The ongoing unprovoked dehumanization of Palestinians crossing borders
into Egypt shows no likelihood of change on the ground. So I have to ask
myself, “Are we really expecting too much from the current Egyptian
government?”
Crossing the Rafah border has
been the odyssey of every Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip forever.
Somehow, I cannot even remember a time when the Rafah border was totally open.
Two years ago, I was asked by a journalist whether I remember a time when there
were no restrictions over movement for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip or
when we were able to travel freely. It didn’t take me much time to answer with
a “No”. I still remember how we used to celebrate my uncles by making big
banquets every time one of them would successfully make it to Gaza, spending at
least a day or two (sometimes more) at the crossing. While celebrating their victorious
3-day return journeys, we would chat about the different ways Egyptians,
Israelis and Palestinians would each treat Palestinian travellers. However, it
was in 2007 when Hamas seized power over the Gaza Strip that Egypt’s perverse
complicity in imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip started, leaving a population
of around 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in one of the largest prison camps
the world has seen.
Our enthusiasm in the Gaza Strip
with the toppling of the former Mubarak regime in Egypt in February 2011 was
linked to hopes that it would bring an end to this epic of crossing the Rafah
border. However, I remember the disappointment that this promised an easing of
the blockade not a permanent opening of the borders. For, this easing did not
prevent my mother, granted a medical report that shows her serious health
condition needed urgent treatment, from being turned away twice at the Rafah border.
So this was an easing that had been deemed illegal but with which a supposedly
US-backed government was complicit. At that time, we did expect that the siege
would somehow come to an end. The Rafah border and the humiliation of
Palestinians travelling through it has proved us wrong.
It is true that for the first
time in four years, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip especially women and
children were allowed to get out freely. However, the same restrictions over
the movement of young male Palestinians aging between 18 and 40 were still
ongoing. A limited number of around 300 to 400 Palestinians were allowed to
cross daily, while hundreds of others were destined to either wait or be turned
away.
Today, there is again a talk of a
permanent opening of the Rafah border. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been
pinning their hopes on the new Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, to put an
end to the frequent closures which frequently take place under the heading of
‘security reasons’, i.e., the Hamas government. However, talk of the permanent
opening of the Rafah border does not indicate that those previously mentioned
restrictions shall be lifted. The Rafah border is still closed to trade and to
the import of some basic construction materials which means that the 5-year-siege
is still in effect. It also means that people will still be using the
alternative tunnel trade which has now become the alternative means of getting
to and from the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing unprovoked
dehumanization of Palestinians crossing borders into Egypt shows no likelihood
of change on the ground. So I have to ask myself, “Are we really expecting too
much from the current Egyptian government?”
Sameeha Elwan is an MA student of Culture and Difference at Durham
University (UK), and a Palestinian Blogger from the Gaza strip.
This article first appeared
on openDemocracy, and
was the weekly-featured-column
in This Week's Window on the Middle East.
Posts
