The Wall Street Journal-20080202-Tumbled Wall in Gaza-Egypt Could Be as Momentous as Jericho-s
Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080202
Tumbled Wall in Gaza/Egypt Could Be as Momentous as Jericho's
Full Text (990 words)Bret Stephens ("The Gaza Breakout," Jan. 29) hit the mark. It is impossible to predict the consequences of the Gaza breakout, but there is a good chance that Egypt's Gaza policies for the last 60 years will come back to haunt it.
After the 1948 Arab invasion of Israel failed, Egypt refused to allow a Palestinian state or self-determination in Gaza. Egypt used Gaza as a base for fedayeen raids on Israel, while ruling with an iron fist, preventing Palestinians from entering Egypt. Egypt's main goal with Gaza was to use its population as cannon fodder against Israel.
Israel's conquest of the Sinai in the 1967 Six-Day War forced a change in tactics, but not the goal. When Egypt took back Sinai in 1982, it refused to take back Gaza (as Israel requested). As with almost every issue during the Camp David negotiations, President Carter took Egypt's side.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Egypt allowed smuggling of weapons into Gaza, while continuing to clamp down on individual Palestinians. Its overriding goal remained use of Gaza as a means to delegitimize and confront Israel, while publicly talking of humanitarian needs.
The smashing of the border wall with Egypt may finally force Egypt to take some responsibility for its policies. Surely Gaza can get its supplies from Egypt? Why should Israel have the responsibility of providing all services (which it still does) to a territory ruled by a group sworn to Israel's destruction, and from which it is attacked several times daily? Egypt would be given leeway in dealing with Hamas that the Arab world will not allow to Israel.
Unfortunately, there is little likelihood that Egypt will change and take forward-looking policies. Had Egypt welcomed and absorbed Arab refugees as Israel did with all the Jewish refugees from Arab countries, the situation in Gaza and elsewhere could have been far better.
Doron Lubinsky
Atlanta
---
Bret Stephens exults by saying, "Supporters of Ariel Sharon's 'disengagement' plan -- present company included -- can take a measure of satisfaction in noting that Gaza is increasingly becoming an Arab problem rather than an Israeli one." Tell that to the residents of Sderot as daily Kassam rockets keep the residents in their bomb shelters.
Disengagement from Gaza has been a total disaster. Israel's military withdrawal from the Philadelphi border route has allowed Gaza to become an armed arsenal that threatens both Israel and Egypt. Losing the ability to have the human intel to monitor terrorist activities has resulted in al Qaeda infiltrating Gaza and has allowed Iran to spread its tentacles into another part of the Middle East and has weakened western influence in the region. The Sunni Arab governments perceive this shift in the balance of power, and Iran's Ahmadinejad has now hosted the Kuwaiti foreign minister, while the Saudis and Egyptians are fearful of confronting their increasingly powerful and influential neighbor.
The Gaza breakout is a result of actual and perceived weakness on the part of Israel and its Western allies in what is shaping up to be a decades-long conflict between Western democracies and those who yearn for establishing a global caliphate. Shrinking away from this confrontation will only increase the chances of a war, which at the end will prove to be much more costly in lives and treasure the longer it is put off.
Fred Ehrman
New York
---
In describing the recent situation in the Gaza Strip, Mr. Stephens puts quotation marks around the word siege, denying the reality on the ground; the Gaza Strip was in fact sealed off on three sides for an extended period, with Israel able to cut off supplies of electricity, fuel, water and food to the citizens of this nearly barren piece of desert real estate.
As in any situation where pressure is applied to a sealed vessel, it will eventually yield at its weakest point. Thus was the situation in Gaza. The Israelis had sealed all but the southern borders with their army and navy. They increased the pressure with attacks aimed at those they identify as responsible for continuing mortar and rocket attacks against mostly barren Israeli territory. Rocket and bomb attacks by American-supplied F-16 fighters raise the death toll and increase the pressure. When a large section of Gaza's border fence with Egypt was destroyed before dawn, Gaza's Palestinian population poured out of their confinement with wild enthusiasm.
Most of those thousands who crossed into Egypt were soon on their way back home with food and water, supplies and fuel for cars, trucks and generators.
Yes, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will offer lip service to Hamas, but that's about as far as Arab unity goes. Egypt and its aging leader may be increasingly vulnerable, but it won't be a Hamas-Brotherhood alliance that brings theocracy to Egypt.
Charles Hoff
Decatur, Ga.
---
Mr. Stephens's notion that "The Gaza Breakout" could result in Gaza conquering Egypt may turn out to be so prescient that Mr. Stephens will someday ruefully say, "You saw it here first." During the recent breakout, however, when Hamas cut 17 holes in the Rafah Crossing fence, the main objective of the Gazans seemed to be a mad rush to hastily set up a bazaar in the Egyptian desert where quick-thinking businessmen from Cairo supplied foodstuffs, fuel and all manner of necessities in short supply in Gaza.
By acting fast, before this opportunity is lost, we could help the people of Gaza, the Egyptians, and Israel by tearing down the remainder of that horrible wall and erecting a barrier of big-box stores chock-a-block along the entire border. Because we Americans provide the bulk of Gazans' funds, it is only fair that this barricade consist of Costcos, Wal-Marts, Targets, Sam's Clubs, Toys "R" Us, Home Depots, etc. It's also true that the Brits have been helpful, so perhaps a Sainsbury or two is in order. But by no means a Carrefour.
Is this not win-win, or what?
Noel Prince
Tallahassee, Fla.
