Egypt Tries to Plug Border; Gazans Poke New Hole

[Gunny]

By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: January 26, 2008
GAZA — Egypt tried to restore its border with Gaza on Friday, stationing riot police officers in an effort to block Palestinians from entering. But Palestinians used a bulldozer to knock down another portion of the wall separating Egypt and Gaza.

The Egyptians announced on loudspeakers that the border would be closed at various times of the day on Friday, but allowed Palestinians who were inside Egypt to return to Gaza laden with goods, even as cranes lifted pallets of supplies over another part of the border barricade. The barrier on the Egyptian side is a low concrete wall topped with barbed wire.

There were small clashes throughout the day, with short episodes of rock-throwing. Egyptians fired guns into the air and aimed water cannons above the heads of the those in the crowd to keep them back. The new breaches in the wall were large enough for cars and trucks to drive through, and some Egyptian guards then retreated.

Egypt is under pressure from Israel and the United States to restore the international border and regulate it, but does not want to use excessive force against the Gazans, whom the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, has insisted are starving under the pressure of Israeli restrictions on imports and travel.

But often in the past, Egypt has used force, including water cannons and automatic-rifle fire, against Palestinians who have breached the border, and the government will be calculating when its effort to respond generously to a crisis veers into instability or chaos. Nor does Egypt want responsibility for serving the population of Gaza, removing the burden from Israel.

Hamas is trying to push Egypt into an agreement to regulate the border without having it sealed, as it had been from the time Hamas took over Gaza in early June. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said, “The gaps shouldn’t be closed because they provide urgent assistance to the Palestinians.”

more ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/w...90a192ed1d84b1&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

What Egypt and Israel need to do is take out Hamas and quite screwing around with their dumb asses.

 

[jillian]

What Egypt and Israel need to do is take out Hamas and quite screwing around with their dumb asses.

Far more interesting to me is that I didn't even know that Egypt had put up a wall. Funny how the anti-Israel contingent has been yelling about Israel protecting itself from terrorists for years. But nary a sniff about Egypt. The double standard is really sad.

But don't worry, they're not anti-semitic. Right?

 

[Gunny]

Far more interesting to me is that I didn't even know that Egypt had put up a wall. Funny how the anti-Israel contingent has been yelling about Israel protecting itself from terrorists for years. But nary a sniff about Egypt. The double standard is really sad.

But don't worry, they're not anti-semitic. Right?

Well, look what the Palestinians have done for Lebanon.