Gaza: Mursi Disappoints

Gaza: Mursi Disappoints

By: Shuaib Abu Jahal

Palestinian men transport bags of cement through tunnels used for smuggling goods, including food, fuel and building materials, along the Gaza-Egypt border in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 23 August 2012. (Photo: AFP - Mohammed Abed) August 26, 2012 When Mursi won the presidency in Egypt, Gazans were ecstatic and publicly celebrated their expectations of better times to come. Today, their disappointment is just as immense as their previous elation. Palestinians were feeling frustrated with the Egyptian decision to only open the Rafah border crossing south of the Gaza Strip for three days a week. They had hoped that their situation would improve dramatically after Mohammed Mursi’s victory in the presidential election. After all, Mursi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Hamas’ ally. Al-Akhbar visited Gaza to speak to the residents about their situation. Amani Shnino said: "I think it’s unfair to only allow three days for travel. The whole of Gaza is a humanitarian crisis and we were deceived by Mursi." Walid Iki (24 years old) expressed his wish that "the Rafah crossing would be open for longer, allowing any Gazan citizen to travel freely." He pointed out that "the situation of the crossing under Hosni Mubarak was better. The situation today is somewhat chaotic." Iki is surprised by "Hamas’ silence regarding this decision." After the Sinai incident in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed on August 6, the Egyptian authorities closed down the Rafah crossing. The Hamas government announced it would close the tunnels along Gaza’s southern borders, stopping citizens from leaving the country and stopping the entry of food items and fuel into Gaza. As a result, people panicked and flocked to gas stations to store up on fuel and queues of cars were seen lining up. Closing the tunnels led to a gas shortage and a price hike and to scarcity in some items in Gaza’s markets. Gazans were deeply disappointed after all their elation at Mursi’s victory. The health sector was hit the worst by the repercussions of the crossing’s continued closing. Scores of patients have been unable to travel for operations and treatment outside Gaza. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip Hamas government, Ashraf al-Qudra, said that "each day the crossing is closed, the waiting lists of patients supposed to travel to Egypt increases by 40 patients. This requires the immediate opening of the crossing for a whole week so that patients can travel for treatment." He added: "Any delay in these cases exacerbates their medical conditions." Qudra asked Egypt to "open the crossing all week long." Hamas has denied any relation to the incident in Sinai, accusing Israel of standing behind the attack. Its security agencies declared their willingness to cooperate fully with the Egyptian leadership to reveal the perpetrators and asked for the reopening of the crossing and the tunnels. The deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the Gaza government, Muhammad Awad, told Al-Akhbar: "We are hoping that the Egyptian decision will not be permanent or long-term. We need the Rafah crossing to be open at all times and to implement the agreement that was signed a month ago to open the crossing. Otherwise the Gaza Strip will face a real crisis and a health disaster." Political analyst, Ibrahim Abrash, told Al-Akhbar: "This Egyptian measure under the Mursi presidency is no different from previous measures under Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian national security takes priority regardless of the president or the party in charge. Egyptians give priority to their interests and their national security over any other ideological considerations. It appears that Egypt took this decision while awaiting the results of the Rafah investigations fearing that some Palestinians were involved in the Sinai incident." When asked about Hamas’ silence concerning this decision, Abrash said, "Hamas does not want a tense relationship with Egypt’s rulers, the MB. It knows that if it loses its relationship with the MB, it will lose an ally and its situation would get worse. After all, Hamas is an offshoot of the MB." Abrash pointed out that Hamas received assurances that opening the crossing is connected to closing the Rafah investigations. In the meantime, the office of the prime minister of the Hamas government, Ismail Haniya, announced that the prime minister ended consultations regarding a cabinet reshuffle in his government, though no details were released. A statement said that: "Haniya ended his consultations after an adequate period of time," and he is expected to present the new cabinet before the parliament soon for a vote of confidence. Haniya’s expected decision is considered a new attempt at Palestinian reconciliation taking place with Egyptian sponsorship. The cabinet reshuffle comes as a response to a similar reshuffle in Salam Fayad’s government in the West Bank. This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.