- Title: 13 years on, Palestinian pays tribute to father's legacy at bee farm
- Date: 19th November 2019
- Summary: BEIT HANOUN, GAZA (NOVEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) BEEKEEPER, SAMAR AL-BA'A, OPENING BEEHIVE TO PUT HONEY FRAME BA'A LIFTING HONEY FRAME BA'A HOLDING HONEY FRAME WITH BEES ON IT / BA'A PUTTING HONEY FRAME BACK INTO HIVE BA'A PUTTING HONEY FRAME INTO HIVE AND LIFTING ANOTHER ONE VARIOUS OF BA'A SPRAYING BEEHIVES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BEEKEEPER, SAMAR AL-BA'A, SAYING: "I inherited this career from my father, the martyr who was killed in 2006. I wanted to continue in my father's path in beekeeping. My dream came true in 2018." VARIOUS OF BA'A CUTTING HONEYCOMB WITH KNIFE / DROPS OF HONEY APPEARING BEES ON PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BEEKEEPER, SAMAR AL-BA'A, SAYING: "The area where I'm located in is a border area, anytime I may be hit (by Israeli airstrikes). One day, I was directly targeted so I tried to leave work and go home. It (the farm) is 300 metres away from the border area and the fence, so I try to work as fast as I can." BA'A SETTING SMALL PIECE OF CLOTH ON FIRE AND FANNING IT NEAR BEEHIVE BA'A SPRAYING BEEHIVES VARIOUS OF BA'A LIFTING HONEY FRAME AND CHECKING IT BEES ON FRAME (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BEEKEEPER, SAMAR AL-BA'A, SAYING: "This place was destroyed three times by the occupation because it is located en route to Beit Hanoun every time there is an (Israeli) invasion. I remember my father the moment I entered this farm and how he started beekeeping, how he used to plant trees around the bees to feed them. I feel that my father is next to me always and is always pushing me for success."
- Embargoed: 3rd December 2019 11:37
- Keywords: Palestinian beekeeper Palestinians Bee farms in Gaza Palestinians in Gaza Israel Israelis
- Location: BEIT HANOUN, GAZA
- City: BEIT HANOUN, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B67B9LH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Samar al-Ba'a was only 15 when her father was killed in an Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2006. Thirteen years later, Ba'a is now walking around bee colonies at her father's farm in Gaza's Beit Hanoun, keeping his memory alive.
Due to lack of sufficient family funds, the farm was closed for the 12 years since her father's death. He died only three days before the farm itself was destroyed in the fighting between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants in the summer of 2006.
Ba'a farm is only 300 metres away from the borders with Israel. But the continuous threat of being subject to gunfire, she says, only made her more adamant on working at the farm that she reopened in 2018 after she secured funding from international donor organisations.
She is now providing for her family and getting closer to her father, whose presence she feels when she's working in the farm, she says.
She collects the honey only once a year from 45 beehives at the farm in order not to over-harvest and endanger the bees, which hardly survive occasional tear gas bombs fired from the Israeli side of the border.
Ba'a produces nearly 130 kilograms of pure honey annually and hopes she can expand her farm to include up to 120 beehives.
She used to sell her production for 90 Shekels ($26) per kilo, but difficult economic conditions in the besieged strip forced her to reduce the price to 70 shekels ($20).
(Production: Suheir Sheikh, Fadi Shana, Nehad Khalil, Roleen Tafakji) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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