A Palestinian trader exhibiting at the Global Village has finally received the goods he wanted to sell with just 11 days of the Dubai Shopping Festival left. Tony Hosh, a 20-year-old businessman from Bethlehem, arrived in Dubai at the start of the festival but his shipment of olivewood handicrafts was detained in Israel.

"We finally received the goods from Israel on Sunday," he said. "For days they held onto them for 'security reasons'. "We manufacture both Muslim and Christian religious items out of olivewood, like Christmas ornaments and mosque figurines," he added.

Hosh has lost out on valuable trade since he has only now been able to display his wares. "We are selling, but business is not good. We don't sell much. Few people come to our pavilion," he said. "There are no flashy signs telling visitors we are here, behind the stage."

He harbours no illusions that he will sell enough to break even. He expects a loss of about $20,000. "The hotel bill is high, as well as the airfare, and the rent at the pavilion," he said.
But it was an opportunity Hosh could not resist when he learned of the Global Village from a family friend who took part last year.

"There is no work in Palestine. Our olivewood factory - Bethlemen Star Olive Wood Factory - closed a month after the Intifada started, but my family needs to make money to survive. We have nothing to do. There is no work, no more tourism there," he lamented.