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H16507

Headlines : Civil Liberties

Summary:

This is about as dramatic a protest as the Palestinians could have made; not only that, it was a functional protest, brought about by the intense need for basic daily supplies.

And, it worked. Tens of thousands got across, got food, and got back to their families without suffering mass detentions, arrests, slaughter or other repression. Watch a 5-min. Al Jazeera clip of the scene

Not surprisingly, Egyptian sympathies lie with Palestine.
The resultant impact on Israeli-Egyptian relations should be closely monitored by those seeking to make predictions for the area. Since Hamas, not Egyptian authorities, controlled/patrolled the new border crossing, Israel can be said to have legitimate fears that many weapons crossed the border in the last 48 hours.

This story is not over; it is just beginning….

[Posted By zirkonyx]

By unattributed
Republished from MSNBC / AP

Gunmen destroyed most of 7-mile wall; Gazans cross to buy scarce goods

Tens of thousands of Palestinians on foot and on donkey carts poured into Egypt from Gaza Wednesday after masked gunmen used land mines to blast down a seven-mile barrier dividing the border town of Rafah.

The border breach was a dramatic protest against the closure of the impoverished Palestinian territory imposed last week by Israel.

Jubilant men and women crossed unhindered by border controls over the toppled corrugated metal along sections of the barrier, carrying goats, chickens and crates of Coca-Cola. Ibrahim Abu Taha, 45, a Palestinian father of seven, was in the Egyptian section of Rafah with his two brothers and $185 in his pocket. “We want to buy food, we want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese,” Abu Taha said, adding that he would also buy cheap Egyptian cigarettes. Abu Taha said he could get the basic foods in Gaza, but at three times the cost.

Police from the militant Islamic group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action, imposing no border controls for those who crossed. “Freedom is good. We need no border after today,” said unemployed 29-year-old Mohammed Abu Ghazal.

[end excerpt]

Click here to read the rest of the article

Posted by zirkonyx
There is no greater guarantee of justice than the free flow of information. I am fully aware of the information renaissance we are hurtling through; encouraging debate in my community and attempting to stand up for independent thought and expression are my...