Egypt: Gaza and the lost compassion

By AHMED MELIGY
For three years now countless people have asked me why I never talk about the Palestinian issue in my articles, I simply dodge this question by saying I can’t fight or handle two fronts and that I am focused on my Egypt.
But now I have to break my silence about this issue and be honest about it, which may offend many of my fellow Arabs but the truth must be told the way I see it no matter how ugly it is.
First, before I start explaining my reasons, I must say it out loud that my fellow Palestinian people have my love and respect. Over the past three years I became friends with very bright young Palestinian activists who is a strident seeker of peace, so we all must not generalize and presume guilty by association all the Palestinian people because of Hamas`s terrorist activities towards Israel and my Egypt too, since the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood last year.
The problem started when we signed our peace treaty and recognized Israel as a state, this treaty was the wise thing to do but on the other hand the Palestinian people along with the rest of the Arab countries felt that my Egypt stabbed them in the back by signing this treaty. It reached the point that the Arab league HQ was moved from my Egypt to Tunisia.
Until this very moment, the Palestinian people, especially with prominent Hamas hate propaganda can’t forget this position that my Egypt took on having peace with Israel.
Honestly I can’t blame them for feeling that way towards my country because the Mubarak regime also did nothing for the Palestinians during his 30 years of power.
Mubarak`s regime closed the borders with Gaza many times leading to Palestinian students being stuck in my Egypt and the lack of any medical or food supplies transported to Gaza.
In 2011, Hamas used as a cover the chaos created during the revolution in my Egypt and started building over 1,600 of tunnels to help traffic weaponry and jihadists from Iran, Afghanistan and God knows from where else into Sinai, making it a playground for terrorists. Also during the Muslim Brotherhood`s year in power, they gave Hamas all the help they need to increase their activities in Sinai, which was the most dangerous thing Egypt ever faced.
To give you an example on how dangerous these tunnels of terror are, in August 2011, Hamas planned a terrorist attack in Eilat which resulted in the death of eight Israelis. Then while Israeli forces were chasing the terrorists who retreated into Sinai they accidentally killed five Egyptian soldiers on the border. This of course prompted massive protests in my Egypt that surrounded the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
Hamas`s ultimate dream is to drag my Egypt into an armed conflict with Israel but thank God the Israeli government saw through this and issued a formal apology to my government in less than 24 hours of the incident. Afterward, the situation settled down without any escalations except the protests that surrounded the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
I can’t say that my government did help the Palestinians in anyway in the past decades but this doesn''t give Hamas the right to dig over 1,600 tunnels and smuggle God knows what to my country. My Egypt has every right to have secure and tight border with all of its neighbors, and digging tunnels is totally unacceptable no matter what the reasons are.
But the most important question is why the Egyptian media and government took Israel`s side for the first time ever in its war with Hamas in the past weeks?
Since we ousted the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered the Hamas’s Godfather, their attacks on our soldiers in Sinai started and are ongoing. Their media propaganda against my Egypt escalated with a high tone of hate speech and a few bombings credited to a group called “Ansar Beit El-Maqdes“ which is one of Hamas’s militias.
These attacks along with the hate speech against my Egypt made the Egyptians disappointed and realize the true evil face of Hamas who uses civilian buildings as rocket launchers in order to corner Israel.
Hamas`s propaganda brings the cameras to film the destroyed civilian buildings, blaming Israel for targeting civilians while the God`s honest truth it is Hamas who is gambling with their own people for a few TV clips to gain compassion and support.
My Egypt has not forgot or forgiven Hamas for its alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and its involvement in the terrorist attacks against Egyptian civilians and soldiers over the past years - their latest attack was on July 26th which led to the death of four children who were killed in my Egypt''s Sinai when a mortar round hit their home, in an apparent attack by militants targeting soldiers. The attack took place in the northern Sinai town of El-Joura, believed to be a bastion of Islamist militants who have killed scores of policemen and soldiers over the past year under Hamas orders.
When Israel last month started its war on Hamas the Egyptian military started to highly secure and tighten the borders with Gaza and then started right away to destroy what was left of those tunnels of terrorism.
For the first time ever officials and public figures in my Egypt called for Israel and Egypt to wipe out Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which some including myself are calling the “armed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.”
Even in the Egyptian national newspaper, Azza Samy, the deputy editor of al-Ahram, a state-owned daily, tweeted: “Thanks to you Netanyahu, May God send many of your likes to crush Hamas, agents of the Muslim Brotherhood Adel Naaman, a columnist for al-Watan, a private Egyptian newspaper, wrote: “I’m sorry people of Gaza: I’m not going to sympathize with you until you get rid of Hamas’s gang.”
In my opinion Hamas will never work for peace with Israel or my Egypt because they are the only ones who are profiting from these conflicts. Iran alongside with Qatar are giving them money and rockets just to keep these conflicts going with no care at all for the Palestinian people who are caught in the middle totally helpless. Instead of leading their so called struggle, Hamas leaders are leading luxurious lives in Qatar away from what`s happening on the ground in Gaza.
Here are some videos of the Egyptian media`s reactions towards the war on Hamas.
1. Some of famous Egyptian TV hosts accusing Hamas for their hypocrisy
2. Egyptian TV Host Osama Mounir to Hamas Leaders: Dream on! You belong in a mental asylum because of Hamas`s 10 demands in order to accept the cease-fire that my Egypt tried to negotiate.
The most crazy demand of them all is dictating that my Egypt`s border be wide open under the international supervision of their own selection!!!!
3. In this news link you will find a video of an Egyptian TV host asking the Egyptian military to strike Hamas in Gaza too.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/13/egyptian-tv-announcer-calls-for-destruction-of-hamas-al-ahram-columnist-thanks-netanyahu-video/
Again I swear by Allah with all honesty I am not against the Palestinian people or their right to have a decent life, but Hamas is making it harder and even impossible to have Egypt`s lost compassion. I urge you and I even beg you all to work with us on getting rid of Hamas so we all can have PEACE.
Sincerely your Egyptian brother Ahmed Meligy
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