The Karny conundrum, Tuesday, March 21, 2006

<snip>

"Israel’s political echelon -- meaning acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- ordered the Karny crossing into Gaza opened today for a few hours to enable the transportation of flour, sugar, rice, and other basics into the poverty-stricken Strip. The decision, actually made yesterday under enormous pressure from the Americans but then rescinded within half an hour by the army because of ‘security alerts,’ runs counter to Israel’s intentions in Gaza, which are to be free of any responsibility for the Strip. That was the plan originally devised by Ariel Sharon when he decided on ‘disengagement’ from Gaza as a ‘punishment’ for the Palestinian terrorism. His thinking was that if Israel totally removed its presence from Gaza, its responsibilities as occupier of Palestinians in Gaza would be over. It apparently never occurred to him or any of the strategists at his side, such as Olmert, that by controlling three out of the four entrances and exits to and from Gaza, Israel not only did not put an end to the occupation, but made it even more stifling for the Gazans.

Thus, the images of bakeries shutting down in Gaza this week, because of a lack of flour due to Israel keeping the Karny crossing closed more than half the time since the year began, combined with a growing feeling in Jerusalem that the Hamas is succeeding at presenting itself as moderate, forced Israel’s hand into reportedly allowing about 100 truckloads of supplies into Gaza. It’s hardly enough for Gaza’s 1.2 million residents to keep their economy going -- by refusing to allow any exports out of Gaza, including goods manufactured for Israeli companies, Israel has effectively shut down the Gazan economy.

Israel has only itself to blame: after all, it could have allowed the Rafah crossing, the only independent Palestinian border crossing to Egypt, to be used for more than just human traffic. But fearing it would be used to transport terrorist supplies, the Israeli-Egyptian agreement on the Rafah crossing is that is only for people, not goods. The Palestinians meanwhile don’t want to use the Kerem Shalom crossing, arguing it is too small, and too slow for their needs. They will only accept it if Karny is also kept running."

<snip>

"The Karny shutdown has become symbolic of Israel’s dilemma nowadays. It is worried by security concerns, but also aware that starving Palestinian children does nothing to improve Israeli security or its political standing in the world. Meanwhile, the Hamas continues its efforts to present itself as a pragmatic, if principled, government, with PA prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh sounding decidedly conciliatory, at least when he speaks to American media, like CBS last week. Israeli officials refer to Haniyeh’s rhetoric as ‘sweet-talk’ meant to deceive the world, arguing that Haniyeh speaks differently when he talks to Arab audiences and that whenever he makes a moderate statement, it is refuted the next day by Hamas spokesmen."

http://www.ariga.com/2006-03-21.shtml


Edited to add map from BBC article:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4828706.stm

Apparently the other border crossing into Egypt is too small. Time for an upgrade.