In the most graceful move in years, Egypt opened its borders yesterday with the Gaza Strip permanently. Not only that, authorities said they would open the border 6 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and that men under the age of 18 and above 40 and females won’t be required to have a visa, but men aged between 18 and 40 will require a permit.
This crowning moment comes some three months after former president Mubarak was ousted in Egypt’s blessed Jan. 25 revolution. The people of Gaza have praised this move and seen it as an end to their suffering and a beginning of a new prosperous stage, after 4 years of severe closure of the border at the shameful behest of Mubarak’s despotic regime.
Musbah Mesleh, 39, an employer at a private sector organization in Gaza, sees the opening of the border as a significant step towards ending the horrible conditions of Gazans.
“My mother now can cross freely into Egypt for medical treatment without having to wait for a long time at the crossing, and it happened that she was turned away more than once,” said Mesleh.
For most Gazans, the sweeping Arab revolution across the Middle East is a new positive leap in the future of the region at all levels.
Young Palestinian Hamza Abu Asi, 27, is very optimistic about the revolution in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, and he hopes it will change the bitter reality of all Arabs revolting against their tyrannical regimes.
“I feel victorious at the Arab revolution especially that of Egypt, and here I would like to express my deep thankfulness to our brothers and sisters in Egypt. We knew they would never fail us, and that it was all Mubarak’s fault. But now the situation will never be the same,” said Abu Asi.
Since Egypt is a major player in the Middle East, the Palestinians of Gaza are pretty confident the new Egyptian leadership will be genuine and have good politics, and will not allow a new plight in Gaza, especially as we finally see tangible signs of Egyptian challenge to Israeli occupation policies and disregard to their anger and strong condemnation of the opening of the border.
Furthermore, with elections looming in Egypt, the new government is expected to bring about a new chapter in the lives of Palestinians living in Gaza, especially amidst real efforts—strongly opposed by Israel too–to bring both Hamas and Fatah back to good terms—a move that will definitely stabilize the internal situation and ultimately result in one truly Palestinian national government.
All these developments come as fruit that the Egyptian revolution tree bore, after they had proved their strong will and brought down their dictatorial regime, which had long collaborated with Israel against Gaza’s people.
The new situation suggests that there may be virtual changes in the political dynamics in terms of Israeli-Arab relations in the region. Israel will no longer have the upper hand in determining the destiny of more than 1.5 million people living in the coastal enclave. And this in itself is quite a victory. All international human rights organizations constantly considered the blockade a flagrant violation of human rights of a civilian population, but they didn’t do anything concrete to stop it. However, today, look at what people can do when they refuse injustice and dictatorship.
It’s overtly clear that Israel is now concerned about the wildfire-like revolution in the region, and above all, how the feat in Egypt will affect its future, especially amidst broader growing Arab awakening and gradual shift of international support from under its feet, due to its continued genocidal policies and human rights violations.
Speaking of the revolution, at the beginning of the revolution in Egypt, I remember US president Barak Obama didn’t comment on what was going on in Egypt despite the fact that Egypt was then one of America’s strongest allies. But when he was sure the revolution would inevitably win, he immediately came out and urged Mubarak to step down and heed the demands of his people. And now at AIPAC, Netanyahu praised young people rising up for democracy in the Middle East. They are predictable this way, in that both of them seem to be following the same stupid, hubristic logic, which we have become well aware of, and more than ever.
