The Skeptic الشكاك

533 Egypt Detains Al-Jazeera Journalist Again, Hunts Palestinians

Police detained Al-Jazeera journalist Huwaida Taha Mitwalli again, human-rights organizations and security officials said today. She was making a documentary about seasonal farm workers in Imbaba.

Mitwalli had also been detained almost a year ago to the day as she attempted to board a plane to Doha. Security officers confiscated tapes of a documentary she was making about torture in Egypt and charged her with “practicing activities that harm the national interest of the country,” and “possessing and giving false pictures about the internal situation in Egypt that could undermine the dignity of the country.”

On May 2, a Cairo criminal court sentenced her, in absentia, to six months in prison and a imposed a fine of LE 20,000 ($3,590) for the documentary. She is, or rather, had been, free, pending the conclusion of her appeal on February 11.

It’s not yet clear if she will face new charges for this new documentary.

It has now been almost a week since Palestinians blew holes in the Rafah border fence and started streaming over into Egypt by the hundreds of thousands to buy goods denied to them by Israel’s closure of the Strip.

An Al-Jazeera TV segment reported today that Egyptian security forces had started laying barbed wire across the holes while armed Hamas men watched from Gazan Rafah.

Back in Cairo, Palestinian Authority diplomats secured an agreement from Egypt and the European Union to put the PA’s armed men in control of the border, rather than Hamas’.

The prospect of a PA buffer must look attractive to Egypt, but leaves me feeling a bit sorry for Abbas. (Pity the proxy, hate the… proxification?) Not as sorry as I feel for anyone unfortunate enough to live on the edge of the wasteland of demolished homes dividing the town of Rafah, though. Especially now that she faces the prospect of renewed fighting between Fatah and Hamas on her doorstep.

I also feel a bit sorry for President Mubarak. This has been a terrible embarrassment all around. Mubarak is expected to meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and a delegation from Hamas on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit is buying time.

With all the talk of Israel’s giving Gaza back to Egypt, or of expanding Gaza, Mubarak and intelligence chief Omar Sulaiman must be even more anxious to put an end to this crisis.

Mubarak & Co. get enough headaches from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. They’d certainly prefer not to see the Brotherhood’s armed Palestinian cousins running around. So there’s a partial blockade of the town of Rafah, and security forces are fanning out across the country. They’re telling landlords and hotel owners to report Palestinians and to refuse them lodging. They’re stopping vehicles, looking for Palestinians.

In Cairo, everyone’s talking about Abutreeeeka—more than usual, I mean. The star Ahly striker is one of a few, living, Egyptian national heroes on his worst day. (Personally, I’ve always liked Barakat — Ahly’s play just doesn’t look the same when he’s not there, quietly making things happen). But the weekend’s match against Sudan will fix his place alongside other Egyptian heroes in history’s firmament. He scored two out of Egypt’s three goals to beat Sudan… and got a yellow card for displaying this T-Shirt:

Hossam‘s “Bravo, ya Abu Treika” echoed from every concrete wall in Cairo today.

2 Comments »

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1. What do you think of this samsonblinded.org/blog/israel-cannot-blockade-gaza.htm ? Shoher is arguably the most right Israeli today, but he argues Israel should talk to Hamas as Egypt will not maintain the blockade of Gaza.

   Comment by Alex — February 14, 2008 #

2. I have long argued that Israel and the rest of the world should talk to Hamas, to encourage whatever pragmatic tendencies they have shown. At one point, they seemed to want to go mainstream, and I believe the world missed an opportunity to help them do so after the elections.

   The current policy of withholding food and power from the population while arming Hamas’ local enemies seems to me to be patently insane.

   I’m not sure what Egypt will do the next time the border is breached. The Egyptians refrained from killing Palestinians to keep them from crossing last time. Recent posturing suggests they may not refrain from using lethal force a second time, but I honestly don’t know if all the tough “we’ll break the legs of anyone trying to cross from Rafah” rhetoric will stand when push comes to shove.

   Comment by The Skeptic — February 15, 2008 #

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