Hamas blames power crisis on Egypt in rare rift

[toomuchtime_]

GAZA - Gaza's top political leader blamed Egypt on Friday for causing a power crisis that has triggered lengthy blackouts in the Palestinian enclave, laying bare tensions between his Islamist group Hamas and Cairo.

The outages started in mid February, leaving households with just six hours of electricity a day, provoking widespread criticism within the territory of Hamas, which governs Gaza.

Looking to deflect the anger, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told supporters that Egypt controlled the flow of fuel into Gaza and suggested the authorities in Cairo should have done more to help following the downfall of former president Hosni Mubarak.

"Is it reasonable that Gaza remains without electricity a year after the revolution in Egypt?" Haniyeh said in a weekly address, accusing Cairo of trying to force Gazans to accept their energy supplies via arch foe Israel.

"Is it reasonable that Gaza remains blockaded a year after the dismissal of the tyrant (Mubarak) regime?" he said.

There was no immediate comment from Egypt.

Is it reasonable for Hamas to keep the Gaza Arab sweating in the dark with the smell of rotting food in their nostrils because Haniyeh is having a hissy fit about the fuel being delivered through Israel? It is time for these people to grow up and get their priorities straight.

 

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CAIRO, (PIC)-- The Arab Affairs Committee at the Egyptian Parliament on Thursday recommended making a legal study into the border crossings between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and how to run them in a way that allows entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people including supplying them with fuel and electricity if the Israeli occupation continues to refuse to allow humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip.

Jamal Hanafi, head of the committee, said that Egypt must continue to carry out its humanitarian role by providing aid through the Rafah crossing to the residents of the Gaza Strip.

For his part, Baha’ al-Dasouki, deputy Foreign Minister, said that the Gaza Strip is an important dimension of the Egyptian National Security and that Egypt deals with the Strip as a territory under occupation. He added that Egypt continues to put pressure on the international community to shoulder its responsibility and lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/...ZQnUoGeC9NgBAyfyYEDpgPRu4VIp0tE2iesC87d+b2GM=

 

[toomuchtime_]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- The Arab Affairs Committee at the Egyptian Parliament on Thursday recommended making a legal study into the border crossings between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and how to run them in a way that allows entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people including supplying them with fuel and electricity if the Israeli occupation continues to refuse to allow humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip.

Jamal Hanafi, head of the committee, said that Egypt must continue to carry out its humanitarian role by providing aid through the Rafah crossing to the residents of the Gaza Strip.

For his part, Baha’ al-Dasouki, deputy Foreign Minister, said that the Gaza Strip is an important dimension of the Egyptian National Security and that Egypt deals with the Strip as a territory under occupation. He added that Egypt continues to put pressure on the international community to shoulder its responsibility and lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian parliament calls for supplying Gaza with electricity and fuel

Crucial fuel supplies that feed Gaza's sole power plant were unexpectedly cut last month and Egypt has told Hamas that in future it should import its oil through legal channels – namely the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Hamas finances in Jeopardy

Officials have indicated that Egypt was angry that Hamas was smuggling in subsidized fuel intended for the Egyptian people. Haniyeh said he could not agree to shift imports via Kerem Shalom because they would be too costly and vulnerable.

Haniyeh said Egypt wanted Gazans to pay $1 a liter for fuel in future – more than what they paid for smuggled diesel. Hamas used to tax the oil that came in from the tunnels, but goods entering Gaza via Israel is taxed by its rival, the Palestinian Authority (PA), thereby jeopardizing Hamas finances.

So while there may be some desire in Egypt to help the Arabs being held hostage to Hamas' racist fantasies of defeating Israel, the fact that Hamas has been stealing subsidized fuel from the Egyptian people is unacceptable to the Egyptian government. When Haniyeh tries to play to anti Israeli feelings to protest Egypt complying with its treaty with Israel by shipping the fuel via the Kerem crossing, he is lying. Israel is obligated by the Oslo Accords to collect taxes on all imports into the disputed territories and to turn the proceeds over the the PA government in Ramallah.

Shipping the fuel through the Rafah crossing with Egypt is problematic for Egypt. First, according to its treaty with Israel, Egypt would have to first seek permission from Israel, which it would almost certainly get, but it would require direct negotiations with Israel, something the new Islamist government in Cairo has said it would never do. Second, the PA would demand that Egypt, like Israel, collect custom duties and turn them over to the Ramallah government, but Hamas would demand Egypt turn the taxes over to them. Whichever decision Egypt makes, it would de facto being saying either the PA government in Ramallah or Hamas is the legitimate authority in Gaza and badly damage its credibility and relations with the other.

The power crisis has come at a bad time for Hamas, which is struggling to overcome unprecedented internal divisions over efforts to overcome a deep rift between itself and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The reconciliation efforts have been partly brokered by Egypt and some newspaper commentators have suggested that Cairo turned off the fuel taps to put pressure on a highly hesitant Hamas to accept the proposed unity accord.

Without mentioning Egypt by name, Haniyeh appeared to give credence to the speculation. "Some parties want to continue to pressure Gaza, Hamas and the government, believing they can get concessions," he said, adding: "Neither electricity nor anything else will push Gaza people make any concession."

The more dependent Hamas becomes on Egypt, the less independent it will become in its relations with Israel. With its economy tanking and it political and social structures teetering on the edge of chaos, Egypt will not allow Hamas to drag it close to a confrontation with Israel. Judging by recent history, Egypt strongly favors the Abbas government over Hamas and strongly favors negotiations with Israel over the racist hate crimes Hamas calls resistance. As the economy of Gaza is weaned off of the tunnel economy and becomes more and more dependent on Egypt, Egypt will protect its own national priorities by imposing conditions on the government of Gaza that will favor peace and stability with Israel over Palestinian Arab national aspirations (pretensions). At the same time, the Jordanian government is taking steps to integrate the so called refugees into the Jordanian economy and population and is removing some barriers to immigration from the territories to Jordan.

The world can get used to anything if it goes on long enough. The failure of negotiations since Obama took office has made much of the world doubtful that there is any way forward towards establishing a Palestinian Arab state in the territories, and as Gaza is gradually absorbed into Egypt, Jordan continues to absorb the West Bank Arabs into its population and Israel formalizes its presence and control over Area C, the notion of a Palestinian Arab state in the territories will become an increasingly dim memory, a footnote in history books, a story told to children, a myth, a legend, vanishing into the penumbra of things that might have been.

 

[P F Tinmore]

...but goods entering Gaza via Israel is taxed by its rival, the Palestinian Authority (PA), thereby jeopardizing Hamas finances.

But the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is illegal. What a mess.

 

[toomuchtime_]

...but goods entering Gaza via Israel is taxed by its rival, the Palestinian Authority (PA), thereby jeopardizing Hamas finances.

But the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is illegal. What a mess.

Most countries in the world, including most Arab countries, would disagree with you. The PA government in Ramallah has an agreement with Israel and the Hamas government in Gaza does not, so the taxes go to Ramallah. The question is, if the fuel were to come through Rafah, would the Egyptian government support the position of the PA government in Ramallah or the Hamas government? Recent history suggests it would support Ramallah.