By Osamah Khalil
AL-ARISH, EGYPT—It is 4:30 a.m. and al-Arish’s souq is alive and packed with people. When asked where they are from, the inevitable reply with a broad grin is, “I am from Palestine!” This sleepy Egyptian resort town nestled in the middle of the northern Sinai coast has been virtually transformed over the past 48 hours by a massive influx of Palestinians from Gaza. Palestinians from across Gaza crowd the souq’s coffee houses and sandwich shops. An even greater number simply hang out, walking the city streets, talking, joking and smoking cigarettes, clearly enjoying the different scenery and “smelling new air.”
Since the towering metal and concrete border wall that Israel began to erect in 2003 was demolished by Hamas early on the morning of Jan. 23, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have crossed the border with Egypt daily. Traveling by foot, car, truck and donkey cart it is an unbelievable — almost indescribable — movement of people. The highway is jammed with packed taxis and pick-up trucks whose beds are filled beyond capacity and racing from Egyptian Rafah to al-Arish. Some journalists have called it a huge “jail break,” and while the prison analogy is apt, it does not accurately describe the horrors and humiliation suffered by Gazans during 40 years of occupation and more than 18 months of sanctions and siege. Perhaps the best description of how Gazans feel is a deep exhale of relief and some joy — both rare commodities here.
Gaza’s economy has been devastated by a combination of sanctions since Hamas was elected in January 2006 and the siege that was imposed by Israel after the Hamas militia defeated Fatah forces in June 2007. In the first 24 hours after the wall fell, Palestinians rushed to buy essential supplies, everything from gas to flour. Items barred from entering Gaza during the siege were also among the first items purchased, including concrete, the lack of which has brought construction in the territory to a halt.
Although the wall has come down, the siege continues. Rafah, which receives some power supplies from Egypt, still has daily blackouts of eight hours a day. Northern and middle Gaza, including Gaza City, which rely on Israel for the vast majority of their power needs, have less than eight hours of electricity a day. Israel’s resumption of fuel supplies ensures that only the most basic needs will be met, in particular that of the health sector, to avoid adverse media attention.
Walking the length of the now partially demolished Rafah wall, one is struck by two contrasting and competing realities. On the one side lies the sliced and twisted remnant of Israel’s siege policy backed and underwritten by Washington, a clear demonstration that a people can only be suppressed and oppressed for so long. On the other side is the human cost, the more than 3,000 houses demolished by Israel in order to build the wall. The remnants of those houses remain, creating a vast moonscape of blasted concrete and sand, roughly a kilometer wide and several kilometers long. Fida Qishta, a teacher and blogger from Rafah, points out where her house once stood, as well as those of other relatives. Beyond the sea of demolished houses are those still inhabited but riddled with bullet and shell holes from the past eight years. Her young cousin Walaa explains, “this is our life,” and it sums up both realties.
Whether the destruction of the Rafah wall will change the reality of life in Gaza remains to be seen. The days since Jan. 23 have also demonstrated that there is more to the destruction of the Rafah wall than the simple Hamas-Fatah dichotomy or the inane commentary about its impact on the “peace process.” Hamas could destroy the wall, but unless Palestinians were willing to cross the border and face the threat of Egyptian security forces it would have been a futile gesture. That Palestinians went over that line again and again illustrates the powerful urge for freedom from oppression and occupation. More importantly, it demonstrates what Palestinians can do when they act as a collective body.
The destruction of the Rafah wall was quite simply a victory of, and for, the Palestinian people. One can only hope that this time will be the first wall of many to fall in Palestine.
Comments
There would be no need for a wall, closure or anything else..especially the self-inflicted "siege" if the palestinians did one thing! Stop their hate and violence...not one day has passed since Israel left Gaza hat they have not fired rockets and morters into Israel, not one day that the Palestinias and their elected Hamas goverment has not publiclly declared its enduring goal of murdering all Jews everywhere and destroying all of Israel. You call yourself indepent and progressive, yet you align yourself not with those who love life and offer peace freely, but with those who seeking nothing but death and hatred of all whom they do not dominate. Wake up from your own blindness and hatred.
Realindy, you really need to read up on the reality of the situation. There's one word you clearly are ignoring and that is "occupation". There would be no need for a wall if Israel were not illegaly occupying Palestine. Also, you talk about how Palestinians in Gaza "fire rockets and morters into Israel" while Israel fires a significantly larger number of American-supplied rockets into Gaza on a daily basis. I'm not attempting to justify the violence caused by Palestinians towards Israel, I'm simply clarifying the facts of the conflict. Do a little research and open your eyes!
What do you think of this samsonblinded.org/blog/israel-cannot-blockade-gaza.htm ? Shoher is arguably the most right Israeli today, but he argues Israel should talk to Hamas as Egypt will not maintain the blockade of Gaza.
What occupation? What illegal? Oh you mean the illegal occupation of Israel, including Judea, Samaria and Gaza (the names for the region until 60 years ago, as regions within Palestine..a term applied to the region by the Romans when they conquered Israel) by arab immigrants? By all rational, objective, analysis of history and international law, Israeli claims are both entirely legal and overwhelmingly stronger.
Israel left Gaza not under any obligation to do so. It turned over massive greenhouses, offered to maintain trade, continued to supply power, water, fuel. It made only one request, that the palestinans pursue peace. It took the promises of the PA, EU and Egypt to maintian the peace and border and prevent massive inflow of terrorists and weapons. None of this happended, only the daily non-stop rain of rockets into Israel...whcih is tolerated in the vain hope of making peace with murderers.
Israel offered the Arafat and his PA 98% of Judea/Samaria and part of Jerusulem to make peace. In return they got the intifada and a massive onslaught of murder bombings. These were not resistance (unless you mean bombs at weddings, family homes, schools...) Since the wall has been mostly finished, bombings ended..entirely. The murder bombing in Dimona (killed a 73 year old women) was the immediate use by Hamas of they break of the EGYPTIAN controlled Rafa crossing.
In any event, Palestinians do the most damage ot themselves with their adoption of a death cult based resistance. Since they accepted the rule of PLO/Hamas, they have destroyed their economy (before the PLO "intifada" hundreds of thoudands of palestinans and Israelis cross the border daily to work, visit and do business. Their standard of living etc wss among the highest in the Mideast. Now they are a sorry lot living on handouts and busy killing each other, and teaching children to be murderers (not warriors, just plain cold killers). Truely the worse thing Israel and the US have ever done (the only real wrong) to the Palestian people was allowing PLO/Hamas into the their lives... Were it not for that, they almost certainly would have developed a political culture focused on peace and would fully control the land they live in by now. For now they are the slave puppets of the corrupt and murderous Hamas, PLO, Iran, and other Arab countires that care not for them but only of the distraction, and gladitorial entertainment they provide.
The door of peace is still open, the palestinians need only do one thing: decide they rather live and let live in peace with their neighbors. If their actions speak truth (stop terrorism, stop the constant celebration and teaching of murder and hatred in every venue), they will gain infintely far more than they will be realization of the Hamas dream of mudering every Jew and infidel.
Maybe you should do a bit of real research into history. (I know you will say below are biased...etc, save it)
..Max Diamont's God, Jews and History (avalible from Amazon.com)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
Memri.org
Camera.org
PMW.org.il
www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
masada2000.org/historical.html
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