Originally posted by Harlequin
what the f**k are egypt playing at? why are they collaberating with Israel
They are not collaborating with Israel, Egypt has it's own reasons for keeping Palestinians on the other side of their border.
I've already posted this in a couple other threads, here's one of them, ...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Hamas is one of the reasons why the borders have been closed by Israel AND Egypt!
Egypt's Quandary Over the Gaza Border
When Hamas took over last year in Gaza, Egypt closed the border (Israel also closed its border crossing points to Egypt) and has characterized the Hamas takeover as an illegitimate coup. Although Egypt kept the border closed, the wall had been built by the Israelis before their withdrawal.
And what REALLY is Egypt's "beef" with Hamas?
While Egypt has at times sought to facilitate negotiations between Hamas and Fatah, it has undeniably seen the Hamas takeover of Gaza last June as a potential threat. Hamas, after all, evolved directly out of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, itself was originally founded under the tutelage of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. The Egyptian government sees the Brotherhood as its most potent domestic threat.
So, as soon as Hamas gained control of Gaza, Israel AND Egypt closed their borders to Gaza!
They also fear being overrun by Palestinians charging across the border into Sinai.
Consider this: some press reports and the United Nations have suggested that as many as 700,000 Palestinians entered Egypt from Gaza in the first days after the border break-through.
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Half a million or more Palestinians pouring into northeastern Sinai could easily overwhelm the limited population of northeastern Sinai.
And, of course they fear Hamas might also take root in THEIR COUNTRY and start causing the Egyptian government problems!
The flood of pro-Hamas Palestinians into northern Sinai is likely interpreted by the Egyptian security establishment as a direct threat to Egypt’s internal security. The demographic facts on the ground reinforce this.
And there is one other reason Egypt wants to limit Gaza's accessibility to Egypt!
Israel, meanwhile, is making sounds about getting out of the business of supplying electricity in Gaza now that “the border is open” with Egypt. And because of the likelihood of criticism from other Arab states, Egypt cannot be very open about its fundamental concerns.
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Egypt also is clearly worried about the Israeli effort to shift responsibility for Gaza Egypt, of course has many connections to Gaza.
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Israel was not that eager to remain in Gaza either: it promoted a “Gaza first” approach in the Oslo talks and, of course, withdrew its forces completely from Gaza in 2005. But there are some signs that Israel is leaning towards pressing Egypt to take responsibility for Gaza, something the Egyptians see as a disastrous course.
Immediately after the breach in the border took place, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, a former general and member of the Labor Party, (Party leader Ehud Barak, is the defense minister), publicly suggested that now that the border with Egypt was open, Israel should get out of the role of supplying Gaza altogether. He told Army Radio that the disengagement process begun in 2005 “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.”
So I believe these are the main reasons that Egypt also keeps it's borders closed to the Gaza.
1) Hamas is an off shoot of a group that the Egyptian government feels threatened by
2) Egypt doesn't want to see their country overrun and overwhelmed by Palestinians, and especially pro-Hamas Palestinians
3) and the Egyptian government doesn't want to end up being responsible for being the "caretaker" of Gaza!
[edit on 12/31/2008 by Keyhole]
