Gazans' dark secret? They've become chocoholics
Chocolate used to be on the Israeli list of banned items, but not anymore, as chocolate shops have been proliferating in light of the increasing demand in Gaza.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In 2008, when Samia was a college student, she could not find chocolate in the Gaza Strip’s shops because chocolate was placed on the Israeli list of banned items after the imposition of the blockade in 2007.
But when the tunnel smuggling via the border with Egypt started in late 2007, chocolate, food and many products such as fuel and construction material found their way to the stores, albeit at high prices. When the number of tunnels increased, reaching into the hundreds, the price of chocolate dropped. But not all types of chocolate were available.
In 2010, chocolate was removed from the Israeli list of banned items, and the Gaza market almost drowned in chocolate.
Samia, who only gave her first name, told Al-Monitor, “There is now a phenomenon of specialty shops selling chocolate in Gaza. This means that you can find all chocolate types that you couldn’t see or taste before. You no longer have to ask someone to bring them from the outside.”
