According to Ha’aretz and the BBC, Egypt will permanently open the Rafah crossing into Gaza The Rafah crossing will be opened permanently from 0900 to 2100 every day except Fridays and holidays, beginning Saturday 28 May: the crossing will be opened permanently from 0900 to 2100 every day except Fridays and holidays, beginning Saturday 28 May.
If that is true, this is wonderful and long-awaited news!!
Brick by brick, the racist abomination of the “Jewish state of Israel” is being dismantled. There remains much to still be done, but punching a hole through the blockade of Gaza was always a top priority and a first step towards bringing down the “Apartheid wall” in the rest of Palestine.
I don’t believe for one second that this decision has been taken thanks to the deep humanism of the military caretaker junta running the Egyptian state. I therefore can only put the credit there where I believe it is due: to the pressure of the Egyptian people themselves.
We all – not just the Palestinians of Gaza – owe them an immense debt of gratitude!
It is not that simple, the minds of KSA,USA,Israel,Zionist will not give in that simply. There is a catch in this. I think Israel is bankrupt like the USA and the border will be monitored with the £1billion promised by Obama recently. What do other readers think?
I fear the Israelis will simply invade Gazan/Egyptian territory and close the border again. They will claim that weapons are being smuggled in and the Egyptians are doing nothing about it.
Saker, the blockade of Gaza was one of the most infuriating things for the public. IMHO, If Mubarak’s corruption and disgusting fawning of the west had drawn a line at Gaza, he would probably still be president of Egypt, instead of president of his prison cell.
@Robert. What you say is possible, but I don’t think its something the Israelis would do lightly because,
1) They would have to reoccupy Gaza, which would subject them to a costly guerrilla war and it would defeat the purpose of their original withdrawal: Which was to pretend that the Gaza Palestinians were not part of Israel’s demographic problem.
2) It would also negate their strategy of trying to divide Gaza from the WB.
They are unlikely to attack Egypt and violate Camp David, giving Egypt an excuse to ‘modify’ the treaty.
“simply” in the new Middle East is less simple than you think, Robert. “Simply” would have tremendous repercussions in Egypt and elsewhere.
ok, so it was too good to be true:
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/454190
…”the long-awaited change, which excludes the flow of goods, people under the age of 18 or older than 40 require only a visa to pass, but those between 18 and 40 still need security clearance.”