And to be honest, Yara, to me, the word resilience is a word I really hate. I think
Narrative of Resilience and Structural Oppression
00:21:51
Speaker
resilience is about telling Palestinians that they need to normalize the status quo, that they need to be okay for not getting a 24 hours electricity for having their basic rights.
00:22:04
Speaker
violated every single day. And those who navigate that the most are those who we should celebrate as success stories, as entrepreneurs, and so on. And it's really the individualization of success stories, it puts a narrative that those who did not succeed within these conditions are failure.
00:22:28
Speaker
and chides away from the code root of the problem that this is a structural issue. It's a structural oppression that is limiting Palestinian lives rather than it's an individual issue for those who were able to navigate things and for those who didn't.
00:22:45
Speaker
Asma, I couldn't agree with you more, you know, Palestinians don't want to be resilient, they want to be free. And this focus on resilience and as you said, these independent success stories are actually not only detrimental to the Palestinian struggle for freedom, but they're deliberately attempting to cover up the complicity of the international community and really the lack of political will to change the structure
00:23:10
Speaker
issue, which of course is the Israeli occupation, the Israeli colonization of Palestine. Asma, thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Rethinking Palestine. Thank you so much, Shira. Thank you.
00:23:26
Speaker
Rethinking Palestine is brought to you by Ashabaka, the Palestinian policy network. Ashabaka is the only global independent Palestinian think tank whose mission is to produce critical policy analysis and collectively imagine a new policymaking paradigm for Palestine and Palestinians worldwide. For more information or to donate to support our work, visit al-ashabaka.org. And importantly, don't forget to subscribe to Rethinking Palestine, wherever you listen to podcasts.