One of the big news items making the rounds at the moment is – believe it or not – KFC coming to Gaza.
Here’s but one example.
Delivery workers tramp through tunnels under Gaza — carrying bags and buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The famous fast food has gone underground as Palestinians order the takeaways from Egypt.
Boxes and bags emblazoned with Colonel Sanders famous red and white logo move swiftly through the smuggling tunnels that run beneath the border.
The fried food has to make its subterranean journey across as there is no KFC restaurant in the Palestinian region.
Israeli restrictions on Gaza crossings make it difficult to open an international fast food branch in the area.But now ordering fast food from one of the world’s most popular restaurants has been made easy after delivery company Al-Yamama started to bring the food from the Egyptian North Sinai, which borders Gaza.
Mohammed Al-Madani, an accountant at Al-Yamama company, revealed they started their new business by chance.
He said: “We ordered and arranged to bring some meals for us and they arrive after four hours.”He added that they followed up by posting a picture for the fast food on their company’s website and soon got more orders from people in Gaza.
And since late last month, they have made four deliveries of KFC food to Palestinians, with every delivery including dozens of combos.
However, there is a price to pay.
The price of a KFC family meal is about 80 Egyptian pounds, which is just under £8, at the at el-Arish restaurant.
But getting it in Gaza bumps up the cost to as much as 100 Israeli Shekels — around £18.12.
The delivery company said the higher price was due to transportation and smuggling fees.
Al-Madani said that although they did not face a lot of obstacles while bringing the food to Gaza, the delivery could be delayed due to various reasons.
He said: “Sometimes Hamas checks the meal boxes and sometimes the taxi that picks up the orders from Sinai is late.”
But it’s all worth it as student Aboud Fares, 22, declared as he bit into a chicken breast: “It’s delicious even as it’s not hot.”
Here’s the company’s Facebook page.
While some are using this story to illustrate the hardships caused by the so-called Israeli “siege” of Gaza – those poor palestinians can’t even get their fast food “fast” and cheap – I want you to consider another angle.
Palestinians are willing to pay £18 for a KFC family meal!
I can’t remember the last time my family ate KFC, and we don’t eat takeout food much at all. We certainly would think twice about spending that much for a meal, and we are not considered to be impoverished like many portray the palestinians of Gaza.
One has to consider that if many palestinians are willing to spend that much on one meal, those palestinians are not struggling to keep afloat.
But I guess this just reinforces what we already suspected.
Update: A telling section from another report of this story.
With Israel relaxing the embargo and allowing more goods to reach Gaza cheaply, the premium that smugglers could once charge for some goods has gone down, according to Abu Iyad.
“Bringing some meals like these would cost $200 or more three years ago, but now they don’t even cost $20. The Egyptian and Hamas police are not giving us the chance to work freely and the business may shut down if things continue to be this bad.”
At the Gaza side of the tunnel opening, a Hamas policeman was waiting to check if the buckets contain any forbidden materials. Apparently greasy chicken is not on his list. Abu Iyad is given a green light to deliver the food to the Al-Yamama delivery guy who will take the meals to customers.
“I wonder why people pay a lot of money to buy a small meal of chicken,” asks Abu Iyad wryly. “I can buy four chickens for the price of one meal.”
