Let's Talk About The "Other" Gaza Blockade

As we would expect, the media and the "human rights activists" focus on the restrictions Israel has imposed on Gaza--while ignoring the fact that Egypt does the same thing.

Frida Ghitis, of World Politics Review, attempts to address this imbalance:

The Egyptian government finds itself in a most uncomfortable position. The blockade of Gaza is usually described as an Israeli operation. In reality, both Israel and Egypt have declared that the territory is under a naval blockade. Similarly, land crossings into Gaza are severely restricted by both governments. As an Arab country, Egypt finds it extremely awkward to act as a full participant in the embargo of Gaza, which is widely reviled throughout the Arab world. But Cairo nevertheless finds it necessary to endure the discomfort.

Israel says it restricts what products go into Gaza as a way to prevent the construction and firing of rockets, which Hamas has launched for years at Israeli towns. As for Egypt, critics may charge that Cairo is helping Israel with its dirty work. But the fact is that Egypt is acting in its perceived self-interest, protecting itself from what it sees as the potential threat from Hamas and its allies -- including Iran.

The interaction between the Egyptian government and Hamas is a stiff-armed dance that threatens to break into a fist fight at any time. The two pretend they can pleasantly move together, but occasionally they step on each other's toes, sometimes on purpose. In fact, they would like nothing better than to strangle one another.

The fact of the matter is that Hamas is directly antithetical to Egypt's own interests. It is true that Egypt has accused Israel of trying to saddle it with the responsibility for Gaza--

But seeing Gaza in the hands of Hamas is just about the last thing Cairo wanted. Hamas is an outgrowth of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that seeks to bring strict Islamic rule to Muslim lands. Its motto declares, "God is our purpose, the Prophet our leader, the Quran our constitution, Jihad our way and dying for God's cause our supreme objective." To achieve that vision they would have to rid Egypt of its current government and political system.

The links between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are well-established. Egyptian intelligence reportedly believes that Hamas and the Brotherhood leadership maintain close contacts in Damascus, Syria and Gaza. The government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak fears that a strong Hamas in Gaza could aid the Brothers in Egypt, or become a base for planning and launching operations across the border.

Egypt also worries about Hamas' ties with Iran, Egypt's traditional Shiite rival and the source of much concern through the Arab world. Just last year, when Egyptian forces discovered a cell from Iran-backed Hezbollah operating in the Sinai, Cairo and Tehran fulminated against each other. Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Abu Gheit told the daily Asharq al-Awsat, "Iran, and Iran's followers, want Egypt to become a maid of honor for the crowned Iranian queen when she enters the Middle East," suggesting that Iran, through Hezbollah, was plotting a takeover of Egypt.

So the charade continues between Egypt and Hamas that attempts to give the impression of civility if not friendliness--a mask that has on occasion slipped now and then.

Much of this is ignored by the media, which seems to overlook the basic fact with which Ghitis concludes her article:

Egypt has within its power to break the blockade of Gaza and to open the Raffah border crossing into the strip, allowing every product that Israel currently bans to enter. That might make it a hero to the proverbial Arab Street. The very fact that Cairo instead chooses to suffer the public opprobrium from its participation in the sanctions shows just how seriously it views the threat from Hamas, Iran, and other Islamist organizations. And the politics that dominate the small border between Gaza and Egypt is a mirror of the deep divisions, fears, and dangers lurking in the Middle East.

Read the whole thing.

And one might note that creating a second Palestinian state--even if it were to include Gaza as well as the West Bank--will do nothing to assuage those fears.

Technorati Tag: Egypt and Gaza.