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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Egypt jittery over Israeli Gaza proposal |
| 2008-01-24 |
| Hey! This wasn't supposed to happen... CAIRO, Egypt - The Gaza border crisis caused another sharp flap Thursday in Egyptian-Israeli relations, with Egypt angrily accusing Israel of trying to dump all responsibility for the troubled Gaza Strip in its lap. Aw, c'mon, Hosni. Help your Pali "brothers" out. It was not clear if the proposal for Israel to relinquish all control over Gaza, expressed privately by several Israeli officials and publicly by one, was serious or just an effort to test international reaction to the idea. Toss them the keys and wish them luck. Maybe it'll sink in then. But Egyptian officials were fuming."This is a wrong assumption," Hossam Zaki, the official spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said of Israeli hints that it was thinking of giving up administration of Gaza, including supplying electricity, now that the Palestinian territory's southern border with Egypt is open. "The current situation is only an exception and for temporary reasons," Zaki said. "The border will eventually go back to normal." Aw, c'mon, Hossam. You'll love 'em! As you well know, they spread sweetness and light wherever they go... Another senior Egyptian official said he hoped the Israeli idea was "not serious and only meant for local consumption." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to speak publicly about the sensitive matter. ...oh, please, make it go away. In the past two days, Gazans have stocked up on supplies in Egypt, including cement, fuel, generators and other staples. Israel then stopped emergency shipments of industrial diesel fuel, arguing that Gazans were now able to get supplies from Egypt. Several Israeli leaders have suggested Israel should stop such shipments and oversight of Gaza altogether — permanently. "We need to understand that when Gaza is open to the other side we lose responsibility for it. So we want to disconnect from it," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Thursday. Vilnai said Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza "continues, in that we want to stop supplying electricity to them, stop supplying them with water and medicine, so that it would come from another place. We are responsible for it as long as there is no alternative". Heh...heh...heh...eat that, Hosni. Israel has long accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop weapons smuggling from its territory into Gaza, and the United States has said Egypt could do more to police the border. Uh-huh. Sure. We'll get right on that... Some Israeli officials have suggested Egypt could be punished for its inaction, by being forced to deal alone with the dire needs of Gaza's 1.5 million impoverished residents. "We have an extraordinary opportunity here to roll responsibility for the Gaza Strip into Egypt's court," analyst Alex Fishman, wrote Thursday in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. Ya want em, ya got em. Egyptian officials fumed at the proposal, and said Israeli officials had made no effort to consult with Cairo over the matter. Humminah humminah humminah humminah.... A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, said Israel was not yet discussing the idea formally, but acknowledged it could serve Israel's interest. So long, suckers! On Wednesday, Arab and U.S. officials in Washington said Egypt had assured Washington it soon will reseal its Gaza border. Real soon now that we've heard about this. In Cairo, Egyptian officials said Thursday that closing the border and rebuilding the destroyed barrier there would take some time, but that the current situation would not continue for long. "Technically speaking, it cannot be restored within 24 hours — it needs more time," said one security official on condition of anonymity, because he is not authorized to speak to the press. So as long as it's open, Israel can get out the cinder blocks up on their end? But many Egyptians believe their government should not be saddled with responsibility for Gaza, which stayed under Egyptian control until 1967 when Israeli seized it in the Middle East War that year. "It goes against every grain we have," said Abdel Moneim Saeed, head of the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies. They all love their Pali brothers. Just as long as they stay in their own neighborhood... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #8 hehe, I find this funny as hell and think this is the right idea. Let Egypt have them and when the Egyptians administer "collective punishment" let the world whine and wail (the world won't because it's not the "evil Jews" doing it) |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-01-24 23:11 |
| #7 Maybe we can turn on the power after the ohm swarm. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-01-24 22:37 |
| #6 Why, AP? Think the paleos will be attracted by the "1 million" (and not know what an "ohm" is) and try to steal them? ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-01-24 22:34 |
| #5 The Israelis need to shut of the electricity and put up a sign saying "DANGER---ONE MILLION OHMS!" |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-01-24 22:31 |
| #4 let Egypt deal with em. Cut em off - every drop of fuel & water, and amp of electricity from the evil Joooooos |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-01-24 21:40 |
| #3 To line the smuggling tunnels with, flash91, in case the border wall is rebuilt. Also to rebuild all those houses the Israelis knocked down... and the ones that came apart as a result of work accidents. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-01-24 19:49 |
| #2 "In the past two days, Gazans have stocked up on supplies in Egypt, including cement,..." Cement? |
| Posted by: flash91 2008-01-24 18:44 |
| #1 The Israelis should just do it, cut Gaza off and say "not our problem". That in essence is what Egypt did. But the best part is that Egypt will not tolerate the Paleos cutting up rough. After years of telling the Egyptian people that the Paleos were their brothers, now they will have to discipline them. In Egypt, that means "kill". |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-01-24 16:59 |