Yes, this is another post about the busting down of the southern wall surrounding the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian authorities have responded to pressure from Israel, the USA, and unspecified members of the shadowy "International Community" by making ineffectual attempts to reseal the border. These attempts have failed, not least because some Palestinian scamps have used a bulldozer to knock more holes in the wall surrounding them.
One interesting thing about this is how the Palestinians have turned the tools of their enemies against them. You can see from the enclosed pictures that the bulldozer used to smash down the wall has been manufactured by Caterpillar. The Caterpillar company is often criticised for supplying the bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes or kill American political activists, but on this occasion its products are serving the interests of the oppressed.Pictures from BBC articles: In pictures: Gaza border breached & Gazans make new border wall hole
2 comments:
I'm sure Egypt doesn't want control of Gaza. After all, it was just as much of a headache for them before '67 as it has been for the Israelis since. It's just that with an open border on the Egyptian side, and decidedly closed borders elsewhere, I could envisage a scenario where popular opinion there is that they'd be better off as an Egyptian protectorate that in their current position.
I don't think Mubarak wants anything to do with Gaza, for any number of reasons. If he cracks down, he looks like a cockfarmer, and that would play very badly domestically (although they are used to him looking like a cockfarmer). If he assumes any kind of stewardship over Gaza or engages with the authorities there then he will end up having to deal with Hamas; that raises the embarrassing questions of why he will deal with Hamas but not their progenitors, the Muslim Brothers of Egypt.
I read today that the Egyptian regime is cutting off supplies to their part of Rafah, presumably to make shopping trips there less tempting to the Palestinians. I don't know how viable this strategy is in the long run. The Egyptians also seem to be engaging tacitly with Hamas cadres along the frontier. Interesting.
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