The Power of People

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7206217.stm

For a second day, the residents of Gaza are enjoying the closest thing to ‘freedom’ they have experienced in a fair while. Roughly 350,000 residents (almost 25% of Gaza’s population) are thought to have made the journey into Egypt, buying food, clothes and cigarettes. Israel seem to be furious with Egypt for not stopping this spectacle, which, from the pictures i’ve seen, looks absolutely beautiful. However Mubarak’s in a pretty difficult situation: whilst he might be happy taking US money and doing what he’s told, his own population have a great deal of sympathy for the residents of Gaza. Given the level of popular strikes in Egypt over the last year, he is not in the position of power that this situation might require. Too tough a response could do irreparable damage to his legitimacy.

Olmert again affirmed his commitment to international criminality in the form of collective punishment, saying:

“But there is no justification for demanding we allow residents of Gaza to live normal lives while shells and rockets are fired from their streets and courtyards at Sderot and other communities in the south.”

Weirdly, Deputy Israeli Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said 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,”

This is interesting, almost as though Israel is washing its hands of responsibility (which would have to mean allowing far greater autonomy for Gaza). I can’t see this happening myself, for reasons Tanya Reinhart gave a year or two ago.

If they are given freedom, they would become the center of Palestinian struggle for liberation, with free access to the Western and Arab world. To control the West Bank, Israel needs full control Gaza.

Opening up Gaza would be an incredible change of policy, the sort of too-good-to-be-true scenario which has you looking over your shoulder every time you enjoy it too much. Vilnai is probably just posing, attempting to scare Egypt out of its ‘responsibilities’, however this is likely misguided, given the high level of popular support for Gaza’s plight in Egypt.

My tentative guess about this round is that Egyptian soldiers will have to close the barrier one night, probably tonight, however that’s not the point. The point is that Gazans know it can be done. They know that they don’t need to choose between the corrupt or the authoratative to improve their situation, that the force of the many is the best way to resist. Now the price of cigarettes in Gaza is cheaper than in the Egyptian side of Rafah. That’s huge.

So Gaza continues to enjoy it’s day off. I remain nervous, it’s one of those situations where it could all go wrong so easily. For now, it’s good.

Christopher Rossdale : 24 Jan 2008 10:46 |  Tags: Direct Action Egypt Ehud Olmert Gaza Israel Israel And Palestine Matan Vilnai Mubarak |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem