Bicycle pedal power keeps business afloat for Gaza tailor

STORY: :: This Palestinian tailor uses a dismantled bicycle to power his sewing machine

:: His children help spin the pedals as he make alterations to clothing

:: July 30, 2024

:: Jabalia, Gaza

:: Raed Saad, Tailor

“After the complete destruction of the house and the factory, we started using the bicycle. There is no alternative energy, and there is no electricity or anything else. We started our new journey using new solutions.”

The building in which he works used to be his home and factory. But in May this year, it was damaged during an Israeli incursion into Jabalia, he said.

Ten months into the war in Gaza, Saad says the reason for his innovative solution is due to the lack of fuel, electricity and other alternative resources in the enclave.

The war in Gaza started on October 7 when Hamas, the Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza, killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli tallies, and took another 250 or so to hold as hostages in Gaza, one of the most crowded places on earth.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 39,000 people and bombed much of Gaza, where functioning hospitals are scarce, into rubble, Gaza health authorities say.