Defending Egypt

Those who argue that Egypt should ignore arms smuggling over its border with Gaza could drag the country into an unwanted war

Abdel-Moneim Said
Al-Ahram
Issue No. 980

(Coming from Al-Aharam, one can take this as an official Egyptian position concerning the security wall being constructed on their border with Gaza, however paragraphs 7-8 are directed towards Israel and require serious reflection in light of recent U.S. arms sales to Egypt. Y.)

No Egyptian should disagree with defending Egypt against all threats, whether from home or abroad. This is why every official charged with safeguarding the country's welfare, from the president and government ministers to representatives in the People's Assembly and the Shura Council take an oath of office in which they pledge not only to promote the interests of the people and uphold the constitution but also to defend the nation and "safeguard the integrity of its territory". Such an oath can only mean that the defence of Egypt is an issue that can brook no dissension, which has not been the attitude of certain newspapers and radio and television stations in recent days regarding security at the Egyptian-Gaza border.

Fundamentalist Islamists -- in their varying shades of radicalism -- have a major problem with the concept of the state and national boundaries. To their way of thinking, as long as Islam transcends borders, then politics, international relations and foreign policy should do the same. When Hamas felt that a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would be too large and unwieldy for it to control because it would cover too broad and diverse a political spectrum, it decided to seize power in Gaza and found an Islamic emirate in which no other voice would be heard but its own. So now we have a situation in which Israel refuses to negotiate directly with Hamas, and Hamas, equally adamantly, refuses to negotiate directly with Israel and -- simultaneously -- to reach a reconciliation agreement with the Palestinian Authority. The upshot is that Hamas has few remaining outlets, and one of its favourites is to abuse the Egyptian border. It has done this peacefully through protest demonstrations and violently, leading to Egyptian civil and military casualties. It has done this above ground through propaganda and slander, and below ground by means of tunnels and smuggling.

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