About That Fence
Egyptians retreat, as Pals bulldoze more holes. Beeb:
Egyptian security forces have pulled back from the border with Gaza after an apparent failure to reseal it.
Palestinians seemed to be still crossing freely in and out of Egypt for a third consecutive day, to stock up on supplies in defiance of a blockade.A bulldozer made fresh holes in the border earlier, after Egyptian troops managed to seal earlier breaches.
Meanwhile Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered to host talks between rival Palestinian groups in Cairo.
Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, accepted the offer, and its leader, Khaled Meshaal, told Reuters news agency his group would seek to make the dialogue a success.
But Fatah spokesman Nabil Shaath told the Associated Press no decision had been taken on the invitation.
…
The UN has estimated that as much as half of Gaza’s 1.5 million population has crossed the border in defiance of Israel’s blockade, which was recently tightened leading to acute shortages.
Israel imposed the embargo after a sharp rise in rocket attacks from Gaza on its southern towns.
The new breach came hours after Egyptian security forces had begun to stop Palestinians from entering their country while at the same time allowing people back into Gaza.
A large yellow bulldozer was driven to the border from the Gaza side, ploughing headlong into the border fence.
The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool at the border says Egypt’s attempt to seal it is being seen as a minor interruption by Palestinians in search of supplies.
Well, that’s starting to look like it was a bad idea. Times of London:
Under siege and facing an increasingly restive population chafing at food and fuel shortages caused by an Israeli blockade, Hamas pulled off a brilliant propaganda move this week when it brought down the hated wall on the Egyptian border.
“Hamas should all move to Madison Avenue and ply their trade there,” said Arieh Mekel, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, grudgingly comparing the Islamists to the cream of New York’s PR industry. Other Israeli officials said that with the toppling of the wall Gaza had become Cairo’s headache. The move would finally complete Israel’s disengagement from what it has branded a “hostile entity”.
Egypt was struggling to reseal the border yesterday, turning water cannon on thousands of Palestinians crossing the frontier to buy supplies. When they fired in the air at stone-throwing youths, they got a taste of Gazan fury — armed Hamas fighters rushed in and the police retreated. To reinforce the point that they were in charge, Hamas brought in a bulldozer and ploughed another hole in the broken wall. “Until we have normal crossings we’ll not allow them to close the passages,” said one of the militants.
Looks like the PR geniuses are testing a new market. But it’s more like a phishing scam. Egypt clicked.
Topics: Palestinians
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:47 pm on Friday, January 25, 2008
3 Responses to “About That Fence”
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January 26th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!!!
January 26th, 2008 at 12:10 am
BTW, that’s a bucket loader in the Beeb photo, not a bulldozer. But it is a Caterpillar. St. Rachel of the Pancake must be spinning in her grave, finding out that the Palis are using Caterpillar equipment.
Still, think of the advertising angles for Caterpillar: “Our equipment is MULTI-LATERAL! Everyone uses it.”
January 30th, 2008 at 12:52 am
And Lo!
A plague greater than any that had come before was loosed upon Egypt, and that land did not escape as did the the Hasehmites that black september week, but didst go the way of the Land of the Cedar — swallowed up by ululating hordes –and chaos did reign…