For many years now, I have mocked the idea that Gaza is a “concentration camp” – as many an Israel-hater and antisemite has alleged (not to mention the mainstream media and even some so-called human rights organizations).
I guess I now need to apologize. You see, it seems things are so bad in Gaza, some folk are driving cars older than those that were used (by the Nazis) in concentration camps:
This vintage car enthusiast in Gaza faces challenges maintaining his prized classics due to Israel's blockade 👇 pic.twitter.com/YeQ6xWmRaW
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 21, 2023
You have to also love how Al Jizz blames “Israel’s blockade” for the unavailability of car parts – but apparently Egypt’s is fine and dandy.
By the way, it is not just Al Jizz running with this story. Some of the mainstream media, like AFP, have as well.
GAZA CITY: The vintage beige Mercedes would be eye-catching anywhere in the world, but it is especially so on the streets of impoverished Gaza City.
Munir al-Shandi, 42, is among a handful of vintage car enthusiasts in the Gaza Strip, defying a punishing Israeli siege imposed on the Palestinian coastal enclave to pursue a passionate hobby.
As he drives a 1929 Mercedes-Benz Gazelle, which he restored, through Gaza’s cratered roads, young children run after him in excitement, reaching out to touch the car’s pristine bodywork.
“Everyone in the street is amazed and asks to take pictures,” Shandi, a mechanic, told AFP as he showcased the replica of the vintage car he had assembled in his workshop.
“The restoration would have been faster and the quality and shape better if the materials had been available.”
Around 2.3 million Palestinians live in the territory, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since the Islamist group Hamas seized power there in 2007.
There is a ban on importing a range of goods, including car parts, as Israel claims these may be used in producing explosives to be used against it.
Israel says that its land, air, and sea blockade of Gaza is necessary to protect it from rocket and other attacks from Hamas.
But such obstacles have not stopped Shandi, and the Gazelle is not the only vintage vehicle he has rebuilt.
He is also the proud owner of a 1946 Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane, which he has restored.
Shandi began work on the Gazelle in 2015 at his workshop in eastern Gaza City.
He used locally available items as much as possible, although he also had to rely on friends outside Gaza to procure some spare parts.
His friends brought the parts in through the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt, he said.
“I brought in through friends of mine in the UAE some spare parts for the car, and they in turn imported them from America, but they took eight months to arrive,” he said.
The restoration took a whole year.
He left Gaza in 2003 for the United Arab Emirates, where he worked with a company specialising in old and vintage cars that gave him a wealth of experience.
In 2009, he returned to the Gaza Strip, where he opened his workshop and poured any profits into his hobby — restoring vintage cars.
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Shandi said a number of people have contacted him to offer vast sums for the restored cars, but he turned them down.
“This is a hobby,” he said. “The cars are not for sale, although many people abroad have contacted me and asked to buy them.”
Even if he did want to sell, “getting them out of the Strip would be impossible because of the blockade”.
And what makes this media bias worse? It is not even original; like al-Shandi’s cars, they have restored this old story from at least 2016 when it was reported by Turkey’s AA news agency, but with some inconsistencies with the latest report – like the time he spent in the UAE (2003-2009 in the above report):
One of his friends had worked on the classic car when it was brought into a garage where they had worked in Dubai, where Shindi spent 12 years before returning to the blockaded Gaza Strip in 2014.
And this is not his only lie. In the recent AFP piece, he claimed he would never sell the cars because this is just a hobby. But in 2016, he was sounding way more mercenary about it:
“Someone once offered me about $20,000, but it [the car] represents almost two years of work,” he said. “It wasn’t worth it.”
“I’m thinking about making another one, but only if I can sell this one for a good price,” he explained. “Because I would need money for the materials needed to build another one.”
“There aren’t many people who can make these kinds of cars,” he said proudly. “It takes a lot of effort and money.”
At least the AA report mentions Egypt too:
Since 2007, the Palestinian Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli/Egyptian blockade that has deprived its inhabitants of most basic commodities, including food, fuel, medicine and building supplies.
But back to AFP, who are clearly more than willing to give our vintage liar a platform to help demonize Israel without doing these background checks, to ascertain he probably is not being upfront about everything he claims.
