Egypt still obstructing Gazans trying to leave Strip through 'open' Rafah crossing

Gaza Border 'Opening' is Just Rhetoric

By Ramzy Baroud

For most Palestinians, leaving Gaza through Egypt is as exasperating a process as entering it.

Governed by political and cultural sensitivities, most Palestinian officials and public figures refrain from criticising the way Palestinians are treated at the Rafah border.

However there is really no diplomatic language to describe the relationship between desperate Palestinians - some literally fighting for their lives - and Egyptian officials at the crossing which separates Gaza from Egypt.

"Gazans are treated like animals at the border," a friend of mine told me.

She was afraid that her fiance would not be allowed to leave Gaza, despite the fact that his papers were in order.

Having crossed the border myself just a few days ago, I could not disagree with her statement.

The New York Times reported on June 8 that "after days of acrimony between Hamas and Egypt over limitations on who could pass through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Hamas said Egypt had agreed to allow 550 people a day to leave Gaza and to lengthen the operating hours of the crossing."

And so the saga continues.

A few weeks after an official Egyptian announcement to "permanently" open the border - thus extending a lifeline for trapped Palestinians under siege in Gaza - the Rafah border was opened for two days of conditional operation in late May and then closed again for four days.

Now it has once more "reopened."

All the announcements are proving to be no more than rhetoric.

The latest "permanent" reopening has come with its own conditions and limitations, involving such factors as gender, age, purpose of visit and so on.

"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country," states Article 13(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This universal principle, however, continues to evade most Palestinians in Gaza. more

- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).

If you like this article, please consider making a contribution to the Palestine Chronicle.

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