Gaza fighters breach Egypt border wall

[barb162]

Gaza fighters breach Egypt border wall


Friday 16 September 2005, 2:42 Makka Time, 23:42 GMT


Steps to plug the Gaza-Egypt border have so fair failed


Palestinian fighters have punched a new hole in a border wall between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of civilians to stream across.


Palestinian police stood by as about 50 armed men from Hamas and the Palestinian Resistance Committees rammed a dump truck into the cement wall, knocking down several large slabs on Thursday.

The incident came hours after the Palestinian Authority pledged to take steps to shut the Gaza frontier, breached after Israel handed over its former Jewish settlements in southern Gaza to the Palestinians on Monday.

Struggling to impose order after the Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinian Authority acknowledged some light arms had been smuggled into Gaza and said the border would be shut on Friday.
snip

Reuters

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/14F14CED-7276-4CE7-8B59-BCFD6D049BA4.htm

[msongs]

1. egypt and palestinians are NOT friends? hmmm nt

[barb162]

2. depends on with whom one speaks

Now one could say the Palestinians seem to like going to Egypt, seeing as how they took a truck and crashed through a border wall, dug a tunnel, etc. Then one can look at the Egyptians getting some barbed wire and inferring the Egyptians are not so hot on the idea of the "friend" thing with the Palestinians

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Hopefully...

...it will not be a repeat of what happened in Jordan.

[bemildred]

4. Paraphrasing Mr. Bush: "Bring it in!"

I kind of wonder what is going to happen if the Egyptians
wind up shooting some Palestinians while trying to "restore
order".

[pelsar]

5. nothing...

one was already shot....would you expect different? (cynical-perhaps but also realistic)

[bemildred]

6. I don't know what to expect.

I just thought that politically it might be a hot
potato for Hosni and the Egyptian government, but
that's just a guess, I know he has his issues with
the Islamic Brotherhood and those sort of fellows.
But maybe not ...

[barb162]

8. "issues"

LOL, love that word in this context

(PS, I just wish the greenhouses weren't destroyed, that there was no carnage, that the Palestinians would now look to use that land to create jobs, good housing, schools, etc)

[pelsar]

9. different value system..

when the egyptians or palestenian security forces shoot up the "citizens" you wont hear any out cry from anyone....there simply is a double standard. The PA nor egypt have the concept of "civil rights" as part of the society...nor do those in the 'west" at this point expect them to.

you wont find any internationals in Gaza these days playing human shields against the various gang bangers to protect the simple palestenains...they'll shoot right through them.

this is the news that does manage to get out....censorship (official or self censorship) is also part of life there.

simply the way it is....

[idontwantaname]

10. true.

many palestinians/arabs dont want us(non palestinians/arabs) getting involved with "internal" politics/issues... such as womens rights and civil strife. they feel it is an issue which needs to get worked out internally and are most likely embarrassed.

sort of like couples arguing in public. its a personal "family" matter which the public should not be bothered with...

[barb162]

11. Your second paragraph

on internationals, gang bangers, etal... I didn't know that.

On a slightly different note, what I found really interesting was the mention of smuggling of drugs (beside the weapons) over the Egyptian border in the stories the last few days.

[pelsar]

12. old story....the drugs

its actually hardly news but the egyptian/israeli border is rather porus and a lot of dope is smuggled through.....its a border I've spent many days on.

politics are also involved: the bedoiun tribe is split in two..half in israel, in the negev half in egypt, the sinai so the smugglers are part of the same family.

some of the bedouin serve in the IDF as trackers...some as smugglers. Since mostly its soft drugs, food and sometimes women....its considered benign...however if weapons become the commerce....then the attitude will change.

[barb162]

7. I read yesterday the Egyptians already shot at one person.

[Maple]

13. Or perhaps this is why.....hmmm?

Abdel Raouf Sekik hugs his daughter after greeting her for the first time since 1996 on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005, a day after Israel’s withdrawal from the Palestinian coastal area after a 38-year occupation.

Photo: Amr Nabil/AP