From the wider international perspective, it is precisely this western embrace of repressive and unrepresentative regimes such as Egypt’s, along with unwavering backing for Israel’s occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land, that is at the heart of the crisis in the Middle East and Muslim world… The poisonous logic of this imperial quagmire is now leading inexorably to the spread of war under Barack Obama.
Egypt
Cairo is currently experiencing civil disobedience, Western style… The fight is now with the Egyptian government and, according to Code Pink, their own embassies’ intransigence.
Egypt has… barred more than 1,000 international campaigners from visiting the territory… Some 150 aid trucks organised by the Viva Palestina campaign led by George Galloway, a British member of parliament, are stuck in the Jordanian port of Aqaba, because the Egyptian authorities have refused to grant them permission to enter the country through the nearby Red Sea port of Nuweiba.
Diplomatic negotiations are also taking place between the Turkish and Egyptian governments over the convoy’s entry to Egypt. IHH, Turkey’s main humanitarian aid agency, has 63 vehicles travelling on the convoy.
The Egyptian government has denied entry to the Viva Palestina aid convoy carrying medical and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Construction on the 100-foot-deep steel wall began a few weeks ago, but the Egyptian government didn’t publicly acknowledge the project until the weekend. Officials defended the effort against accusations that it was an affront to Palestinians by the government of President Hosni Mubarak, which opposes Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians have rallied in the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border to protest against Egypt’s construction of a steel wall aimed at blocking smuggling tunnels to Gaza.
Egypt has begun the construction of a massive iron wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, in a bid to shut down smuggling tunnels into the territory. The wall will be nine to 10 kilometers long, and will go 20 to 30 meters into the ground, Egyptian sources said. It will be impossible to cut or melt.
Netanyahu has said in closed meetings that the only place where it is possible to walk a few dozen meters on foot and to move from the third world to the first world, is in southern Israel. In other places in the world, oceans separate these two worlds.
IOA Editor: A wall here and a fence there… pretty soon we’ll be incarcerated in our very own ghetto. And who will we be blaming then?
Jordanian King Abdullah II on Monday advised Israel to stop “playing with fire” regarding the future of Jerusalem. “Jerusalem is a red line and Israel must internalize the importance the city holds for Arabs and Christian Muslims, and stop playing with fire,” said Abdullah.
This seventh-grader… is half Israeli and half Egyptian, Jewish and Muslim, speaks Hebrew with her mother and Arabic with her father, lives in Ramat Hasharon and spends vacations in Sinai and Cairo, with her father and grandmother.
IOA Editor: Perhaps the most encouraging story, if it weren’t so singular, romantic, completely out of the norm and, for those who know the Sinai coast, completely out of this world.
Egypt: “Negotiations can start only if settlements are frozen — and this continues to be our demand — or if we receive unequivocal guarantees that a Palestinian state will be erected on 1967 borders, including (Arab east) Jerusalem,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said.
IOA Editor: It is time to move to the ‘next level,’ now that both Mr. Obama and Madam Mouthpiece have spoken: nothing said by either suggests that any meaningful US action is forthcoming. It is time for the Palestinians and the Arab League to consider their next moves on discussions with Israel and the US. Sitting and hoping that the Obama Administration will suddenly ‘discover’ that time is of the essence, is both unrealistic and unwise.
At the same time, every day that passes allows Israel to continue its colonial program – specifically designed to prevent a viable, independent Palestinian state from becoming a reality. If anything can be learned from the past 42 years, it is that Occupation is a normal state of affairs for the ‘only democracy in the Middle East,’ and that there is no reason to assume any of this will change, unless it is stopped by outside intervention. What ‘intervention’ and how to bring it about are, indeed, the key questions.
“This is the core of the Arab peace initiative, which proposes normalisation by Arab states of relations with Israel in exchange for a comprehensive peace which establishes an independent Palestinian state linked to the withdrawal by Israel from all Arab lands it has occupied since 1967.”
IOA Editor: Entirely reasonable. As is “No normalization under Occupation.”
The board of directors of Al-Ahram, the most powerful media body in Egypt, has reportedly decided to boycott Israel and Israelis of all positions.
IOA Editor: It is encouraging that such an important Egyptian institution has taken a principled stand, refusing to reward Israel for its aggressive Gaza attack, and for continuing the Occupation, settlement program, and the subjugation of the Palestinian people. Al-Ahram is saying: No normalization under Occupation. Rightly so.
Two Israel Navy warships made a rare crossing of Egypt’s Suez Canal on Tuesday, heading from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea in a voyage that could be seen as a warning signal to Iran. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the crossings were legitimate in accordance with an agreement between Cairo and Jerusalem.
Egyptian authorities invite local merchants to participate in auctions of goods confiscated before being smuggled into Gaza. Palestinians furious as they are paying for merchandise they will never receive… Egyptian business sources reported that most of the products offered in the auctions are food products, led by the rice, biscuits, beans, candy and salt. They are followed by household utensils and electrical appliances, including computer equipment.
On the evening of October 29, 1956, Israel, allied with France and Great Britain, attacked Egypt, and the Sinai Campaign began. The operation lasted for about 100 hours and cost the lives of over 170 Israeli soldiers. Over the years, the widespread perception has been that Israel wanted this war, but to this day there is no consensus among scholars about the reasons why.
