2-17-2015 Desperation Drives Gazans Over a Fence and Into Israeli Prisons - JODI RUDOREN and MAJD AL WAHEIDIFEB New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/world/middleeast/desperation-drives-gazans-over-a-fence-and-into-israeli-prisons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

...Some said they fantasized about finding work in Israel. Even the all-but-inevitable time behind bars is alluring — safe, three meals a day, and the monthly stipend the Palestinian Authority pays all its prisoners.

Compared with Gaza, "the prison in Israel is like a five-star hotel," said Youssef Abbas, 21, who did stints there after crossing the border in 2010 and 2008. He said he had headed toward the fence twice more in September but had been turned back, once by Gaza security forces and once by a call from his fiancée.

"I was thinking of two choices: death or prison," Mr. Abbas said. "Because there were so many problems in my life, I was so tired, I had this idea."

 Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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