I Want Gaza Reconstructed So I Can Start Defrauding Homeowners

By Ali Jabari, contractor

It isn’t just the thousands of residents of the Gaza Strip who are frustrated at the lack of progress over reconstruction after last summer’s war. My fellow building contractors and I also feel vexed at being denied the opportunity to scam homeowners out of their money.

The ways in which a contractor can extract ill-gotten gain from a client are numerous, but none are really practical if no construction appears to be in the offing. Israel has been letting in tens of thousands of tons of concrete, but Gazans are selling it on the black market instead of using it to rebuild. I don’t blame them for that; “anything to get more cash” is my profession’s creed. But I must sound a note of disappointment at still being unable to entrap a homeowner into making payments and paying for work that never gets done properly, if at all, then delaying and stonewalling when they try to follow up. Can’t do that when no construction projects can get off the ground.

I used to be able to scam people all the time. Skimp on quality, for one thing. I’d promise sturdy construction and deliver crap – a familiar ritual to anyone who’s been the field. In our case, we could always blame the deterioration of the building to Israeli strikes, or flooding, what have you. Or skimp on materials and labor. A properly constructed roof, for example, should have tar applied underneath so rain doesn’t start leaking through. So I’d make a big show of bringing in some of the stuff, melting it, and applying it to one little part of the building, then taking the day off. Who cares if the place leaks? The residents will have much bigger problems on their hands with the semi-annual wars between Hamas and Israel. No one will have time or the inclination to bother with getting me to finish the job, or even just reimburse them.

But all that requires having the materials on hand. It wouldn’t to make a big show of showing up without concrete. That would look ridiculous. I couldn’t very well try to claim payment for that kind of work. There has to be something to show, however shoddily made, for my efforts. This whole situation is undermining my modus operandi.

All the pledges of international aid do little to change the situation. For one thing, they’re just pledges – almost no one has made good on them.

Just like a contractor. Should have seen it coming.