Valentine's Day is almost upon us and for supermarkets and florists that means a massive increase in the sale of flowers. But how may romantic couples consider where the flowers we exchange are grown?
Farmers in Gaza have long been encouraged by Israeli export companies to focus their production on high risk 'cash crops' such as flowers and strawberries, and the arrival of carnations from Rafah to European markets for Christmas or Valentines' day is often cheered on by the Israeli Government who uses it as a PR exercise to show how it 'facilitates' Palestinian exports.
Growing carnations for Valentine has long been a love's labor lost for Palestinian farmers in Gaza thanks to Israel's export restrictions. The blockade and restrictions have prevented Palestinian farmers from shipping their stock to Europe forValentine's day in recent years, causing huge losses as exporters ended up either dumping truckloads of flower or feeding them to their sheep.
However, unsurprisingly , this is not the full story.
More here:-
http://palsolidarity.org/2014/02/will-the-flowers-of-gaza-break-israels-siege-this-valentines-day/
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