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| Africa North | ||
| Many Egyptians want to steer clear of Gaza trouble | ||
| 2009-01-02 | ||
| CAIRO - Ezzat Abdel-Rahman says Palestinians are suffering “great injustice” at the hands of Israel but they should have followed Egypt’s lead and long ago made peace with the Jewish state. He also says Egypt should not open its border with Gaza to let Palestinians flee the six-day Israeli assault, as demanded by Hamas militants and many Arabs. “This could get Egypt into trouble with Israel,” said the 42-year-old, who runs a shop selling shoes in central Cairo. “Israel could accuse Egypt of smuggling weapons into Gaza and dump the problems of Gaza on Egypt.”
“Hamas is acting against the Palestinians,” said Mohamed Kamal, also a central Cairo shopkeeper, and one of a dozen Cairo residents interviewed by Reuters this week. “There is no reason for firing rockets. What are they hitting anyway?” he said. Others said Hamas was acting with Iran and Syria, its main two supporters, to undermine Egypt and drag it into a conflict with Israel. Egypt, the most populous Arab country and once seen as the bastion of Arab nationalism, fought four wars with Israel between 1948 and 1973. In 1979, it became the first Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state. Hani el-Husseini, a veteran politician with the leftist Tagammu opposition party, said the Egyptian intelligentsia, many of whom favour tough measures such as breaking ties with Israel, are divorced from the reality of public priorities. “The popular interest in regional issues has waned because people have surrendered to the notion that no Arab power can change the situation (with Israel),” he said. The popular position is leaning toward peace, he said, despite the general hatred of Israel. The Egyptian government says that if it left the border with Gaza wide open Israel would wash its hands of responsibility for ensuring Gazans receive enough supplies to keep them alive. Officials also say the probable influx of Gazans would pose a security risk because militants could sneak in among them.
The other camp says that only civilians pay the price for what they call useless military adventures. The split was on display between two friends at a coffee shop in the centre of Cairo this week. “We have reached a stage when (Israel) is slapping us on the back of our neck,” said 33-year-old Mohamed Abdallah. He, praised Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for calling on Egyptians to rise and support Gaza. “He is a man of principle.” “No, he is not,” said his friend Mohamed Latif, an Egyptian working in the United Arab Emirates. “Our government is right.” | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 WAFF.com > Egypt has reportedly begun arresting Army + other mil Officers whom disagree wid Cairo's policies vee GAZA + PALESTINIANS??? Also on WAFF > NASRALLAH URGES EGYPTIAN OFFICERS TO REBEL AGZ THE REGIME'S POLICIES, ALSO CALLS FOR DEMONSTARTIONS IN ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLDS TO PRESSURE GOVERNMENTS. Nasrey insists, however, that he is NOT calling for nor suppor a de fact ARMY/MIL-LED, ETC. STREET COUP AGZ CAIRO = MUBARAK GOVT.??? Well there ya go.... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-01-02 23:18 |