Children anticipate the arrival of the winter ice cream as much as they look forward to the return of the original ice cream at the start of the summer.
It is the little joys of life in besieged Gaza that keep people here going, day after day, despite numerous obstacles.
Children, a source of joy themselves, lead their own lives, finding excitement in the little things: Jumping in puddles of water on unpaved roads, playing hide and seek, and whenever their families’ budgets allow, obtaining as much ice cream as possible.
But this is the end of the ice cream season in Gaza, and the start of a new one, the winter ice cream.
Children anticipate the arrival of the winter ice cream as much as they look forward to the return of the original ice cream at the start of the summer.
“The winter ice cream is made of cream and chocolate and we usually start producing them in September until the end of the spring,” Ghazi Mushtaha, director of the Al-Arousa factory, told The Palestine Chronicle.
The Al-Arousa factory in Gaza is one of the few businesses that produce such products.
Keeping the operation going despite the Israeli economic blockade, thus lack of repairs or new machines is no easy task. Numerous factories and small businesses shut down in Gaza over the years.
Al-Arousa is one of those who, somehow, managed to stay in operation.
The winter desserts are usually sold in the famous ‘sambo’ boxes. Due to their low price, they are affordable to most people in the Strip.
Mushtaha explained that the factory employs dozens of Gazan workers, helping them provide for their families.
While for Musthaha this is a story of perseverance, and for his workers a story of survival, for the children in Gaza, it is about something else entirely: the love of ice cream.
(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)
– Mahmoud Ajjour is a Gaza-based photojournalist. He is the Palestine Chronicle’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip.
