in occupied East Jerusalem
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
has vehemently rejected Hamas demands
that only Palestinian and Egyptian authorities
be allowed to run the Rafah border crossing.
“We will not accept any new conditions; they
(Hamas) have to go back to the old border-
crossing agreement. We are more interested
in the Palestinian people’s interests than
Hamas is. If Hamas is really for them as
well, let them comply with this agreement.”
Well, does Abbas really know what he is
talking about? Indeed, as the Arab proverb
goes, if he knows, it is a real calamity,
and if he doesn’t, it is even a greater
calamity.”
I am saying this because the old
agreement governing operations at the
Rafah Border-Crossing enables Israel,
the country that has been trying to
decimate 1.5 million Gazans by way of
starving them, to have the final say as to
when the border terminal may be opened
and when it will be closed.
We all remember how thousands of Palestinians,
including students, patients, pilgrims and other
travelers, were left stranded on the Egyptian side
of the border for weeks and months because an
Israeli officer on the Israeli side of the border
decided to keep these helpless victims hostage
to his whims and cannibalistic instincts.
In fact, this wicked sadism, which Mr. Abbas
is defending doggedly now, was responsible for
the death of dozens of Palestinians who were
left stranded in the desert, as if they were
animals, not human beings. Go back to relevant
reports describing the plight of stranded
Gazans and you will understand what I
am talking about.
How did Israel manage to keep the border-
crossing closed most of the days of the year?
Well, it was very simple. According to the
“wonderful” agreement Abbas is now demanding
that Hamas accept unconditionally, the
Rafah border terminal can’t be operational
unless in the presence of EU monitors.
But the monitors themselves, who hail
from several EU countries and some of
them may well be working for the Israeli
Intelligence, are based in the small
Israeli kibbutz of Kerem Shalom, a few
miles away from the border terminal.
And according to the infamous agreement,
they can’t have a free access to the border
terminal unless they receive beforehand a
daily permit from the Israeli army.
For its part, the Israeli army, acting on
instructions from the government, would
simply and routinely declare the only road
from Kerem Shalom to the Rafah border
terminal a close military zone in order to
keep the border-crossing closed. Of course,
the army would concoct “security reasons”
to justify the virtually perpetual closure,
but everyone , including the Israelis
themselves, know quite well that genuine
security considerations have very little to
do with the Israeli measures and that the
real motive is to punish and torment the
Palestinians.
As mentioned, this flagrant abuse of authority
was not done one day or two days or even ten
days per month. This was the norm, the
modus operandi, and the border crossing
was kept closed 26 or even 29 days per month,
causing tremendous suffering to the Palestinians.
It was a deliberate and calculated process
intended to torment, savage, brutalize and
humiliate the people of Gaza, and it was all
done under the rubric of an “international
agreement.”
The EU leadership and member-states knew
well what was going on at Kerem Shalom. But
they were too morally dishonest and too
subservient to Israel and the United States
to show any meaningful objection to Israel’s
systematic persecution of a helpless people
whose men, women and children are clinging
to life just as many of the Jewish inmates at
Ghetto Warsaw did nearly 67 years ago.
So, I would like to ask Abbas and his aides
and hangers-on who talk too much and make
so much noise, claiming to serve the vital
interests of the Palestinian people:
How do you think that re-allowing Israel to
control the Rafah border- crossing would
serve the interests of the Palestinian people?
Are you drunk? Are you stupid? Are blind?
Are you ignorant?
Besides, why do you think that Israel should
be involved in running the Rafah border-
crossing in the first place? Isn’t the border
crossing an exclusively Egyptian-Palestinian
crossing? Didn’t Israel declare that it
ended its occupation of the Gaza Strip?
Has not the Zionist regime been saying ad
nauseam that it is no longer responsible for
Gaza? If so, why do you insist that the slave
master remain the ultimate decision-maker,
the ultimate boss? This is sickening, to say
the least and it shows a kind of umbilical
subservience on your part to the
nefarious occupiers.
I realize that there are problems between
Fatah and Hamas. However, betraying
the Palestinian people and undermining
their vital interests for the purpose of
weakening Hamas and appeasing Israel
and pleasing Washington borders on
treason, pure and simple.
What else can be said of and about
clinging to an unconscionable agreement
that allows the evil occupiers to imprison,
torment and humiliate us with impunity…
because the “agreement” says so.
Well, the agreement may go to hell along
with those who signed it.
In short, Hamas is right a hundred per cent.
The Rafah border crossing must be jointly
run exclusively by the Palestinian and
Egyptian authorities. And the Ramallah
regime may, if it wants, take part in
managing the border terminal, as part
of an overall reconciliation process
between Gaza and Ramallah.
However, brining Israel into the picture
is unacceptable. The people of Gaza
have suffered more than enough at the
hands of Israel. Their murderer and
tormentor must never be allowed
to be jailer as well.
Is Abbas going to understand this? I doubt it.
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