Hope for a new dawn at Rafah in Gaza Strip

By Richard Lightbown

2 May 2011

Following the recent announcements of Egypt’s intention to open the Rafah Crossing with Gaza, Richard Lightbown describes some of the hypocrisies behind Israel’s objections and speculates on what might follow.

Egypt announced last week that it intends to open the Rafah Crossing to the Gaza Strip on a permanent basis. Commenting on Israel’s Army Radio on 30 April the chief of staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, General Sami Anan, was reported to have said that this is not a matter of Israel’s concern. Officially, perhaps he is incorrect since the 2005 Agreed Principles for Rafah Crossing make it plain that the opening of the crossing is very much dependent on the cooperation of the government of Israel. However, since Israel has never seen fit to abide by the Agreement on Movement and Access (hereinafter called “the Agreement”) of which these Principles are a part, one might conclude that General Anan has a valid point.

The 2005 crossings agreement

The Agreement was intended to facilitate movement within the Palestinian territories, open Rafah as an international crossing point to enable the passage of people and “promote peaceful economic development and improve the humanitarian situation on the ground”.

It is worthwhile reiterating here the main points agreed by Israel and Palestine following negotiations facilitated by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, European Union representative Javier Solana and Quartet Special Envoy John Wolfensohn.

• Crossings into Gaza were to operate continuously. Of the five crossings from Israel, the main crossing at Karni would process 150 trucks of exports per day in December 2005, which would rise to 400 by the end of 2006.
• Israel would permit the export of all agricultural products for the 2005 season and ensure the continued opportunity thereafter of Gazan producers to export.
• Israel also undertook to make the West Bank passages fully operational as soon as possible. Bus convoys were to be established on the link between Gaza and the West Bank by the end of 2005 and truck convoys were to begin in January 2006.
• Construction of the seaport for Gaza could start once Israel gave assurances that it would not interfere with its operation.
• Discussions were to continue on the rehabilitation and operation of Gaza’s airport.
• Rafah Crossing would be restricted to Palestinian ID card holders and others in agreed categories by prior notification to Israel with approval of senior Palestinian Authority leaders. The crossing would be operated by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority monitored by EU officials.
• Rafah was also to handle exports from Gaza while imports into Gaza from Egypt would pass via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

What happened in reality

One year after the agreement, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that “the ability of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to access either the West Bank or the outside world remains extremely limited and the flow of commercial trade is negligible”. For people in Gaza the situation never got any better.

The main crossing from Israel at Karni was opened in December 2005 but during 2006 it was closed for more than 50 per cent of its scheduled operating days by the Israeli authorities citing security reasons. On average, only 12 truckloads of goods per day were exported from Gaza (three per cent of the target figure for the end of 2006).

Despite emphasis in the Agreement on permitting the export of agricultural produce for the 2005 harvest season, only 465 tonnes were exported of nearly 14,000 tonnes produced (i.e. slightly more than three per cent) while a further 25 per cent was sold locally or through Israeli wholesalers. The remainder of the crops were given away or destroyed.

Sufa Crossing was used primarily for the import of construction materials. During the first year of the Agreement it was open for only 60 per cent of scheduled days. Erez Crossing was not used for commercial goods and Kerem Shalom Crossing was boycotted by the Palestinian Authority and was open for humanitarian cargos only.

Since the introduction of the Israeli closure regime on Gaza in 2007 all crossings other than the small inconvenient crossing at Kerem Shalom were gradually closed to goods traffic. This remaining crossing has not been open continuously, and was closed between 5 and 13 April this year on the grounds of continuing rocket fire and security threats against Israeli soldiers. The reopening on 13 April allowed the resumption of imports and one truckload of export produce. During the week of closure approximately three-quarters of a million cut flowers designated for export from Gaza were lost through spoilage (incurring estimated losses of 110,000 US dollars).

Truck and bus convoys between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were never introduced.

Plans to upgrade the port of Gaza following the Oslo Accords began after finance was provided by Dutch, French and European investments. Starting in 1994 the work was constantly hampered by Israeli obstruction of materials and workers. Finally, one year into the project, Israeli forces bombed the port and completely destroyed it. The revival of the scheme under the 2005 Agreement was stillborn because of Israel’s refusal to provide the required assurances. (The US-led committee to oversee these arrangements as required under the Agreement was never established.)

Nothing came of the intentions to reopen Gaza’s international airport, which has been closed following bombing by Israeli forces in December 2001.

In five months following the capture of Gilad Shalit on 25 June 2006 the Rafah Crossing was open for only 14 per cent of the time and since that time has never been open continuously. Although deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak must shoulder much of the blame for this and the Palestinian authorities are not without responsibility, the government of Israel was largely to blame for this situation by its manipulation and use of the terms of the Agreement for the opening.

What might the future bring?

Egypt’s declared intention to open the crossing into Gaza reflects a radical change from the policy of Mubarak and promises to provide a lifeline to the moribund Gazan economy that has been deliberately targeted by Israeli policies which are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. In February, Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported that the World Bank believed that using Rafah as a trade corridor to the Suez Canal container terminal or Cairo International Airport could be done at a cost equivalent to or less than using Israel’s port or airports. Continuous opening will allow producers to effectively plan their transport arrangements free of the whim of a malignant border control. It will also allow students with overseas placements to take up their studies, and provide an opportunity for the rebuilding of Gaza, including the refurbishment and replenishment of its dire medical system. (For as the surgeon Dr Mustafa Yassin told the Turkel Committee on 13 October 2010, “I haven’t seen anything like Gaza in my life, and I hope that I won’t ever see it again.”)

The question remains whether Egypt will be allowed to carry out this policy or whether it will be prevailed upon to reverse its plans. Israel’s quisling administration in the US has already provided more the 116 million US dollars to Egypt in order to finance border security and combat tunnel trafficking. This included provision for a mobile ground surveillance radar and support system and a border tunnel activity and detection system. Will the US sit idly by as Egypt’s new regime renders this expenditure irrelevant and worthless? Or will it dare to defy the winds of change in the Arab world by racking up the pressure on its erstwhile ally to bring it into line against Gazan resistance?

Meanwhile, in nearby corners of the Mediterranean Sea, Mossad and the organizers of the next flotilla are playing out a sophisticated game of hide and seek. If the flotilla avoids the saboteurs and successfully takes to the sea, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be forced against his natural inclination to make a major political decision. Does he unleash the dogs of war and try to face down world opprobrium, or does he sit meekly by and allow the fleet to pass on victorious to Gaza? Either way he stands to be hoist on the petard of his own intransigence. Perhaps the Egyptian government will make the decision for him by rendering the blockade obsolete.

At the same time a successful entry into Gaza by sea will demonstrate many things. It will show the possibilities for trade by sea to complement the land crossing. It will refute the liars that deny that Gaza has a port and the doubters at UN Human Rights Council and elsewhere that it is a place where one can unload cargoes even now. It will also demonstrate the need for the world to insist that Israel allows the Gaza port to be refurbished. Above all it will demonstrate that people of courage and determination can accomplish what weak, collaborative governments fear to do.

Dare we hope this time that righteousness will prevail?

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egypt-Gaza border opening scares Israel

Posted on May 2, 2011 by rehmat1

The military junta ruling Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, has announced to open the Rafah border-crossing with Gaza permanently within a few days. The Wall Street Jounal has called Egyptian decision a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the US, Israel, Egypt and the EU.

Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Sami Anan warned Israel against interfering with Egypt’s plan, saying it was not a matter of Israel’s concern, Army Radio reported on Saturday.

Behind the Israeli propaganda lies to scare the hell out of its western puppet regimes about the so-called ‘Jew-hating Islamists’ replacing the former Israel-friendly regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, Libya, etc. – in fact the new regimes with the exception of some cosmetic changes, have turned to be more oppressive than the ones they replaced.

Egyptian military junta, so far has not fulfilled even a single public demands;
1) cancelling Egypt-Israel peace-treaty,
2) opening borders with Gaza and recognizing Hamas as the only elected government and
3) lifting ban on the popular Islamic political party Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, Egypt has not opened diplomatc relation with the regional power, Iran.

Several American lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have threatened to stop US funding to PA if the Fatah-Hamas unity government is established in Gaza and the West Bank. They have also recommended that Obama administration stop $1.5 billion annual aid to Egypt if it cancels its peace agreement with Israel.
On May 1, Professor Franklin Lamb wrote a timely article from Beirut entitled Panic in the Houses of Congress and AIPAC?.

“On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

What AIPAC operatives reportedly told the conferees was that Netanyahu is once again furious with President Barack Obama and outraged by what he sees as a vacillating US Government attitude towards Israeli needs. They were told that the Israeli PM sees real political danger for Israel in the shifting US public opinion in favor of the young sophisticated attractive Arab and Muslims increasingly seen on satellite channels from the region who remind the American public of their own ideals.

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence, the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!“ campaign is wafting from the Israel lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

Congressman Eric Cantor lamented that “Israel is badly losing the US College campuses”, despite heavy financial investments the past few years to curb American students growing support for Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, all dreaded symbols of the growing opposition to the 19th Century Zionist colonial enterprise. “Support for Palestine is skyrocketing,” he claimed. “Until Palestine is freed from Zionist occupation no Arab or Muslim is truly free of Western hegemony,” according to one assistant editor of Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson….”

Benji Netanyahu during his addresses late this month at AIPAC conference and joint meeting of the US Congress is expected to include;
1) Bashing of the Islamic Republic for its support for Hamas and Hizbullah and country’s civilian nuclear program,
2) Warning against the dangers to “the peace process” of any PA-Hamas unity government,
3) Warnings about the threats to Israel from Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood – scraping peace-treaty and abandoning subsidary on gas supply to Israel,
4) the usual hasbara lie: “Israel has no peace partner to negotiate with and
5) Ben-Obama is too hard on Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Panic from the Houses of Congress and Aipac?

April 30, 2011 posted by Franklin Lamb - Exclusive

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s.

BY FRANKLIN LAMB

On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the pro-Israel Lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).  Their purpose was to discuss how best to promote Israel during next month’s US visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and more importantly how to confront the rapidly changing Middle East political landscape. One consensus was that no one saw it coming and that is was dangerous for Israel.

Among those participating were former Jewish Chairman of powerful committees including Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who headed the Banking Committee; Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ex-chairman of the Commerce and Energy committee; Howard Berman (D-Calif.) ex-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), ex-chairwoman of the foreign operations subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee as well as Eric Cantor, House Majority leader, the highest rankling Jewish member of Congress in history.

What AIPAC operatives reportedly told the conferees was that Netanyahu is once again furious with President Obama and outraged by what he sees as a vacillating US Government attitude towards Israeli needs. They were told that the Israeli PM sees real political danger for Israel in the shifting US public opinion in favor of the young sophisticated attractive Arab and Muslims increasingly seen on satellite channels from the region who remind the American public of their own ideals.

Abe Foxman Caricature

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!” campaign wafting from the Israel Lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

In addition, as more Israeli officials are indicted for various domestic crimes, and some harbor fears of arrest for international ones, 68% of the American Jewish community, according to one by poll commissioned last month by Forward, believe the US Israel Lobby is increasingly fossilized with the likes of ADL (Anti-Defamation League) director Abe Foxman’s vindictive infighting among several of the largest Jewish lobby organizations which continue to lose  memberships, especially among the young.

Congressman Eric Cantor lamented that “Israel is badly losing the US College campuses”, despite heavy financial investments the past few years to curb American students growing support for Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, all dreaded symbols of the growing opposition to the 19^th Century Zionist colonial enterprise. Support for Palestine is skyrocketing he claimed. “Until Palestine is freed from Zionist occupation no Arab or Muslim is truly free of Western hegemony,” according to one assistant editor of Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson.

Admitting that the Mossad did not foresee even the Tunisian or Egyptian uprisings some Aipac  staffers, of whom there are more than 100, admit to not knowing how to react to the topics they were presented with for discussion, some of which included:

• The Egyptian public emphatic insistence that the 1978 Camp David Accords be scrapped and that the Rafah crossing be opened.  The latter has just been announced and the former is expected to be achieved before the end of the year. 
• The change of regimes and the dramatic rise in publicly expressed anti-Israel sentiment and insistence that Israel close its embassy and Egypt withdraw its recognition of the Zionist state. 
• The apparent rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas which has been increasingly demanded by the Palestinians under occupation and in the Diaspora. 
• The fact that the new regime in Cairo is seeking to upgrade its ties with Gaza’s Hamas rulers as well as Iran. 
• With respect to possible PA-Hamas rapprochement, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor is trying to reassure Israel before Netanyahu’s visit by announcing this week that “The United States supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace, but to play a constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist.”

AIPAC, frequently knocks heads with the Israeli embassy in Washington for control of visiting Israeli PM’s and important governments schedules will control what Netanyahu says and does.  AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr recently told a group of visiting Jewish student activists from California that “sometimes there is confusion in this town over just where the Israeli Embassy is located but let me assure you it’s no more than 300 yards from the Capitol Dome on North Capitol Street, NW.”

AIPAC, not the Israeli Embassy will write the final draft of Netanyahu’s speeches including the themes he will emphasize.  According to a Congressional  source with AIPAC connections, Netanyahu’s visit will focus on the following:

• Bashing Iran to please the White House. However, this mantra will have to compete with   the democratic revolutions that are sweeping the Arab world and which are terrifying not just Netanyahu, but also AIPAC and their hirelings in congress.

• Warning against the dangers to “the peace process” of any PA-Hamas unity government.

• Warnings about the threats to Israel from Egypt and popular calls for scrapping of the  1978 Camp David Accords, ending the Egyptian subsidy and supply of 40% of Israel’s natural gas, calls for closing the Israeli Embassy, the dangers of permanently opening the Rafah border crossing “that will allow Hamas to in the words of, an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity to the Washington Post that Gaza’s Hamas rulers had already built up a “dangerous military machine” in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening the border.

• The tried and tested bromide that “Israel has no peace partner to negotiate with will be used but this too has lost its bite given that the Palestine Papers has shown that the PA for five years habitually caved into Israel demands and are widely viewed as collaborators with Israel in preserving the status quo– so what more could be expected from them? The truth is that Mahmoud Abbas and Salem Fayyad are Netanyahu, Leiberman’s and Barak’s favorite “peace partners.”

• Netanyahu will hint at and AIPAC will drill in the idea that the Obama administration has been too hard on Israel.

While Netanyahu announced this week that “I will have the opportunity to air the main parts of Israel’s diplomatic and defense policies during my visit in the United States”,informed sources report that his main goal and timing of his visit is to undermind a rumored initiative that President Obama’s team has been working on.

Netanyahu, according to AIPAC, also plans to attack the UN’s plan to admit Palestine  and its offices are preparing a media blitz in an attempt to undermine the U.N. recognition of  Palestine  by arguing that such a General Assembly action would not in reality mean Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank and East Jerusalem  because of the fact that Israel currently controls those territories. Aipac is arguing that such United Nations recognition of Palestine would only reiterate the principle, previously articulated by the U.N which denies the legitimacy of Israel’s claim to territories acquired by force in the war of June 1967.

In reality, and as AIPAC well knows, UN recognition of Palestine would have a devastating effect on Israel’s legitimacy and would fuel an international campaign to force every colonist out of the West Bank. Given the feelings of virtually all people in the Middle East and North Africa toward Israel this could dramatically undermine the apartheid state. Aipac and Israel’s agents in Congress also ignore the fact that the U.N. is the only the international body that admitted Israel as a member state in May 1949, although the resolution noted a connection between Israel’s recognition and the implementation of resolution 181 of November 1947, which called for partition of what had been British Mandate Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

The reason that intense angst and even fear stalks the Houses of Congress and Aipac is that Netanyahu will remind his hosts in the coming days that Israel has always called “home” is that some US officials are starting to express treasonous thoughts long kept to themselves.

One seemingly shocking statement was made to a visiting Oregon delegation during a recent visit to Congressional offices by a Member of Congress never known for being publicly critical of Israel.  As reported via email:  “He said recent events suggest that while ( the revolts spreading across the Middle East) are not the immediate  end of the State of Israel, he believes they are harbingers and signal the  ‘beginning of the end of the State of Israel as we have known it. And that will be good for America and humanity.”

“What seems to  have particularly upset him was his own  mentioning to the group was a recent report about a conference of Rabbis in Israel who are demanding the expulsion of non-Jews, especially Palestinians, from occupied Palestine in order to maintain the “ethnical and religious purity of the peoples of Israel.

He quoted Dov Lior, the rabbi of Kiryat Araba, an illegal settlement near Hebron, who according to media reports told a conference organized to discuss how to get non-Jews in mandatory Palestine to leave the country for the sake of Jewish immigrants who had no roots in Palestine: “Today there is a lot of land in Saudi Arabia and in Libya, too. There is a lot of land in other places. Send them there.” As scholar Khalid Amayreh reminds us, it was Lior, who in 1994 praised arch-terrorist Baruch Goldstein for massacring 29 Arab worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in downtown Hebron, said peace in the Holy Land was out of question because the Arabs wouldn’t allow Jews to usurp the land.

Meanwhile, a large coalition  of pro peace and pro-Palestinian organizations, under the umbrella of http://www.moveoveraipac.org/ is preparing a new and different American reception for the Israeli Prime Minister.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Franklin Lamb , a former Assistant Counsel of the US House Judiciary Committee at the US Congress and Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon, earned his Law Degree at Boston University and his LLM, M.Phil, and PhD degrees at the London School of Economics. Lamb is Director, Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace, Beirut-Washington DC, Board Member of The Sabra Shatila Foundation, and a volunteer with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, Lebanon. He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon

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 River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Anan: Israel has no right to interfere in decision to open the Rafah crossing

[ 29/04/2011 - 09:48 PM ]

CAIRO, GAZA, (PIC)-- The Egyptian Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Sami Anan said that Israel has no right to interfere in the Egyptian decision to open the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.
Anan said in a statement he published Friday on his page on Facebook: “Israel has no right to interfere in the decision to open the Rafah crossing as this is an Egyptian-Palestinian affair.”
The Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi had stated earlier that Egypt was seeking to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and open the Rafah crossing fully in both directions within ten days, after the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo.
The Foreign Ministry in Gaza, for its part, welcomed the Egyptian Foreign Minister’s statements which call for the complete lifting of the siege on Gaza and the full opening of the Rafah crossing.
In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said that it welcomed Arabi’s statement and hoped that it would be implemented on the ground as soon as possible, placing special emphasis on facilitating the travel of Gaza citizens in and out of the coastal strip.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Arabi pledges to lift Gaza siege in ten days, Rizka welcomes the news

[ 29/04/2011 - 02:58 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Nabil Al-Arabi, the Egyptian foreign minister, said on Thursday that Egypt would take a decisive decision rescinding the unjust siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, adding that the decision would be taken within ten days.

"The humanitarian condition in Gaza is very miserable, inhuman, and I believe that the political decision to seal the Rafah crossing point was unethical and inhuman," Arabi said in statements he made in the capital Cairo Thursday.

He added that a political decision regarding lifting the siege on Gaza and opening the Rafah crossing point permanently will be taken by the new Egyptian leadership, underlining that matters in the Gaza strip will drastically change to the better.

Arabi’s statements were received well in Gaza and stirred an atmosphere of jubilance in the coastal Strip that had been under repressive Israeli blockade for the past five years that former Egyptian government of deposed president Husni Mubarak supported.

For his part, Dr. Yousef Rezqa, the political advisor of Palestinian premier Ismael Haneyya welcomed Arabi's statements, describing them as "good news".

"We fully back the new Egyptian steps in this regard, and we are filled with hope that those statements will be translated on the ground in order to give chance to the besieged Palestinian people to get rid of the five-year old blockade," Rezqa said in reaction to Arabi's statements.

He added that the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation on Wednesday in Cairo would help Egypt and the rest of Arab countries to rescind the unjust siege on Gaza.

"If Egypt indeed decided to break the siege then we can say that the blockade would end 100% because we pay great attention to our brothers in Egypt in this regard as we consider Egypt the center of the Arab backing that we had demanded in the past stage," Rezqa underscored.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egypt to Permanently Open Rafah Crossing, “Israel” Concerned

Local Editor

"Israeli" concerns escalated as Egypt said it will permanently open the Rafah border crossing as part of its plans to ease the blockade on Gaza.

According to Maan news agency, Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil Al Arabi said his country would take "important steps to help ease the blockade on Gaza in the few days to come".

He said Egypt would no longer accept that the Rafah border - Gaza's only crossing that bypasses "Israel" -- remain blocked, describing his country's decision to seal it off as "shameful."

Egypt has largely kept Rafah closed, opening it exceptionally for humanitarian cases from the besieged Gaza Strip.

In Tel Aviv, a senior "Israeli" official said the Zionist entity is "very concerned" about the implications of the Rafah crossing being thrown open.

Speaking anonymously, the "Israeli" official said Gaza's Hamas rulers had already build up a "dangerous military machine" in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening the border. "We are very concerned about the situation in northern Sinai where Hamas has succeeded in building a dangerous military machine, despite Egyptian efforts to prevent that," he told AFP, without giving further details. "What power could they amass if Egypt was no longer acting to prevent that build up?"

This step comes also on the backdrop of a Hamas-Fatah Palestinian reconciliation that alarmed the "Israeli" enemy too.

Soon after the Hamas-Fatah meeting on reconciliation, "Israeli" Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, denounced the draft agreement of Palestinian unity, and added that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chose peace with Hamas instead of peace with Israel".

Netanyahu said that peace with "Israel" and reconciliation with the Hamas movement cannot go hand in hand, "Israeli" daily, according to Haaretz.

Meanwhile, "Israeli" Foreign Minister Avigdor on Thursday Lieberman on his part expressed fears that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip would eventually take over the Palestinian Authority-ruled West Bank as well, using, among other things, freed Hamas activists.

The two Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas -with Egypt as their medium- agreed Wednesday to reconcile and form an interim government ahead of elections, after a four-year period of conflicts, in what both sides hailed as a chance to start a fresh page in their national history.

'Rafah crossing to be permanently open!'

"Egypt's foreign minister said in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Thursday that preparations were underway to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on a permanent basis.Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi told Al-Jazeera that within seven to 10 days, steps will be taken in order to alleviate the "blockade and suffering of the Palestinian nation."

The announcement indicates a significant change in the policy on Gaza, which before Egypt's uprising, was operated in conjunction with Israel. The opening of Rafah will allow the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza without Israeli permission or supervision, which has not been the case up until now. Israel's blockade on Gaza has been a policy used in conjunction with Egyptian police to weaken Hamas, which has ruled over the strip since 2007. The policy also aims to reduce Hamas' popularity among Gazans by creating economic hardship in the Strip. Rafah's opening would be a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and the European Union, which gives EU monitors access to the crossing...."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 4:57 PM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Sit-in at Rafah border demanding urgent opening

[ 28/04/2011 - 10:09 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian trade union association has organized a sit-in Wednesday in front of the Rafah border crossing southern Gaza Strip.

Protesters are demanding full opening of the crossing to allow the flow of humanitarian aid, commodities and needed medical supplies into the Gaza Strip.

During a press conference held outside the crossing gates, Marwan al-Hams, speaking on behalf of the association, called on the Egyptian government to open the crossing.

The Gaza Strip currently suffers a critical shortage in medicines, building materials and other necessary commodities due to the Israeli siege on the tiny enclave.

Scores of doctors, pharmacists, academics, tradesman shouted demands to immediately open the Rafah crossing holding banners demanding an end to the siege.

On Wednesday night, the Palestinian Ahrar movement released a statement calling on the Egyptian government to supply the Gaza Strip with electricity and open the Rafah crossing for natural flow of commodities and people.

”Our people's suffering worsens day after day because of the siege,” the statement says.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian