 RAFAH, Egypt - Supplies began running out in Egyptian border towns Saturday after a four-day rush by hundreds of thousands of Gazans across the breached frontier, sparking fistfights and sky-rocketing prices.
With the flow of goods and people continuing unabated despite a half-hearted attempt by Egyptian security forces to restore order on Friday, local governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid vowed to help the Palestinians to buy what they needed. ‘Palestinians will continue to cross until they get all their needs of commodities and foodstuffs’ in response to an Israeli lockdown on the impoverished territory, he said.
| Excellent! Make the border opening pemanent. Better yet, let the Paleos move into the Sinai permanently. The Republic of Northern Sinai, a 20 km strip of sand from Rafah to the Suez, now that has a ring to it ... |
Abdel-Hamid said he was coordinating with the social solidarity and industry ministries ‘to secure large amounts of commodities and products to meet the needs of the Palestinians in the country’ because many shops had run out.
Fighting erupted at a petrol station on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah as stocks ran out, and one petrol attendant was hospitalised after a brawl with Palestinians and Egyptians desperate for fuel. The petrol station owner refused to sell any more fuel, one of the most popular commodities to take back into the Gaza Strip, until security forces arrived calm the situation. Many of the cars waiting to fill up with petrol, now double the cost of three days ago when militants blew up the border fence, had Palestinian licence plates.
| Let's see, a little Econ 101 here, more money chasing fewer goods ... |
Despite the governor’s claims to be sending fresh supplies, retired Egyptian army officer Samir Mohammed Hassan said the authorities were blocking trucks. ‘We Egyptians in El-Arish cannot find anything any more because the Egyptian authorities have apparently given the order to stop all merchandise from getting through,’ said Hassan. ‘We’re not unhappy that they’re here, quite the opposite. But we also want to live and buy things at a normal price because the shopkeepers make no difference between Egyptians and Palestinians and sell their products at inflated prices.’
| "We like our Arab cousins! We just wish they'd go home. Today." |
Building materials supplier Mohammed Al Sutari complained that the cost of cement had skyrocketed from 220 Egyptian pounds a tonne (36 dollars) to 300 dollars-adding that the same product can be sold in Gaza for 500 dollars. ‘The taxi that we took before from Rafah to El-Arish (45 kilometres, 30 miles away) used to cost three pounds and now it’s 150,’ he said. ‘We are stuck between the Israeli blockade at home and overblown prices in Egypt. ‘Where are the Arab countries that should have sent food aid immediately as soon as they heard the border was open?’
| They're letting you Egyptians be the suckers this time ... |
Hanan Abu Zeid has spent 500 dollars in two days ‘only on staples, which will barely last a month,’ she said, adding that a used sheep that cost 100 dollars on Wednesday now costs 250.
Egyptian shopkeeper Sahar said that wholesalers in Ismailiya, 225 kilometres (140 miles) away, have raised the prices, not traders in Rafah. A box of potato crisps that cost 20 Egyptian pounds on Thursday now costs 30.
Palestinians said that prices in Gaza itself were now almost back to normal, with a carton of cigarettes down from a high of 42 shekels during the Israeli lockdown now costing 10 shekels-the same as before Hamas took over in June. ‘The shops here aren’t helping us. Lots of them are exploiting us. Cheese that I bought for 50 Egyptian pounds a kilo on the first day (Wednesday) now costs 70,’ said Nahla Abdel Aal, a 43-year-old mother of nine. ‘The prices are nearly the same as in Gaza.’
| Try the Kroger in Mauritania ... |
|