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How Cairo Is Failing the Palestinians
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, June 10, 2024. Photo: Amr Nabil/Pool via REUTERS
Egypt recently hosted top US and Israeli officials for Israel-Hamas ceasefire discussions. But nine months into a war that Hamas launched, Egypt has often exacerbated the conflict and largely evaded criticism for intensifying Palestinian suffering.
CIA director Bill Burns, top Biden Middle East advisor Brett McGurk, and senior Israel officials arrived in Cairo earlier this month to discuss a ceasefire deal, the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, and mechanisms for securing the Egypt-Gaza border.
The last element is pivotal for weakening Hamas. The terrorist group has imported much of its weaponry via tunnels underneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Shutting off that valve is central to Israel’s war plans. In May, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it discovered around 20 tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, the strip of land that runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, most of which crossed into Egypt.
In 2013 and 2014, at the beginning of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s rule, Egypt reportedly destroyed more than 1,600 tunnels crisscrossing the Egypt-Gaza border. And in 2015, Egypt demolished thousands of homes on the Egyptian side of Rafah, along the border with Gaza, to prevent smuggling. However, in the years since, Egypt has become much laxer in anti-smuggling efforts, allowing Hamas to stockpile weapons.
There are several possible explanations for this reversal, including that it allowed Sisi to use the situation in Gaza as a tool for regional influence, keeping Egypt relevant in the Israeli-Palestinian arena as it competes with Qatar, Turkey, and Iran.
Embarrassment regarding his insufficient anti-smuggling efforts might explain why Sisi was so concerned about Israeli operations along the Egypt-Gaza border. For months, Rafah remained Hamas’ last bastion in Gaza. In May, Egypt warned of “dire consequences,” including downgraded bilateral relations, as Israel inched towards launching its Rafah offensive.
Egypt’s approach to Palestinian aid has also been worrisome. On October 12, just days after Hamas carried out its killing spree in southern Israel, Sisi stressed the importance of Palestinians remaining “steadfast and present on their lands.” In other words, Gazans were not welcome in Egypt. As over a million Palestinians gathered in Rafah in February, Egypt refused to allow them across the border into the Sinai.
Even wounded and sick Palestinians have largely not escaped this ban. In late June, Cairo allowed only a trickle of 19 Palestinians to enter Egypt for treatment. This was the first time in nearly two months that Egypt allowed wounded or sick Palestinians into the country. Recently, Egypt has reportedly refused to allow larger numbers of medical evacuations unless the Palestinians control the Gaza side of the border.
Egypt has justified its policies by claiming to fear that Israel would not allow Gazans to return after the fighting ended, pointing to the Palestinian experience in 1948. Egypt also argued that Hamas operatives would sneak into Sinai among refugees by posing as civilians and attacking Israel from Egyptian soil. Such developments would increase Israeli-Egyptian tensions.
When Cairo has let in Palestinians, it has reportedly exploited their suffering by charging exorbitant sums for entry permits. According to a New York Times report, an Egyptian tourism company with close ties to Egypt’s security establishment has been charging Gazans between $2,500 and $5,000 to exit the territory. According to NPR, on March 1 alone, 400 Palestinians paid around $1.3 million to exit through Egypt.
In recent months, Egypt has refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid via the Rafah crossing, possibly to pressure Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians. Egypt wisely understands that international public opinion will castigate Israel for Palestinian suffering but ignore Egypt for adding to it.
To be sure, Israel has played down Egypt’s role as a spoiler, presumably to avoid embarrassing Egypt and thereby jeopardizing Israeli-Egyptian ties. Similarly, since 2007, Egypt and Israel coordinated on a blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, but only Israel received widespread criticism for it.
The lack of interest in Palestinian suffering not attributable to Israel was also apparent when around 3,000 or 4,000 Palestinians were killed in Syria’s civil war from 2011 to 2020, including approximately 500 or 600 Palestinians who died from torture. And in the Ein el-Hilweh camp in Lebanon, clashes between rival factions left 13 Palestinians dead in July 2023 and resumed in September.
You could be forgiven if you missed the street protests, university encampments, divestment calls, city council resolutions, or social media campaigns decrying these injustices; there weren’t any.
Egypt has frequently worsened Palestinian suffering, including by reportedly sabotaging Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations in May. As Egypt returns to the spotlight for the latest round of ceasefire negotiations, it is worth highlighting Egypt’s largely unhelpful role, even if Cairo receives a free pass in the court of public opinion.
David May (@DavidSamuelMay) is a research manager and senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Haisam Hassanein (@HaisamHassanei1) is an adjunct fellow. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
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Anti-Israel Protesters Target Queens Synagogue Over Israel Real-Estate Sale Despite Venue Change
Anti-Israel protesters target a synagogue in Queens, New York on July 14, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Anti-Israel protesters descended on Congregation Charm Circle in Queens, New York on Sunday to protest a sale of Israeli real estate, despite the synagogue changing the location of the sale.
The protest, reminiscent of last month’s widely condemned violent demonstration outside of a synagogue in Los Angeles, was the latest example of demonstrators purportedly opposing Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza targeting Jewish sites in Western countries.
Last week, the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition announced that they were planning to protest a sale of Israeli real estate in Kew Garden Hills, a densely Jewish neighborhood of Queens. They did not name a specific synagogue to protest outside of, but there are over a dozen, mainly Orthodox, synagogues in the immediate vicinity of the location they provided.
Instagram post by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition for an anti-Israel protest. Photo: Screenshot
“Every time these illegal sales take place, we will give them no peace and a protest will follow each time, until liberation and return,” read the caption of the social media post announcing the demonstration. “Across the US and Canada realtors continue to sell stolen PALESTINIAN [sic] property on settlements that are illegal under International law.”
The post then included an inverted red triangle followed by the message: “As the genocide on Palestinians continues, we call for a complete end to the settler-colonial project of Israel and its goal of expansion.”
The inverted red triangle has become a common symbol at pro-Hamas rallies and anti-Israel protests that ravaged Western university campuses in recent months. Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that rules Gaza, has used inverted red triangles in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence.”
In the days leading up to the event, Queens Shmira – a Jewish neighborhood safety group – announced that the real-estate sale had been moved to a different venue. According to a statement from Queens Shmira, the venue “has since changed to accommodate a larger audience and will NOT be taking place at Congregation Charm Circle.”
“The protesters’ intention is to intimidate and we will not be intimidated,” the statement added.
Although the event had been moved to a different location, on Sunday anti-Israel protesters nonetheless descended on Congregation Charm Circle, where they were videoed calling for an intifada against Jews and waving Hezbollah flags. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon, has been launching rockets, drones, and missiles at northern Israel daily as Israeli forces simultaneously battle the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to the south in Gaza.
In response, counter-protesters waved Israeli flags and called for the release of the roughly 120 hostages still being held by terrorists in Gaza since Oct. 7.
The protest spilled over to a nearby basketball court, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators could be seen shoving the counter-protesters. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) attempted to de-escalate the situation, but there were no reports of arrests being made.
Local politicians took to X/Twitter to express outrage over the anti-Israel protests targeting a synagogue.
“The event changed venues but the protesters didn’t care, harassing Jews for the crime of going to pray,” New York State Assemblymember Sam Berger, who represents Kew Garden Hills, wrote on X/Twitter.
US Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), who also represents Kew Garden Hills, condemned the demonstration on social media.
“The events that took place outside of Congregation Charm Circle in Kew Gardens Hills are deeply concerning,” she posted. “Harassing people outside of their house of worship is unacceptable. While everyone in the US has the right to protest, there is no place for hate, violence, & antisemitism.”
The protest at Congregation Charm Circle come only four weeks after the violent anti-Israel demonstration outside of Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily-Jewish Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles.
Anti-Israel demonstrators outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily-Jewish Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, June 23, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Demonstrators swarmed the synagogue to protest the sale of Israeli real estate taking place inside the building, blocking people from entering and leaving. The protests quickly descended into violence as anti-Israel protesters were caught on video shoving, punching, and screaming at those attempting to defend the synagogue.
The skirmishes spilled out into the greater community as anti-Israel protesters targeted and in some cases vandalized Jewish-owned businesses.
The violence received widespread condemnation.
“I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement on the chaos. “Americans have a right to peaceful protest. But blocking access to a house of worship — and engaging in violence — is never acceptable.”
Since Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, antisemitism has skyrocketed globally to record levels amid the ensuing war in Gaza. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report in April showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Hamas’ atrocities across southern Israel last October.
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Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ at Risk of Another Big Election Loss as Poll Finds Cori Bush Trailing Opponent by 23 Points
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), one of the fiercest critics of Israel in Congress, is trailing her Democratic primary opponent by a staggering 23 points, according to a new poll.
The findings come as Bush faces an uphill battle to avoid becoming the second member of the so-called “Squad” of far-left US lawmakers outspoken against Israel to lose to a more moderate Democrat this election cycle.
St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell leads Bush by a margin of 56 percent to 33 percent in the Aug. 6 primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, according to a survey conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the CCA Action Fund and first reported by the New York Post.
Among Democrats, Bush holds a favorability rating of 50 percent and an unfavorability rating of 47 percent, the poll found. Meanwhile, Bell touts a favorability rating of 70 percent and an unfavorability rating of just 18 percent.
The numbers suggest that Bush’s support within her district has crumbled at a rapid rate. A poll conducted by The Mellman Group from June 18-22 showed a much tighter race, with 43 percent of respondents indicating support for Bell and 42 percent indicating support for Bush. In January, Bush enjoyed a commanding lead of 45 percent to 29 percent lead among Democratic primary voters.
Bush has been vocally critical of Israel in the months following the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 slaughter of more than 1,200 people throughout southern Israel. The congresswoman called for an “immediate ceasefire” only nine days following the atrocities of Oct. 7, dismissing Israel’s military response to terrorism as “retaliatory violence.”
In late October, Bush penned an op-ed for the left-wing publication Jacobin accusing Israel of exacting “collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza” and categorized the Jewish state’s defensive military operations as a “war crime.” In December, Bush accused Israel of deliberately “targeting civilians” and committing a so-called “genocide” in Gaza. Bush has also repeatedly denigrated Israel as an “apartheid state.”
In contrast, Bell has declared his support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ terrorism.
“We want to see a peaceful resolution. I want to be part of the coalition that brings a peaceful resolution to that region,” Bell said, according to St. Louis Public Radio. “But it is a tough situation. But in the meantime, we do have to stand by our allies.”
The poll came on the heels of the resounding Democratic primary defeat of US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) last month to George Latimer, a moderate, pro-Israel candidate. Bowman repeatedly lambasted Israel and its war effort against Hamas in Gaza throughout his campaign, earning widespread criticism among Jewish and centrist voters in the primary.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, has announced that it will throw its weight behind Bell, further compounding problems for the progressive firebrand’s struggling campaign. AIPAC, which played an integral role in helping secure Bowman’s defeat by spending a record-shattering $14.5 million in the New York Democratic primary, has called on its supporters to help oust Bush.
“On Tuesday night, the pro-Israel community helped ensure anti-Israel Rep. Jamaal Bowman won’t be returning to Congress next year,” AIPAC texted its supporters following Bowman’s June defeat. “With your support, we can also help defeat Rep. Cori Bush, another member of the anti-Israel Squad.”
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RIP shtick: Phoebe Maltz Bovy remembers Dr. Ruth and Richard Simmons—and the 1980s sensibilities that defined their identities
Had July 13, 2024, been the slow-news day it first seemed, it would have been the moment to remember two greats whose deaths were announced on that date: celebrity sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer (who passed away on Friday) and fitness impresario Richard Simmons (whose body was found by his housekeeper Saturday morning). Instead, someone […]
The post RIP shtick: Phoebe Maltz Bovy remembers Dr. Ruth and Richard Simmons—and the 1980s sensibilities that defined their identities appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.