CAIRO: The government’s decision to keep the Rafah border crossing open indefinitely after the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla brought the issue of the Gaza blockade to the fore is an attempt to polish the regime’s image, observers say.
Egypt has long been criticized for its role in the three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip with its decision to open the Rafah crossing only intermittently, especially as it is a decision many Egyptians are opposed to.
“They opened it to save face,” North Sinai Tagammu party member Khalil Jabr Sawarkeh told Daily News Egypt, “and along with the EU, they trying to lift the pressure somewhat off Israel.”
A deadly IDF raid on an aid flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza and attempting to break the siege led to the death of nine people last week. All those killed were Turkish citizens and that has caused a severe deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations.
Israel has come under severe criticism for the raid with calls for an independent investigation into events that lead to the deaths. Additionally, focus has been turned on the siege of the Gaza Strip which Israel — and by extension Egypt — enforced when Hamas took over the enclave in 2007 from rivals Fatah.
Muslim Brotherhood MP Hussein Ibrahim told Daily News Egypt, “There are demands by the Egyptian people … to keep the crossing open at all times for Palestinians and for supplies. Tying the Palestinian reconciliation to the opening of Rafah is not an answer; there are 1.5 million people in there who need urgent assistance.”
Egypt announced in the wake of the attack on the flotilla that the Rafah border crossing would be opened indefinitely for humanitarian cases as well as humanitarian aid. The crossing was opened June 1 and has remained open since.
North Sinai journalist Mustapha Singer told Daily News Egypt, “Definitely it is a decision fuelled by trying to gain popularity on the government’s part after the attack on the freedom flotilla, especially in light of the popularity Turkey is gaining due to the stances it is taking.”
However, international relations expert from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Emad Gad believed that the opening was more an attempt to stem any criticism of Egypt’s closure of the border with Gaza, rather than an attempt to polish the regime’s image.
“It was an attempt to preempt any criticism of the regime for its perceived role in the siege,” he told Daily News Egypt, “Now that the crossing is opened, there is no criticism of Egypt. So it wasn’t a PR move as much as it was an attempt to preempt criticism.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said that Egypt was discussing with the EU ways to lift the siege on Gaza. One of the ideas proposed by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is aid ships travelling from Europe to Gaza under European supervision.
“Egypt along with Turkey, the EU and the UN are holding discussions aiming to create a new apparatus for the blockade,” Sawarkeh said, “and it’s thought the Rafah crossing will remain open until another solution is found for the blockade.”
Gad said, “The Rafah crossing is mainly a people’s crossing, not a huge amount of supplies can go through. Humanitarian aid can be transported through it but that is not a long-term solution.”
“Therefore,” Gad added, “a new apparatus is needed involving the EU and the return of the Palestinian Authority at least at the borders. So Hamas needs to at least give up control of the crossings, even if it remains in power within Gaza.”
However, Ibrahim said that Rafah was the crossing that should be used, saying “The other crossings earmarked for supplies — Karem Abu Salem and Al-Oja —are under Israeli control and to allow the Israeli side control of the aid means there are no guarantees they would be allowed into Gaza.”
Zaki had said that the Egyptian position was for the siege to be lifted, and for this to happen it was necessary that the Palestinian Authority returned to Gaza so that the Israeli crossings could be reopened.
For now, the Rafah crossing is opened for specific cases and Palestinians crossing through can only do so if they can prove the urgency of their cases.
“There are stringent conditions on who can pass through, its not a normal crossing … Patients, students and stranded Gazans are the only ones permitted passage,” Sawarkeh said.
Though medical aid is sometimes transported through the Rafah crossing, aid in the way of foodstuffs is usually transported via the Karem Abu Salem crossing further south, which is under Israeli jurisdiction on the other side of the border.
Singer said, “The decision is to keep the crossing open until further notice. It is open to specific cases and humanitarian aid. Egypt said it was a reaction to the flotilla. However, it is a popular demand from a long time. We hope for a complete opening and not the partial one currently in place.”
Coordination between Hamas and Egyptian authorities at the crossing is taking place to allow the Gazans who applied to cross through.
“For this phase, keeping the crossing open for now is a good step. But if it is only to absorb people’s anger about the flotilla then it would not be in Egypt’s long-term strategic interests,” Sawarkeh said.
