Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: Eli Yishai: "The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages." [View all]Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)You came here expecting to just deliver some inane zinger about how awful Arabs are to the Palestinians, didn't you? You really should take better notes before the test, Aquart. Here, I'll give you a review.
Here's the thing. Israel and Egypt are at peace. It's Kind of A Big Deal, all things considered. Part of this peace relies on Egypt sometimes acting in the interests of Israel's security concerns. The border Egypt shares with Gaza is often the exact point where this manifests. This is why the Egyptians are putting in an underground wall, to deter smugglers from building tunnels beneath the border, for isntance
Now as we're vividly aware, Israel is currently bombing Gaza, in an operation against Hamas, right?
Something else you might be aware of; Egypt's leading party, the Muslim Brotherhood, shares historic ties with Hamas; they've diverged quite a bit since the 80's, but Hamas started out as a branch of the Brotherhood in the early 1980's (I'll spare you all the historical detail, it's not particularly relevant.)
Some sources in the media have used this connection to create speculation that Egypt is now an enemy of Israel, that it's going to attack any day now, yadda yadda yadda, shit that isn't likely to happen (After all, that treaty is working out pretty well for both sides)
So. Say the Egyptian government DOES open the border with Gaza right now, while Israel is attacking. How fast would it be before say... Fox or CNN pick up the narrative of "Egypt allowing Hamas to escape"? After that, how quickly before the usual talking heads are saying Israel should bomb the Sinai in retaliation or something?
even if Israel does not do so, the perception that "the Muslim Brotherhood is granting asylum to Hamas" would still damage relations between the two nations, true or not.
And US aid to Egypt - not an inconsiderable sum - hinges on whether the US feels that Egypt is living up to its side of the deal.
Opening the border is the ethically right, but politically disastrous thing to do... Not because it would cost Morsi an election (probably the opposite in fact) but because it could very well cost egypt its American allies and its shell of peace with Israel.
Welcome to international diplomacy, Aquart. I hope you took notes this time.