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Running on "falafel fuel" in Gaza

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Faced with chronic fuel shortages due to an Israeli blockade and a strike by Palestinian distributors protesting supply caps, taxi drivers in the Gaza Strip are filling their tanks with cooking oil, often scrounging leftover fat from street vendors.

The pumps at Gaza's petrol stations have been deserted for several weeks but brightly-colored cartons of soya bean cooking oil, some smuggled from Egypt, are piled high at the taxi rank in the impoverished territory's main city.

The drivers say they mix the oil with turpentine before filling up. Used oil is better than the fresh stuff so they often beg or buy leftovers from street vendors who sell falafel -- a fried chick-pea snack popular in the Middle East.

More from Reuters story>>

Published Apr 30 2008, 12:51 PM by bbaker

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About the Authors

Dave Wooldridge, Publisher

Dave has spent nearly 25 years reporting on and working with engine builders and their parts and equipment suppliers to promote and enhance the engine rebuilding aftermarket.

Doug Kaufman, Editor

For the past 20 years, Doug Kaufman has covered the various segments of the
automotive aftermarket. Those years have taught him something: you need help
to cover an industry. Get too close to it and you lose track of the big
picture...stay too removed and you miss the detail.

Brendan Baker, Senior Editor

Brendan Baker has spent the better part of 24 years in the automotive aftermarket and racing industry. He has spent the last 11 years in publishing and has been the Managing Editor of Engine Builder magazine for the past five years until recently being named Senior Editor.