In The Blogs

What a Peaceful Palestinian Crossing Means for Egypt, Israel, and Hamas

| Wed Jan. 23, 2008 11:29 AM PST

At 2am on Wednesday morning, the iron fence between Gaza and Egypt came down. Residents of Gaza, lacking basic supplies since Israel imposed a blockade nearly a week ago, have been crossing as quickly as they can and bringing back all that they can carry.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's decision not to beat back the surge so far has not backfired on him, not least because of how little violence has accompanied the crossing. One news report described the scene as a bazaar; another called it a carnival. Though Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed that the breach of the fence was rife with opportunities for terrorist activity, so far it seems that the Palestinians have sought mostly to bring food and staple goods across the border. Though both Egypt and Hamas have sent police to the site, they are mostly directing traffic, and on the Israeli border, not a single rocket has been fired all day.

If this potentially volatile situation continues to unfold calmly, it will be as difficult for Israel to justify a renewed crackdown as it will for Hamas and Fatah to continue their refusal to work together. The citizens of Gaza can't meet their basic needs, and right now it seems that the government most friendly to their plight is that of Egypt, though that country too is walking a fine line. If the next few days continue peacefully, perhaps tensions will dissipate enough for the governments to at least begin to reassess.

—Casey Miner

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Comments

Submitted by David (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 2:35 PM PST.

Just a thought, but aren't they resupplying so they can launch more rockets and then complain they are receiving collective punishment for the actions of the democratically elected terrorists in charge who refuse to stop launching said missiles, release the POW they captured against the Geneva conventions, and are generally refusing the right of any Jew to live anywhere in Israel?

Submitted by Rachael (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 2:59 PM PST.

Unfortunately, the Israelis are acting like SS guards in keeping the Palistians in Gaza holed up with out food and water. If fact, this is worse conditions then the camps. Why does the US support Israel?

Submitted by Allergic to Incompetence (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 4:26 PM PST.

Rachel, that is very astute. You really hit the nail on the head: the actions of the Israelis are WORSE than the attempted genocide of the Jews by the German Nazis in WWII.
Yes, precisely.
You've made a very valuable and significant contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian conversation.
Congratulations. Give yourself a pat on the back for that stroke of genius.
Here's a nice quote from the German general Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach describing those actions in the camps:

"The people dug their own graves, ten Jews took up positions by them, and then the firing squad arrived with tommy guns and shot them down, and they fell into the grave. Then came the next lot, and they too were paraded in front of them and then fell into the grave, and the rest waited until they were shot. Thousands of people were shot. Many weren't dead, and a layer of earth was shoveled in between. They had packers there who packed the bodies in, because they fell in too soon. Afterward they gave that up and gassed them. We received a description. To this day I don't know why I got it. The SS leader wrote that he had shot the children himself--women were shot as well--because it was so repulsive; they didn't always die immediately. He actually wrote that. He described how he grasped the children by the neck and shot them with his revolver because that way he had the greatest certainty of their dying instantaneously. The governor at Lvov invited me to go to the opera with him. After a long interval, he suddenly said to me, "You know. Graf Rothkirch, it was terrible. It's so dreadful, it's indescribable. Just imagine what I have done. I attended on of these shootings." The man was completely out of his mind. A year ago I was in charge of the school where men were being trained in guerrilla warfare; I went on an exercise with them one day, and I said, "Direction of march is that hill up there." The directors of the school then said to me, "That's not a very good idea, sir, as they are burning Jews up there." I said, "What do you mean, burning Jews? There aren't any Jews anymore." "Yes, that's the place where they were always shot, and now they are all being disinterred, soaked with petrol, and burnt so that their bodies won't be discovered." "That's a dreadful job. There's certain to be a lot of loose talk about it afterward." "Well, the men who are doing the job will be shot directly afterward and burnt with them.""

Your point precisely.

Submitted by Prof Wadsworth (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 5:20 PM PST.

It is not surprising. Israel promotes NOT a vision of a inclusive "multi-cultural," "multi-ethnic" society (like we do in America) for Israel, but instead a racist exclusionary "Jewish state." It is racist because a Jew is defined as coming from a Jewish mother(genes). That state is openly dedicated to the advancement of the Jewish religion, culture, and even the genetic preservation of the Jewish people. Israel uses racial profiling. Israel values Judaism above other religions. Israel should seek to be welcoming and inclusive and respect all religions, or even those with no religion.
Israeli ethnocentric, chauvinism and xenophobic values are just too extreme. Israel does not share American values and let us therefore not share American taxpayer money with them. Israel needs to advance to the 21st century in its values. The days of racism should be a thing of the past. Israeli society is where America's society was 100 years ago. Israel can do better. Let us have that as our goal to advance Israel to the 21st century in the field of civil rights.

Submitted by Assad (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 6:09 PM PST.

Rachael, your comment was hyperbole. They are not worse, just similar, in too many respects. Prof. Wadsworth is right on.

Submitted by Ashmedi (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 6:54 PM PST.

The only true Messiah is Sam Popack the Messiah from Brooklyn.All the other Mossiahs are fake

Submitted by MLK jr. (not verified) on Wed Jan. 23, 2008 7:24 PM PST.

Israel does have it problems. A civil rights group in Israel has released a report which claims racism is rife in Israel and highly damaging to those it touches.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said Israel was seeing a new level of racism that was damaging privacy and freedom of expression.

The report pointed to a large percentage rise in the number of racist incidents against Arabs, sometimes brought about by Jewish youths who see Arabs as "unclean".

Social analysts reported only half of Israel's Jewish population believed that Jews and Arabs should have full equal rights.

Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent supported the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel while 78 percent opposed the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government.

The report concluded the results were the consequence of a racist campaign and anti-Arab racist policies led by political and military leaders.