Bedouins under threat in Israeli-Egypt border area

By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann Jul 27, 2007, 18:42 GMT

Rafah - The view to the east from Mohammed Abu Amer's roof in the Egyptian town of Rafah is of fruit trees and the grey concrete of the border wall behind which lies the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Israel lies several kilometres further to the south-east.

Abu Amer's house is 250 metres south of the Palestinian-Egyptian border crossing in the north-east corner of the Sinai Peninsula at Rafah, which has been closed since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in Gaza in June.

And now there's talk of the revival of an old Egyptian government plan to create a 'military exclusion zone' devoid of houses and trees in the area.

As well as winning the approval of the Israelis who complain constantly that weapons are being smuggled through tunnels under the border wall, the plan would appeal to the Egypt's President Hosny Mubarak who has problems with the Hamas leadership on the other side of the border.

Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the strongest opposition group in Egypt.

Abu Amer's family, along with other Bedouin clans settled close to the border, are worried that the state could destroy their homes, olive trees and fruit plants. Egyptian government officials have denied all reports of any such plans. However, the Bedouins are not convinced.

'Engineers from the city council were here 10 days ago and registered all the houses along the border. They wrote down the number of rooms each building had,' says Khalid Abu Ayad.

'I don't want any damage to my house and the olive trees. I don't want the government to put me and my family in an apartment because we Bedouins need wide open spaces and a view of the land.'

His two-storey house lies 500 metres from the border. It has a simple kitchen, a basic toilet, a mattress and a small desk with a computer.

The women make themselves scarce whenever there are male visitors. Chickens cluck in the yard. Abu Ayad and his neighbours think that the authorities will first clear a 150-metre-wide strip on the 12 kilometre-long border and that this may be subsequently broadened to three kilometres.

As further proof of Cairo's plans, they cite a visit of a delegation from the United States Congress at the beginning of July.

The Bedouins don't believe that it is possible to prevent weapon smuggling through the creation of an additional security zone. 'The Palestinians have good engineers and modern machinery they can use to dig longer tunnels,' they say.

'Politicians shouldn't believe that it's men with spades they are dealing with,' one of them says with a laugh.

A tunnel exit uncovered the previous day by security forces is being monitored by Egyptian border guards in the sweltering July evening heat.

Rumour has it that the owner of the field betrayed the smugglers to the authorities. The Egyptians are now set to fill the tunnel with water and then blow it up.

However, the owners of the neighbouring fields do not believe that weapons are being smuggled through this tunnel which is located 350 metres away from the border.

Their view is that the tunnel was being used to smuggle medicines and cigarettes into the Gaza Strip.

Prices for weapons in Gaza are at an all-time low, they say, as Hamas is currently well-supplied, having relieved Fatah of their weaponry after their seizure of power in Gaza last month.