Israel harasses fishermen in Gaza to enlist as spies
Fearing they could be detained by Israeli military and barred from going farther than six nautical miles, many Palestinians have had to give up fishing and search for other jobs
GAZA // When Palestinian fisherman Abu Mohammed came under pressure to become a spy for Israeli intelligence, the 45- year- old father of five quit fishing and became a builder.
Working off the coast of Gaza, where Israel imposes restrictions preventing fishing boats going out more than six nautical miles to sea, was already hard enough without Israel’s security services trying to co-opt him.
According to Al Mezan Association, a Palestinian human rights group, 113 Gaza fishermen have been detained by Israel this year, compared with 41 in the same period last year. Those detained say there is increased pressure – including the threat of losing their boats – to divulge information that might help Israel’s security services.
The Israeli naval commander overseeing Gaza’s coast says about 70 fishermen have been detained so far this year.
Afterwards, they were handed over to other bodies, including Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, for questioning before being returned to Gaza.
“Our job is to look out for the enemy, having to deal with fishermen is a distraction for the forces,” says the commander, who gave his name as Captain Guy. “We want them to make a living and we want to protect our vital interests.” But for Abu Mohammed and others, the experience has left a scar.
“I was on the boat with relatives and friends when an Israeli naval vessel came close,” he says.
“They fired at the boat and hit it. We stopped and they arrested us. They blindfolded us on the boat, tied our hands and took us for interrogation at a base in Ashkelon,” he says.
There, an Israeli security officer asked him for information about militants in his neighbourhood and said he would give him a chance to think.
“In three days, I will call you and I hope you cooperate,” the officer tells him. Scared and confused, Abu Mohammed says that when he was returned to Gaza, he broke his phone’s sim card, handed himself over to a local security service and was unemployed for several months before joining friends in construction.
“I preferred to starve rather than become a spy,” he says.
Although there are about 4,000 fishermen in Gaza, making fishing one of the largest employers in the territory of 1.9 million people, only 500 to 700 fish regularly, either because business is too tough or they fear being detained.
Under an interim peace deal, Gaza’s fishermen were supposed to be allowed to trawl 20 nautical miles off the coast.
But after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 following a brief civil war with rival Palestinian group Fatah, a range of three and sometimes six nautical miles was enforced.
For most of the past decade, the limit has remained the same, meaning the waters have become overfished and depleted. Gaza now imports spawn from Israel and farms fish.
“The past year is the worst, maybe not only in the past 10 years but in a 100 years,” says Majed Abu Reyala, 41, who became a fisherman at age seven.
“I have been in debt for the past four months, there is no work,” he says. “It is not safe, someone who goes into the sea does not know whether he will make it out safely.” Hisham Baker, chairman of Gaza’s fishermen, says Israel’s restrictions and what he called its blackmail have reached an unprecedented scale, putting the profession in danger. “Many fishermen have quit and we are afraid many others may follow,” he says.