{"id":14354,"date":"2011-09-12T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=14354"},"modified":"2011-09-08T19:00:42","modified_gmt":"2011-09-08T18:00:42","slug":"egypt%e2%80%99s-military-ruler-tantawi-and-the-american-siege-of-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/09\/egypt%e2%80%99s-military-ruler-tantawi-and-the-american-siege-of-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s Military Ruler Tantawi and the American Siege of Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revelations from WikiLeaks<\/em><\/p>\n

The US administration of President Barack Obama was even more actively involved than previously known in enforcing the siege of Gaza along Egypt\u2019s border with the territory. And the Pentagon provided direct assistance and technology for these efforts, a newly released official document reveals.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy cable dated 8 April 2009 and released yesterday by WikiLeaks is a briefing document for US Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) \u2013 a hard-line supporter of Israel \u2013 who was in Egypt to meet with officials. At the time, Lowey chaired an important congressional committee that oversees aid to Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the cable shows that the Americans coordinated Egypt\u2019s efforts to keep Gaza sealed from the outside world directly with Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Muhammad Tantawi \u2013 who is currently Egypt\u2019s military ruler. Tantawi heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that has ruled Egypt since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last February.<\/p>\n

This may help explain why, despite high hopes, Egypt has reneged on repeated commitments to lift the Gaza siege.<\/p>\n

PROMISES TO OPEN RAFAH CROSSING BROKEN<\/p>\n

Last April, Egypt\u2019s post-Mubarak government agreed amid much media fanfare to reopen the Rafah crossing, the only link to the outside world for Gaza\u2019s 1.6 million Palestinians that does not go through Israel.<\/p>\n

Yet the new procedures were scarcely different from the old, highly restrictive ones, meaning that in effect there is no change at all, as The Electronic Intifada has reported.<\/p>\n

As a result of the continuing hardship caused by the severe restrictions on Rafah, dozens of Arab and international organisations recently called on Egypt to end the siege, stop subjecting Palestinians to humiliating and harsh conditions, and open the border once and for all.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN AND EGYPTIAN COLLUSION TO MAKE GAZA \u2018GO HUNGRY\u2019<\/p>\n

The cable confirms that the siege of Gaza \u2013 including the ban on the entry of reconstruction supplies following Israel\u2019s \u2018Operation Cast Lead\u2019 which killed more than 1,400 people \u2013 is political in nature. It was intended to force Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in January 2006, to allow the US-backed West Bank Palestinian Authority regime of Mahmoud Abbas to take back control of Gaza on its terms:<\/p>\n

\u2018The Egyptians believe that Palestinian reconciliation is a prerequisite to delivery of the approximately $5 billion in Gaza reconstruction assistance pledged at the March 2 Sharm El Sheikh conference. Neither the Egyptians, nor the international community can work with Hamas as a partner on security, political or economic reconstruction issues; Rafah crossings will remain closed until the Palestinian Authority returns to operate the Gaza side of the crossing for normal business.\u2019<\/p>\n

This adds to the existing body of evidence; a 2007 cable released in April revealed American summaries of discussions with top Egyptian officials about sealing the border with Gaza:<\/p>\n

\u2018Meanwhile, the Egyptians continue to offer excuses for the problem they face: the need to \u201csqueeze\u201d Hamas, while avoiding being seen as complicit in Israel\u2019s \u201csiege\u201d of Gaza. Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Omar Soliman told us Egypt wants Gaza to go \u201chungry\u201d but not \u201cstarve.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s notable that American officials did not record that they voiced any objections to this language. Crucially, in the 2007 cable, the United States reveals \u2018we have no intelligence to support Israeli claims that heavy weaponry moves through the tunnels\u2019. Deliberately denying the humanitarian needs of the population in an occupied territory is a war crime under the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, one that Israel has been committing with impunity. The cables show the extent to which Israel could rely on American and Egyptian officials as accessories in these crimes.<\/p>\n

PENTAGON HELPS ENFORCE GAZA SIEGE<\/p>\n

The US Embassy sought to use Lowey\u2019s visit as an opportunity to iron out some difficulties in implementing plans to close the Gaza tunnels:<\/p>\n

\u2018Egyptian security forces continue to improve counter-smuggling efforts along the Gaza border and further afield, through increasing their security presence in northern Sinai and giving greater focus to preventing weapons from entering the Sinai. Egyptian officials claim to have identified and sealed over 100 tunnels since the beginning of the year, with new discoveries occurring daily. Recently arrived U.S.- supplied counter-smuggling equipment, once installed and fully operational, could help improve Egypt\u2019s ability to fully exploit the tunnels and break up smuggling rings. The government has requested additional border security assistance and we are currently exploring ways to provide the requested assistance.\u2019<\/p>\n

But the cable notes:<\/p>\n

\u2018Installation of this new U.S.-supplied counter-smuggling equipment hit a snag in February, however, when the Minister of Defense [MOD] blocked the use of satellite technology to tune the equipment and complete the installation. DOD [US Department of Defense \u2013 known as the Pentagon] is designing a work around, but this may add 4-5 months to the time to complete the installation. At the same time, proper operation of the equipment also requires the use of GPS technology, to which the MOD has also objected, and we are still in conversation with them about that.\u2019<\/p>\n

AMERICAN PRESSURE ON TANTAWI TO DO MORE TO BESIEGE GAZA<\/p>\n

Finally the cable suggests talking points for Lowey to use in her meeting with Tantawi:<\/p>\n

\u2018(SBU) General Tantawi: MOD objections to some of the technical elements of the U.S.-supplied border security equipment may delay installation by as much as four-five months.
\n\u2013 Thank the general for his cooperation on installation of anti-smuggling equipment.
\n\u2013 Express concern that delays to equipment installation will impede tunnel detection.
\n\u2013 Urge the general, in the meantime, to consider low tech measures to destroy main tunnels, such as using a backhoe [bulldozer] to dig them out.\u2019<\/p>\n

This cable \u2013 as a preparatory briefing \u2013 does not reveal whether the meeting between Lowey and Tantawi took place or what was actually said, but there\u2019s little reason to believe Tantawi would not have been receptive. The earlier 2007 cable detailing American discussions with him claims:<\/p>\n

\u2018In their moments of greatest frustration, Tantawi and [Mubarak\u2019s intelligence chief Omar] Soliman each have claimed that the IDF [Israeli army] would be \u201cwelcome\u201d to re-invade Philadelphi, if the IDF thought that would stop the smuggling.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Philadelphi route\u2019 is the name Israel gave to the strip of land running the full length of the border between Egypt and Gaza. That, incidentally, was an opinion shared by members of the Palestinian Authority. As the Palestine Papers, Ahmed Qureia, a top official of Mahmoud Abbas\u2019 US-backed PA also wanted Israel to re-invade parts of Gaza, so deep was the PA\u2019s hatred for and rivalry with Hamas.<\/p>\n

COLLUSION CONTINUES<\/p>\n

Given Tantawi\u2019s direct role in enforcing the siege of Gaza all along, it is no surprise that Egypt continues to maintain it now that Tantawi is running the country, and Egypt continues to receive more than a billion dollars of US military aid every year.<\/p>\n

Why did Egypt re-impose and maintain the siege days after announcing the full re-opening of Rafah? US policy toward Gaza has not changed \u2013 punishing the population to harm Hamas and support the US-backed rulers in the West Bank remains Obama\u2019s approach. But it may also be linked to the failed reconciliation between Abbas and Hamas which the Obama administration adamantly opposed when it was first announced in early May.<\/p>\n

Whether the siege of Gaza will ever be lifted remains directly linked to the Egyptian people replacing the SCAF with real democracy. As Joseph Massad has pointed out, that will be no easy task in light of all the entrenching of SCAF\u2019s power since February.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 pambazuka.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revelations from WikiLeaks – As a WikiLeaks cable reveals, the US was even more actively involved than originally thought in \u2018enforcing the siege of Gaza along Egypt\u2019s border\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}