WATANI International 17 January 2010
In response to the recent uproar over Egypt’s move to build an underground steel wall on its border with the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian government has said that the current construction taking place at the border was a national security issue. Officials stressed Egypt’s right to take whatever measures needed to protect its borders.
According to news reports, the wall will be 30 kms long and 20 to 30 metres deep under the ground.
National security threat
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki says no one has the right to comment on an issue that lies at the core of Egyptian national security. “Egypt’s eastern borders are vulnerable and we have the right to protect them,” Mr Zaki said.
Minister of State for Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Mofid Shehab said before the Shura Council (Egypt’s upper house of Parliament) that the construction work was the government’s business, and such measures were dictated by the latest developments.
“Now that there are more than 1,000 tunnels along the border, it is no longer possible to ignore the threats they pose to the country’s national security,” Mr Shehab said. “Smuggling is not restricted to food and goods; it includes arms that are now piling up in Gaza. Protests that are taking place at the border constitute an assault on Egyptian sovereignty. Under international law, nations have the right to establish towers, fences and whatever facilities to protect their national security. Egypt is doing nothing new, but is building on previous measures and plans. President Mubarak said he would never let the Palestinians starve, but we will never allow a repeat of what happened in January 2008 when Gazans broke across the Egyptian border.
“A host of conspiracies has been disclosed in the past few years, he said. Two Palestinians affiliated with Hamas who were arrested in Sinai were found to be wearing explosive belts, and a militant affiliated with a Jihadist movement was caught red-handed carrying arms and ammunition. A third Palestinian was caught wearing an explosive belt for use in a suicide attack.”
Humanitarian aid to Gaza
Mr Shehab warned about the possibility of smuggling arms, drugs and militants from Gaza into Egypt. “Weapons could be smuggled into Sinai, and they could be used to undermine the area’s stability, a situation that would seriously place touristic sites in jeopardy and cause much harm to the economy.
As far as Gaza’s humanitarian needs are concerned, Mr Shehab confirmed that incessant humanitarian assistance flows from Egypt to the Strip via Rafah border crossing. “We allow access to relief convoys from all over the world,” he said, “and offer facilities to those seeking to help the Palestinians”.
MP Mohamed al-Omda filed a lawsuit with the administrative court to halt construction work on the wall on the grounds that it would further aggravate the already tragic human situation in Gaza. “I sued the President and Prime Minister because I believe that the reason for establishing the wall is to destroy the tunnel. These tunnels are the only way left to move food, medicine and goods to the Strip since Egypt had closed the Rafah crossing, the sole lifeline to the Strip. The steel wall was not designed to serve Egypt’s interests,” he said.
Punishing Hamas
Emad Gad, an expert with the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), argues that Egypt is building the wall to punish Hamas for its refusal to sign the Egyptian reconciliation document. “Egyptian leaders are now convinced that Hamas is serving the agenda of a certain regional power” Dr Gad said. Thus it is worthless to deal with it. The wall will cause more than 90 per cent of the tunnels to collapse, and it will push Hamas to sign the document.” Dr Gad stressed that the wall protects Egyptian national security and dismissed claims that the move was taken in response to pressure from the United States.
From his part, Mohamed Abdel-Salam, also an expert with the ACPSS and a member of the National Security Committee (affiliated with the Shura Council) said the tight media blackout imposed by the Egyptian government had to do with the fact that it was a national security issue. He mentioned that Egypt would disclose information on the wall following the accomplishment of the preliminary steps.
A shame
It appears, however, that opinions against building the wall outnumber those with it. Hassan Nafae, professor of political science at Cairo University, said the steel wall was a shame, particularly when taking into account that Israelis come and go without facing any obstacles. “I believe that the regime will go on with the wall, notwithstanding the public opposition, because the regime does not give a damn about what people say. There is confusion between Egypt’s security and the regime’s security. The regime cares for nothing other than the tawreeth (Gamal Mubarak succeeding his father to Egypt’s presidency), Mr Nafae said.
Nasserist MP Saad Aboud said that building the “shameful” wall implied that Egypt and Israel were now equals when it came to suffocating the Palestinians. “Even if we overlook the fact that the Palestinians are Arabs and view the situation through a humanitarian prism, we have to help rather than besiege the Palestinians. The technology employed in building the steel wall indicates that the project was dictated by the US and Israel. US support of tawreeth is the price the regime would receive in return”, he added.
Divided Muslim scholars
Leading Sunni scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi has called on the Egyptian government to retreat from such a move, which he considered forbidden by the Islamic view.
The wall issue has created a rift within the Al-Azhar-affiliated Islamic Research Academy. In its monthly session, academy members were divided on the opinion of Islamic jurisprudence over building the wall. A statement distributed among the member said that within the framework of Islamic law, Egypt is entitled to ward off the tunnels’ negative effects. These tunnels, the statement added, have brought drugs and cause harm to Egypt’s interests. Two members opposed the statement though they eventually had to sign it given the pressure exerted by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.