That was when Israel was trucking in tons of
goods and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was
open.
Well, Israel is still trucking food, medicine,
clothing, construction materials and other supplies into Gaza. Last week,
September 8-14, Israel sent 1,428 trucks
carrying 38,545 tons of goods into the Palestinian enclave. So
what’s changed? Egypt is cracking down on Gaza, that’s what.
Then how come you
don’t hear much about the suffering of Gaza residents? Because it can’t be
blamed on Israel.
IRIN, the Integrated Regional Information
Networks, describes itself as an
editorially independent, non-profit project of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). On September 17, IRIN
reported:
Residents and officials in Gaza say the repeated
closures of the border crossing into Egypt, a key lifeline for Palestinians in
the occupied territories, is destroying livelihoods, harming health and
lowering basic living conditions.
The border crossing at Rafah has now been closed
for seven consecutive days - the second sustained closure in the past few weeks
- following instability in the Sinai region on the Egyptian side of the border.
A reopening is promised tomorrow, Wednesday, but
the closures, reduced operating hours and the crackdown on smuggling tunnels
are squeezing the country’s most important supply line.
The closures, along with the large-scale
destruction of smuggling tunnels that were a major supply route into Gaza, are
leading to shortages and higher prices for basic goods.
CHA estimates that fewer than 10 tunnels are
operational, down from 50 in previous weeks and 300 before June [when
demonstrations erupted in Egypt, culminating in the removal of President
Mohamed Morsi].
So, Egypt –which is not
trucking supplies into Gaza– closes the Rafah crossing and shuts down the
smuggling tunnels that are “necessary for survival”. Naturally
you’ve read about this in The New York Times
and the Huffington Post. No?
Ahram Online, the Egyptian news Web site, reported on statements by
Ahmed Ali, spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces:
According to Ali, the army has arrested around
309 militants and confiscated a number of munitions, including mortars and
rocket-propelled grenades.
He added that some of the confiscated hand
grenades bear the stamp of Al-Qassam brigades –the militant wing of Gaza’s
Islamist ruling party Hamas.
“Hamas is also responsible for securing the
borders,” said Ali, who added that houses placed on the border with the Gaza
strip are a threat to national security.
Ali stated that while no buffer zone has been
declared between Sinai and Gaza yet, the army is securing a distance of between
500 meters and 1 kilometer at the border.
Gaza exports terrorism and terrorists to Egypt
and Egypt cracks down. Egypt destroys smuggling tunnels, closes the crossing,
and secures territory on the border. Naturally,
human rights activists around the world are planning large-scale demonstrations
and setting off on their protest
ships. No?
The Arab press, Jewish and Israeli
media have covered this story. To their credit, there has been some
reporting on this subject by United Press International but it has not been
picked up by most of the popular press which has given it precious
little attention.
When Israel tries to protect its citizens from
thousands of rockets, missiles and terrorist attacks from Gaza, there’s a hue
and cry, outrage and indignation. When Egypt responds to terrorism in the
Sinai… Where are the protests? Where are the flotillas?
And for heaven’s sake, where’s the coverage?
Setting sail for
Egypt? Don’t hold your breath.
Comments
(1) There is
little western coverage because the situation is nuanced and the west prefers
the good vs. evil narrative. Whereas with the present situation between Gaza
and Egypt it is hard to assign which is which: both bad, both good.
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