In Gaza, illicit wine-making fill people with spirit

It is late at night and three Palestinians are gathered in a flat in the El Tofah neighborhood in Gaza City in great secrecy. They are defying the law and conservative values.

The three of them are indulging in their precious white wine while preparing their annual stock of red wine - highly risky venture in the land controlled by Hamas. Yet since the Islamist group banned alcohol in the Gaza Strip, Fadi, Omar and Tawfeeq have been meeting to drink their home-made wine almost every day.

They meet at Fadi's apartment, located on the ground floor of his family's house and where he lives on his own until he gets married.

But besides being a family flat in waiting, it now serves as Fadi's little secret winery and store.

"We have to be careful because if we got caught we will be in big trouble," Tawfiq said. His name, like that of his friends, is not the real one.

With some 60 kg of grapes smuggled secretly to Fadi's house, they produce up to 25 liters of wine.

"We do this twice a year," Tawfeeq said. "First we make white wine, then red. It lasts for the whole year."

The process is primitive, but the three friends have perfected it over the years. First they wash the grapes, then squeeze them and drain the juice in a plastic jar. They add 1kg of sugar and some yeast, and then seal the jar and leave it to ferment in the darkest room in the flat. It costs them 2.5 U.S. dollars per bottle, as opposed to the prohibitive 100 U.S. dollars for each bottle smuggled through the tunnels or from the Erez crossing from Israel.

Omar, 35, said, they began to drink more because of the situation they have been through, since Hamas seized the Gaza strip by force in 2007.

"We are employees working for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)," Omar said. "We receive our salaries and do nothing but walk around, because we are not allowed to work."

Every year, he said, they set aside a budget for their wine.

"We love wine. It's not the same as real wine, but it's still good enough," Omar said.

"Before Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006, anyone could buy liquors, and many restaurants and bars served spirits," Tawfeeq said, but since then alcohol trading in Gaza has been stopped completely.

Hamas police search people crossing into Gaza at all border check points, looking for any kind of liquors or alcoholic drinks and confiscate them.

Despite the risks of being arrested, Omar feels proud to be able to provide his own personal stock of wine.

"The red wine is very healthy, and gives us a sense of euphoria, but we never got drunk," Fadi said, worried about the conservative environment in which he lives. "If any one of the neighbors discovers our hobby, they will look at us like criminals."

Tawfeeq the oldest man among them and the most experienced in wine manufacturing said he searched on the internet for the best way to produce wine.

"We failed many times, but finally we can do it well," he said.

"We never tell any one about what we are doing," Omar said. "We keep this a very closely guarded secret."

Hamas does not tolerate alcohol in the Gaza Strip and wine makers know they face harsh penalties if they are caught. According to Hamas spokesman Taher Al Nunu, the authorities are only cracking down on alcohol traders.

"Despite strict Islamic rules against alcohol, we only act in cases of commercial quantities," he said. "In cases of personal use, we respect the Palestinian law."

Tawfeeq named the home-made wine "Zeer Salem", the pseudonym of fifth century Christian poet Oudai Bin Rabea'a from the Saudi Arabian desert village of Taghleb who admired wine and women.

Hundreds of years later, his name has been revived in the land of the Islamists.