It's Hard Out There For A ( Hamas) Pimp

One of the horrible tragedies visited on the suffering people of Gaza by the Israeli invasion is the complete disruption of Gaza's sex industry.

Entrepeneurs like Abu Ali have long relied on Gaza's tunnel network to transport sex workers from Egypt like the one pictured above to the Gaza Strip to sevice the market in the Hamas-ruled territory's sex industry. But the Israeli attacks have severely disrupted the income of Abu Ali and others like him who relied on the smuggling tunnels for their livelihood.

"Life cannot go on in Gaza if the tunnels are destroyed -- they're our only opening to the outside world," he said, and vowed to rebuild his tunnel under the border with Egypt as soon as the fighting is over.

"I have to make my living", said Ali, who claims that many of the Hamas fighters are among his customers. "This is a vital service for the people of Gaza, just like rockets, AK-47s and explosives. All jihad and no play makes Achmed an unhappy martyr."

The smuggling not only provides smugglers with a living but also provides income for Hamas, who levies a tax on all incoming shipments. According to Ali, the amount varies according to the size of the shipment and of the sex worker. "Sometimes, the tax is just a free sample or handling the entertainment at a party. I'm happy to do it for our heroic fighters...allahu akbar!"

Ali shares his tunnel with four partners, but none of them can approach the area because "Israeli planes are attacking anyone approaching the frontiers."

Another smuggler, Abdullah, also operates a tunnel to smuggle in both sex workers and fuel but has had his traffic interupted as well.

"We don't know if our tunnels have been hit or not by the Israeli bombs because no one can go down there to see. After all, our life is more important than money or work," he said of the family-run business. "Meanwhile, anyone who has a sheep, a goat, or a camel can expect the price to go up until the fighting stops...especially since you can't eat the meat afterwards", he said.

Abdullah is confident that business will go back to normal after the war as the Egyptians look the other way when traffic resumes in the tunnels that survive.

"The Egyptians are our fellow Arabs and understand these matters...the last thing they want is to see us angry and frustrated. Plus the Egyptian traders on the other side make a huge profit on the sex traffic as well and they won't want to lose that income."