KHAN YOUNIS (Dispatches) – They fan out along the fence adjacent to the occupied territories in the pre-dawn darkness, setting traps and training their eyes on the other side of the fence — where the parakeets are.
Dozens of Palestinian men and boys have taken up bird trapping in recent years. It’s a rare if meager source of income in Gaza, which has been under a crippling Zionist-Egyptian blockade for 15 years.
Their quarry is ring-necked parakeets, an invasive species of tropical bird that has proliferated in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent years, most likely after being brought there as pets. In Gaza, the bright green birds with red beaks are sought-after as caged songbirds.
“It’s a beautiful bird, and everyone loves it,” said Khaled al-Najjar, a trapper and father of two. “I catch them to make a living and feed my children.”
The birds nest on the farms in the occupied territories on the other side of the fence but fly into Gaza when workers head into the fields to tend crops. The Palestinian bird catchers on the other side lure them with chirping played on portable speakers and catch them in nets and other traps.
It can be a dangerous occupation.
The Zionist regime has imposed a 300-meter buffer zone along the fence and the regime’s troops closely monitor the fence, looking for any Palestinians suspected of trying to sneak into the occupied territories. The Zionist regime and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the years, and earlier this month Gaza saw three days of heavy fighting between the regime and the Islamic Jihad resistance movement.
A bird-catcher was shot dead by Zionist troops last year, and Palestinian rights groups say several trappers have been shot at.
Once they’ve netted their quarry, the trappers return to Gaza’s crowded cities, where they sell the parakeets to pet shops. Al-Najjar says he gets 30 shekels (around $10) for a pair of parakeets. At some pet stores in Gaza, a pair is resold for twice as much.
Unemployment in the Zionist-blockaded Gaza hovers around 50%. Catchers trap migrant birds like swallows and quail, as well as native species like goldfinches, to feed their families.
But by trapping the parakeets, they might be doing the region a favor. The population of invasive parakeets and myrnas — a bird of the starling family — has exploded over the past 15 years, driving a decline in the populations of local species like the house sparrow and the white-spectacled bulbul.