Hamas explodes a giant hole in Egypt's political cover

[pelsar]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/03/MN5OUPTCD.DTL

Like every Arab state, Egypt professes great concern for the Palestinian cause. Every day, the state-controlled press fills its pages with woeful tales of Palestinian suffering. As an example, just before the fence fell, the Cairo paper Al-Ahram lamented that "Gaza is now effectively cut off from the world, plunged into darkness and hostage to the whims of Israel's air commanders and their weapons."

But the moment Hamas presented Egypt with a chance to relieve all of that suffering, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, instead sent 20,000 truncheon-wielding police to seal the border. When that didn't work, the government blocked the resupply of food and other goods to the Egyptian border towns Rafah and El Arish, where hundreds of thousands of Gazans had streamed in previous days to buy supplies.
Still, Cairo sang its flowery song of support.

"The Egyptian decision has been to allow the sons of Gaza to relieve their suffering," Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, intoned last weekend.
If anyone holds any doubts about Egypt's true view of the Palestinians, consider again what happened when Israel and Egypt made peace following Israel's capture of the Sinai and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1979, Egypt negotiated the return of the Sinai. As for Gaza, Egypt refused to take it back.
___

now that hamas has made it clear that there is a southern border and its and egyptian/gaza border (though i'm sure i will still hear how israel really controls it....) and that its egypt and hama that decides who opens and closes....we shall see egyptians true "friendship" with the Palestinians.....

[Vegasaurus]

1. Where's the outcry?

Where are all those screaming about humanitarian rights violations of the egyptians towards the Gazans?

Egypt doesn't want Gaza. It didn't want it in 1979, and doesn't want it now. Egypt will seal up its border, and again, all focus will be on Israel, to somehow take responsibility for the 1.5 million people that no one on earth cares about, including their Arab brethren.

[bemildred]

2. "20,000 truncheon-wielding police"?

That's a lot of cops. Where are they? He is wrong that Egypt is stopping the flow of goods to Rafah too. But I hope he feels better now. Sometimes it's good to vent.

[pelsar]

3. 20,000?

no way....the border remains porus

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, but there are stories now that Hamas is on board with the "closure".

So it does sound like some agreement was reached. We'll see how that works out.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

5. Isn't it interesting

that the "must post a news story to start discussion" rule on this thread requires a certain level of disengenuousness to start a discussion?

Does anyone with even a modicum of knowledge of the ME think Mubarak is any friend of a democratic liberation movement? RU kidding? Mubarak is a despot who hasn't allowed a free and fair election in decades.

Egyptians on the street support Palestinians. So-called "moderate" Arab leaders do not. A free Palestine based on the rule of law is the nightmare vision of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc.

[bemildred]

6. A point that gets too little attention, that.

There is nothing worse for all the kings and elected despots than a good example. And what would they do without Israel, or Israel without them? Good enemies are hard to find.

[pelsar]

8. i think your kidding yourself.....

Egyptians on the street support Palestinians...as long as it doesnt require doing anything about it......

but i do agree with you that a free democratic Palestine would be a nightmare for the arab countries....their citizens would really get pissed at their own govts for not giving them the basic rights....while the Palestinians have

[Violet_Crumble]

9. 'As long as it doesn't require doing anything about it...'

Yeah, clearly this Egyptian is kidding herself. After all, what would she know?

From 'Mezzaterra' by Ahdaf Soueif:

'Egyptian official media, on the whole, play down what is happening in the Palestinian territories. Egyptian television, for example, does not show the images of brutality, destruction and grief coming out of the West Bank and Gaza. But half of Cairo is tuned in to the al-Jazeera satellite channel. On top of every building you can see the dishes facing up towards ArabSat. And every taxi driver you talk to says: 'Isn't that terrorism, what they're doing to the Palestinians?"

The Egyptian Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada (ECSPI) formed itself in October 2000 to provide humanitarian aid to the people of the West Bank and Gaza. It now has volunteers in every city across Egypt. When I meet four of its members in a coffee shop they are shadowed by a chap from the state security service, who sits down at the next table. Their phones are bugged and their every move is monitored. The people I meet are two men and two women. One of the women, May, is Christian, the other, Nadra, is a Muslim in a complete veil. She tells me she used to be my student, and it turns into a joke since there's no way I can recognise her. The ESCPI volunteers go into the towns and villages to collect donations for the Palestinians. 'There isn't a house that doesn't give us something,' May tells me, 'and people have so little. We collected three tons of sugar, half-kilo by half-kilo.'

[pelsar]

11. and how much of that charity...

actually gets to gaza?... but i was actually referring to getting up and physically doing something....like driving to gaza and delivering the food...or for the egyptians getting out and protesting their govts policies of keeping the border shut (though granted that may be dangerous thing to do.....)

[Violet_Crumble]

13. I don't know, but it's obvious that Egyptians do care n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

14. Hiccup n/t

[kayecy]

7. Following is a quote from Wikipedia .....

The Rafah crossing was opened on 25 November 2005 and operated nearly daily until 25 June 2006. Since that time it has been closed by Israeli authorities on 86% of days due to security reasons. It was not opened for the export of goods. In June 2007, the crossing was closed entirely after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip.

I think I read somewhere that Egypt was under pressure from the US and Israel to close the border again as otherwise it would mean recognising Hamas.

Can't blame Egypt for sending in "20,000 truncheon-wielding troops" if the alternative is losing billions of US$ of aid. Pity the US doesn't have the guts to apply the same pressure to Israel.

[Vegasaurus]

10. That's called EXPORTS,not imports

Egypt could bring in food, fuel and electricity. It just doesn;t, because it doesn't want to compromise its own security. Egypt would rather have Israel's security compromised, which is really rich, considering that the Palestinian militants are less likely (although not completely unlikely) to kill Egyptians as they are to kill Israelis.

[pelsar]

12. egyptians...

have already been attacked...several of the resorts, and the taba hotel..... (in the years past)