The asphyxiation of the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip continues from both the Israeli government and Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah-controlled West Bank. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has asked the Fatah and Hamas to sit around a table in Egypt, Fatah refused while Hamas agreed... I wonder whether that's because the West Bank has been drip-fed by the big-power US-leaning European governments, and maybe because you can't get proper salaries or fresh food and drink in Gaza. But you can be gunned down, your house bulldozed with your family inside, or just your city block taken out by a missile or two.
Egypt has reached out to an unlikely operation by Hamas, partly planned and partly out of desperation it seems, with Hamas militants bulldozing parts of the wall separating Gaza Palestine from Egypt. The checkpoint has been shut down until further notice: see this as another screw tightened on the poverty in Gaza by Israel-leaning elements. Interesting that Egypt is allowing the palestinians to jump over the fence, and announce specifically that Egypt is going to help Palestinians to come over to Egypt and get the necessary basics for their sustenance.
Maybe are assisting to the beginning of a Cold War-like West Germany / East Germany demarcation of Palestine with "West" controlled West Bank and "East" controlled Gaza. Unfortunately, there is no industrial base to look forward to, even if you have a Marshall Plan lying around, which looks all the more uncertain in an election year and when US military and support operations worldwide are stretched extremely thin in all directions with few funds flowing through.
Could Egypt keep Gaza's formal boundaries, and walk in to restore law and order in Gaza under a "war against terror"-type operation (or anything else they can make up), effectively annexing the territory? It is a real option, and considering the plight of the Palestinians there after months and nearly years of depravation, may not be that bad. Egypt could just as easily have "police" training programs to beef up their military there, although Israel would probably make a similar move to control the West Bank more effectively. Abbas would be more the governor of the West Bank, than its leader. The end result though would be is a stabilisation of the area, and a return to a poor but basic lifestyle for people there.
A possible backlash can be expected with the increase of political islamic parties inside Egypt, trying to stir up arab / islamic nationalism in the right proportions to get the Egyptian electorate around the Palestinian issue. Of course, Egypt's own islamic parties would probably love to see the back of Mubarak, but if he plays it carefully, he could neuter their pulpits to his own advantage and start getting the same islamic hero coverage as Ahmadjinebad, without the UNSC connotations. If he manoeuvres himself into the role of a Jimmy Carter of the Near East, he may even be able to land himself a political future as an Arab peacemaker/superstar/lectureCircuiter a-la-Blair, and groom the best of the islamic parties with the Palestine issue to push on his legacy once he's moved on.
A bit farfetched, maybe. But not a bad idea when you think about it, this rapprochement.
No comments:
Post a Comment