Posted on 02/17/2008 4:13:32 PM PST by blam
Egypt shocked by 'foul-mouthed' Gaza cousins
By Carolynne Wheeler in Cairo
Last Updated: 11:59pm GMT 16/02/2008
Like many Egyptians, Mohammed Sayeed had always harboured sympathy for his Arab brothers in neighbouring Israeli-occupied Palestine. But that sympathy was tested last month when Hamas blew open the Gaza Strip's land crossing with Egypt and Palestinians crossed the border in droves.
Palestinians cross the Rafah border into Egypt over a barrier destroyed by Palestinian militants
"It wasn't nice at all," remembers Mr Sayeed, whose restaurant near the town of al-Arish, 30 miles from the border, was overrun by Gazans demanding food and service. "They used very bad language that we didn't expect them to use. We had the impression before that they were good people going through a hard time. But this is not the way we expected them to be at all."
Basic supplies in Gaza have dwindled since June, when heavy sanctions followed Hamas's takeover. The Rafah foot crossing into Egypt was shut then, too, when its guards and foreign monitors fled amid rising violence, trapping Palestinians inside Gaza until the border fence was blown up on Jan 23 and hundreds of thousands streamed into Egypt. For four days they cleaned out shops until Egyptian forces resealed the border and built a concrete wall.
But if the Egyptian shopkeepers feel lukewarm towards their Palestinian cousins, so too does the Egyptian government. Gaza was administered from Cairo until it was captured by Israel in 1967, and while Egypt is one of only two Arab states along with Jordan that recognises Israel diplomatically, cultural ties to Gaza remain strong. However, the political relationship between the two has become more tense since the hardline Islamist group Hamas took power in 2006.
Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Tolerated in practice but officially illegal, the brotherhood faces regular crackdowns from Egyptian authorities threatened by its rising support. The relationship between the two is one that Cairo has no wish to encourage. "Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Of course if they ask our advice, we give our advice," Mohamed Habib, the number two in the brotherhood, told The Sunday Telegraph. "We believe that Hamas is keen on having good relations with Egypt, whatever mistakes happened at the border."
Mohamed Habib: brotherhood
Until June 2007, when Hamas took control, the Rafah crossing was operated by the Egyptians and the Palestinian Authority. Gaza's only method of bypassing Israel to get to the outside world has been closed ever since amid accusations from Israel and America that it would become a conduit for weapons.
Hamas control has led to severe economic sanctions against the strip, leaving stores bare and creating power cuts that have aroused sympathy in Egypt. But there are great risks for Egypt in re-opening the border and increasing its assistance to Gaza. Too much co-operation with Hamas will hand the Muslim Brotherhood more credibility. But disobeying US orders to keep the border closed would put at risk billions of dollars in aid.
Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, warned last week that "anyone who breaches the border will have their legs broken". Yet Egypt's government risks ignoring the feelings of its people.
"The people in Gaza are stuck," said Ziyad al-Tamimy, a Cairo shop owner whose Palestinian family fled to Egypt after Israel's creation in 1948. "The Israelis are behind them and they have their mother [Egypt] on the other side. It's more natural to run to your mother's side than to run to your enemy."
Well... now who would have thought?
The truth about the barbarians in Gaza sinks in.
Their illegals sound like ours.
It’s OK with Egypt if Hamas bombs innocent civilians, but foul language is beyond the pale?
Killing Jews good. Foul language crosses the line.
I doubt the government-controlled media give the average Egyptian a very good picture of what the Palestinians are all about - sort of like American liberals who get all their news about inner city problems from CNN. This is probably a great shock to average Egyptians.
My Egyptian acqaintance does not like them at all; and though he does not have a good command of English, he pointed you know, to the mind (temple) area and it was clear to me that he did not like how they thought.
I had suspicions of this fellow but I helped him get a new computer: and the guy working in the used computer store of all things! was an Israeli and the two got along real well and the seller gave him a good deal on a used computer.
So, I am rethinking about how the situation is over there. Though my friend professes to be Moslem, he has no facial hair and does not go to the Friday ceremony so with cross fingers, I think he must be okay.
Who would have thought!
Where are the U.N. resolutions condemning Egypt?
They have the sea.
LOL! One of the Best!
Egypt knew long ago all about Gaza and the animals that live there.
Up until 1967 Gaza was a part of Egypt when it fell under Israeli occupation when the Israelis took the entire Sinai penninsula from the Egyptians.
When the return of the Sinai to Egypt was negotiated at Camp David by Carter the Egyptians refused to take Gaza back from the Israelis.
Israel didn’t want it either but the US president and State Department basically forded Israel to agree to keep it.
By rights the fence between Gaza and Egypt should come down and Israel should wipe their hands of these muslim throwbacks.
Some Egyptian store owner near the border summed it up perfectly after the gazaians had spent a week around there. “I have never seen soo much garbage left in the streets in all my life.”
Ha ha ha ha.................brother.......go back home and don’t bother me.......
Sort of like Obama voters now learning the hard way that we were right about the Clintons all along. Now if they could just take it a step further and consider that we might also be right about Obama...
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