Middle East Features
Gaza border breach causes Palestinian exodus into Egypt
Jan 23, 2008, 18:30 GMT
Two Palestinians stand at the top of metal barrier that makes up part of the separation wall between Gaza Strip and Egypt at the border in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 23 January 2008. Thousands of Palestinians surged into Egypt from the Gaza Strip after masked militants destroyed parts of the border wall. They rushed to buy food, fuel and other supplies that have become scarce because of an Israeli blockade. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Rafah, Gaza Strip - Carrying a goat and jumping over a fence separating Egypt from the Gaza Strip, Sami Hamdan, 42, says this is the only way to out of the more than seven months of Israeli closure imposed on the Gaza Strip.
'We are witnessing a slow death and I believe we have no other choice,' he says, as he puts the goat in a mini-truck waiting by the border, and then crosses back into the Egyptian section of Rafah, the divided town on the Gaza-Egypt border, to bring more goats and sheep.
Each sheep, he says, costs 120 dollars, but 'in Gaza we sell it for 200.'
Hamdan is one of at least 350,000 Gazans who took advantage Wednesday of the breaching of the sealed Egyptian-Gaza border to cross into Egypt to buy provisions made scare by a suffocating Israeli siege of the salient.
Israel first shut the Gaza border crossings in June 2006, after militants staged a cross-border raid and snatched an Israeli soldier, who is still being held somewhere in the enclave.
The closure was tightened further in June last year, after Hamas seized control of the Strip, and it was intensified even further last week after an upsurge in rocket and mortar attacks - more than 130 in three days - from the Strip on Israel.
As a result of the Israeli closure, basic necessities are hard to find in the Strip, except for six kinds of products Israel allows in.
But before dawn Wednesday dozens of Palestinian militants, members of the Hamas armed wing, placed explosives by the Gaza-Egypt border fence and blew huge holes in it.
According to witnesses, the militants also brought up bulldozers to sweep away the barbed wire and clear the rubble from the explosions.
The result was an exodus into Egypt, of Gazans desperate to stock with food, cigarettes, clothing. Hundreds of packed vehicles - cars, trucks, buses, - drove to the now-porous border and a steady stream of people flooded the holes in the fence.
Dozens squeezed through the gaps, shoving and pushing their way through the holes, and then walking another 80 metres until they came to a short wall, which they vaulted over to land in Egypt.
'The best way to break this siege is by force,' Hamdan says. 'Israel closed the crossings and now people have found an opportunity to get into Egypt and buy what they need.'
Grocery shops and pharmacies on the Egyptian side of the border were running out of provisions and Queues quickly built up outside petrol stations.
Over the past seven months, the only foodstuffs Israel has allowed into Gaza is rice, rice, sugar, cooking oil, flour, fruits, diary products and frozen meat. Any other kind of product used for industry or construction was not allowed.
Hasna Abu Khadra, 52, walks with her three daughters into Egypt She says she wants to go to Egypt to visit her ill sister, and, in addition, 'I want to buy some stuff when I come back to Gaza. During the past seven months, she points out, 'we lack many kinds of products, such as food, fuel and cigarettes.'
The United Nations said that by mid-afternoon around 350,000 people had crossed the border. Palestinians put the figure at about 400,000. Many were carrying boxes of washing powders, or boxes of dry dates.
Jamil Safi, who lives 35 kilometres to the north in Gaza City, of says he went to to Egypt to buy things he intends selling at a profit later.
'I own a store in Khan Younis, but most of the goods in my store have run out,' he says, as he and his two sons carry cartons of washing powder.
Wednesday was not the first time thousands of Palestinians breached the borders and flooded Egypt. Tens of thousands crossed over in September 2005, when the Israeli army withdrew from the Gaza Strip.
'We go to Egypt to buy things cheaply, and we sell them at higher prices in Gaza,' explains Abdullah Suleiman, pulling a sheep and lamb. 'We make money in order to to be able to live under such harsh conditions.'
Israel, reacting to Wednesday's events, urged Egypt to 'solve the problem.' Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he instructed border guards to let the Gazans in 'to eat and buy food provisions then return home as long as they do not carry arms.'
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was sacked as prime minister after the Gaza takeover by Hamas last year, suggested a three-way meeting with himself, Mubarak and Abbas to 'look for a proper way to end the crisis and break the Israeli siege.'
But the Fatah movement, and its leader, leader, Abbas, who has been at loggerheads with Hamas since the Gaza fighting in June last year, accused Hamas of creating the crisis by blowing up the 6-metre high fence.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Who gives a rats arse about these subhumans anyway? Live, die, free or captive what difference does it make, they couldnt run a state if we gave them a billion $.
Israel started this,they took the land of the palestinians and never gave it back,colonizing it and renaming the villages,ousting the locals .Since then there has been a bitter fight.First stones against tanks ,now primitive missiles against drones,satellites,laser guided missiles .There will never be peace by bombing the palestinians into submission.For decades they hold out .
On Tuesday there was a meeting in Syria of 'Palestinian Factions' with an Iranian 'presence.' Fatah says that they boycotted this meeting. Right, sure, we all believe that one, right? Then President of Amahdinejad called Mubarak in Egypt, even though Iran and Egypt have had no diplomatic ties since 1979. Now, today, the fence between Egypt and Gaza gets dozed and people pour across the border into Egypt.
I thought I would point this out because the news media can't seem to pull this kind of thing together and show it to people.
'There will never be peace by bombing the palestinians into submission'
USE BIGGER BOMBS AND THERE WILL.
Hmm... Tony have you ever looked at the historical evidence? Temple mount with a big fat golden tit stuck on top of it. Haig Sofia, christian church, with a big fat golden tit stuck on top of it. Keep worshipping the the bedouin pedo if you wish but don't ask me to understand you.
Insults seems to be a wonderful toy when it some events need to be biased.The Hagaya Sofia has nothing to do with the struggle between the palestinians and Israel.Neither does the Mosque on the temple mount.The temple was destroyed by the romans first century AD .The palestinians have been living in that part of the world since at least 7 centuries .Israel was created by jews coming from europe to escape persecutions and pogroms .Problem is that one can not fight a wrongdoing bt creating another one .Acknowledging that is just common sense in modern history .Invoking the Romans is ridiculous .Name calling to hide one's incompetence in building a coherent set of arguments is even more ridiculous .Who's the idiot in that case.I guess the influence of AIPAC in the USA is responsible for decennia of brainwashing .Problem is that it's influence doesn't reach outside of the USA.Hence a more complete picture of the situation.
Israel would resemble Gaza if it were not for the Jews. The decendants of Palastinian refugees that live in Gaza and other regions would soon turn Israel into a squalid backward country.
They remind me of a dog that runs after a bus, it seems like a good idea at the time but they would not know what to do with it if they caught it.
To porky so how many times has isreal destroyed the infastructure in gaza over the last 20 years. I doubt that we would be living a very nice lifestyle if our neighbours kept on destroying everything we try to build.
SHOPPING FOR VIAGRA
Hundreds of Palestinians shuttled back and forth from Rafah on Thursday as the town was transformed into a giant outdoor market. Egyptian and Palestinian merchants peddled food, fuel, cement, cigarettes and even Viagra.
I BET THE GAZA GOATS AND SHEEP ARE NERVOUS AS HELL...BUT THEN AGAIN ITS MUSLIMS CUSTOM TO BEND EACH OTHER OVER AND WORSHIP ALLAH.
tonny from belgium has been eating them muslim waffles again with pork. but i guess even this idiot is allowed to come out from under his rock to get some sunlight.
Viagra and the Koran.
allah akbar
tonny from belgium
We here in the US have access to all the resources and information (not the biased anti-semetic drivel you have been fed) and we know that the population of the British controlled area was split almost evenly between Jews and Arabs.
We know that the Arabs have consistantly refused peace (even when it greatly favored them) and simply wanted to destroy the Jews. This is still the tacit positin of the Arab community at large and the Pals in particular. They still reject peace and refuse to accept the result of their failed attempt at continuing the Nazi final solution (which was for all Jews not just European Jews).
We know that the expulsion and exodus of Jews from the surrounding Arab countries in response to Israel's creation far outweighed the Arabs who left Israel to await the 'destruction of the Jews' as Nasser promised them.
We know the Arab nations agreed to take in their brothers as part of the cease fire agreement and instead set up the refugee camps which still exist today (Ramalla et al).
We know that Israel has proven to be a good partner in peace (see Egypt and Jordan) and the Pals have failed to abide by even the most basic level of agreements (stop the rockets).
We know Israel has dismantled and turned over settlements after reching peace agreements, we know that the civilians assasinated by the Palestinian terrorists will never be compensated.
We know Israel treats the Palestinians better than any Arab nation would. We know they supply more humanitarian aid and services (power, medical etc..) than the entire Arab world does for their brothers.
These poor folks should have been given their due by their Arab brothers in 1949 and should be demanding compensation from those states (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, etc...). The world should not be looking to Israel to make it right for these people.
perhaps the only solution then is an economic embargo of isreal and UN troops (not british french or american) to take up peace keeping duties in gaza and its coastal waters with a mandate to shoot down anything that flies over this area or tries to pass through without UN approval.
Im sure porky imagines economies can work behind huge walls and embargoes from sea - air and land .. and constant bulldozing and political attacks and assassinations from the isreal secret service.
reality shows that under the conditions of palestine no country on earth can develop not with isreal as its neighbor.
Zionism do not represent jews..zionism is just a copy of nazi policy as porky clearly stated himself they consider arabs as sub-humans ...now tell me what makes you better then a nazi ?
i thought you isreali's might have learned something from history about calling people sub human ?
or do you want to give them the same options Hitler gave you ? leave Palestine or become ethnic cleansed ?
in palestine ...zionists bought land ...today not a single arab can buy land ..they are fifth class citizens in zionist land of isreal ..even russians immigrants and others whom are not even belonging to the area and other people have more rights then the local inhabitants.
but on the bright side no occupation lasts as long as there is resistance and the muslims will resist this occupation as all other ones
maybe you could explain the fact that isreal has killed 20 times more people then Palestine ?
if isreal would invade America and return 25% of your land only 3 states ...would you be happy ?
or maybe they add 2 more states would you be happy ?
they take over 50 states and return a couple of roads to satisfy the public opinion ...
tell me what kind of a goverment would accept a loss 75% of his land
not allowing the palestinians rights over even theyr own bank accounts -
government taxes go trough isreali control -
no army allowed -
no equipment -
airports will be controlled by isreal -
sea ports will be under isreali jurisdiction -
even borders will remain in isreali control -
no rights of return for its citizens -
meaning no control over immigration -
Israeli checkpoints and security can breach Palestinian areas -
No countryw would allow so much domination by a foreign country ....
THis the very nature of the oppressive zionist nation
page: 1
AzimJan 23rd, 2008 - 19:16:57
Hamas started it - they get what they deserve.
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