In September 2000, about 26,000 Palestinian laborers were permitted to exit through Erez Crossing every day. In 2015, the number of people allowed to exit was less than 3 percent of that number.

The blockade has touched everyone, from a newborn to the oldest person but according to the social status of people, the poor people are impacted most.  I am rich, but the blockade has impacted me..  Part Two – Movement and Access  

I am affected very little by the blockade, but I am affected.  I have two daughters and a son.  They all studies medicine, two in Poland and one in Egypt.  One finished her degree in medicine and now is gaining a specialization in Norway.  The second is a dentist and is gaining a specialization in Poland.  My son is going to America. He is married to an Egyptian with American citizenship.  He is also a dentist.  In January he gained a green card and will go to the US.   

I have money, I have a home, I have everything but I don’t have children.  I can’t go to visit my children to see them.  I can’t go to their weddings.  They also can’t come back because if they come back they can’t leave again.  If they visit they will lose their jobs and lives outside.  I have lost hope.  I have a headache because of this impact of the blockade.   

I am better than others who can’t eat, who have no work, who don’t have a house, who can’t get married, who can’t go out with friends because they have no money.  Everything costs money and many can’t afford these things. 

I have money and can afford everything, but I don’t have my children and that is the most important thing for me.  Just one thing touched me and it is the loss of my children.  I lost my family because of the blockade.   

Everywhere you look you have a catastrophe in Gaza because of the blockade. Every home, every person in Gaza has a problem because of the blockade.   

When I was in Europe, in Poland, if we wanted to go to Berlin today we could go.  There were no immigration police or soldiers, nobody looked at your passports.  Everything was open.  Maybe we could eat dinner or dessert in Paris, we could go, just buy a ticket and fly.  But here, we can’t fly.  We have no wings.