Jerusalem-forum@wanadoo.jo

Serene Assir: A questionable breakthrough

Al-Ahram Weekly

05 August, 2007

Hundreds of Palestinians were repatriated this week via the Egyptian-Israeli controlled crossing at Al-Oja, only to be transported to the Erez terminal leading into Gaza after intense Israeli security scrutiny. But thousands more, among them many sick and elderly, remain trapped in Egypt, desperate to return home but uncertain that the repatriation programme will reach them any time soon.

"The plan was supposed to serve those with humanitarian needs but there has been no coordination to find out just who those people are," Nayla Al-Batrikhi, who suffers from kidney disease, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I am very sick. I came to Egypt for treatment but since I got stuck here my pain has only increased. I need to go home."

Following seven weeks of forced displacement, nearly 700 Palestinians returned home during the first three days of the implementation of an Egyptian- approved, Israeli-Palestinian Authority agreed plan. At the time of writing, a total of 1,627 Palestinians out of an estimated 6,000 stranded in Egypt had received permission to return home.

Under the plan, Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the border were asked to register their names. Those who received approval to return home were asked to gather at the Arish Sports Stadium at specified times. They were then transported to the border crossing at Al-Oja, which is usually used for the transport of goods. Once on the other side the Palestinian returnees were subject to searches by Israeli border guards before being transported by bus to the crossing at Erez and finally re-entering Gaza.

Those still stranded outside Gaza fear the criteria for early repatriation has more to do with political and financial concerns than with humanitarian ones.

"The PA is calling the shots on who gets to go home first," says Sheikh Abdel-Sater El-Ghalban, a long time resident of Rafah who has provided up to 100 Palestinians with refuge ever since the Israeli- engineered border closure of 9 June. "The result is people with contacts or the money to pay bribes are getting in first for the most part."

In some cases the lack of coordination has led to approval being granted to some members of a given family but not to others. "There have been cases in which fathers have received permission to return but not their children," says Khitam Hassan Mohamed, who is among those who has found refuge in El-Ghalban's home. "How can a father be expected to abandon his children? I am worried that the same will happen to me and my daughter."

Mohamed came to Egypt seeking medical treatment for his 11-year-old daughter Rana.
The Egyptian authorities concede there have been problems with the coordination of the programme. "We are aware of the faults," says Major General Salaheddin Selim. "But Egypt's main concern, given the exceptional nature of the situation, is that those deemed a security threat by Israel are not transported back. Otherwise Egypt could be accused of playing a role in helping in the detention of people with a history of opposing Israel."

One former resistance fighter, who refused to disclose either his name or that of his organisation, told the Weekly that the number of active resistance fighters present in Egypt is very low. "I came here for follow-up treatment for a bullet wound to my head that dates back to fighting in Gaza in 1993," he said, adding that although he has registered his name for repatriation he doubts he will be returning home until a terminal that is not under Israeli control opens. "But we should not be the main cause of concern. Efforts need to be made to improve the process for the sick and elderly. They must not be made to bear the brunt of Palestinian suffering."

Selim agrees that there is evidence of corruption in the way lists had been drawn up, with much of the blame falling onto the shoulders of the PA. He added that Egypt is currently seeking the renewal of the 2005 PA-Rafah agreement, forged by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which governs the operation of the Rafah terminal. "We will insist, this time round, that Egypt be an equal partner, and not just a monitor, as has been the case in the past," Selim told the Weekly.

Consequent to the border closure, Palestinians resident in the Gaza Strip have faced a rippling economic crisis. Thousands of jobs have been lost.

"Israel, with the approval of the PA, has insisted on the Rafah terminal remaining closed in order to put pressure on Hamas," said El-Ghalban, who notes that Hamas has practised restraint so far and has not, as its supporters have done in the past, forced the border to reopen. "But with the ongoing pressure they face I am concerned that an explosion will come if a real solution is not found soon."