Column: Borderline Crazy
The Aspen Institute, the Peres Peace Center and the World Economic Forum have been complaining to the International Herald Tribune about the lack of corporate interest in investing in the new utopian Gaza – at least they were a couple of weeks ago -- before the final pullout, the open border with Egypt and the birth of Hamas-Qaedastan.
Not that they have retracted their pleas to corporations and complaints to the media following the burning of the synagogues, the mass influx of weapons and terrorists and the destruction and looting of the Zuckerman, Wolfehnsohn, Stern et al, hothouses.
Meanwhile, Debka reported on Tuesday about the latest investment ideas in Gaza:
“The influx of Palestinian long-range Qassam, anti-tank, anti-air missiles and terrorists entering Gaza from Sinai swelled on Monday, a week after it began. Weapons transfers expanded most in the Rafah area where two battalions of the Palestinian Authority’s crack Force 17 troops charged a hefty toll in cash which they pocketed for letting the weapons through. On orders from Jerusalem, the IDF continues to bide its time as though expecting the Egyptian and Palestinians to assert control over the lawless traffic transiting the Egyptian-Gazan border unchecked.”
Now let’s take a look way back to August 24 and the pre-pullout agreement reached for Egyptian control of the Gaza border. The BBC reported on the agreement which was to guarantee border security.
"Gen Amos Gilad said both sides had reached a 'very detailed agreement down to the last pistol'. Some 750 Egyptian troops will patrol the border after Israel pulls soldiers out of the area, scene of frequent clashes with militants.
Israel has insisted for months that Egypt must boost its security presence at the border, along the so-called 'Philadelphi [sic] route' buffer zone that divides Gaza from Egypt. The deal came after Egypt promised not to transfer weapons to the Palestinian Authority after the pullout. "
Fast forward to a few days ago and here is Amos Gilad again:
"Amos Gilad, an adviser to Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, blasted the current border situation.
‘The infiltration of Palestinians constitutes a potential threat to Egypt's security, and the Egyptians are aware of this,’ Gilad to Israeli radio. ‘Some take advantage of the situation along the border to smuggle arms and ammunition into the Gaza Strip, which will be used to carry out attacks, but also to defy the Palestinian Authority.’
Amos continued, "Egypt is a big country which claims to respect the agreements it signs. It is inconceivable that Egypt as a sovereign state does not control its frontiers." (WND)
Gilad’s words remind me of something that David Frum wrote a while back in a piece called “The Secret of Gaza” where he flew a theory about why Sharon was really, really pushing the expulsion plan. Here is the secret:
“The world wants a Palestinian state? Very well let them have it. And the result, as we are seeing, is something close to panic in the foreign ministries of the West. Not just the West: the Middle East too. The Egyptians do not want a Hamas state on their borders. They had expected Ariel Sharon to place a cordon between Egypt and Gaza. He has said he will not do so that he is leaving the job up to the Egyptians. And indeed last month Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that 750 Egyptian soldiers would soon arrive to replace the Israeli Defense Forces.
Is this Egyptian role on the border a precursor to a larger Egyptian role within Gaza? Egypt after all remains far more vulnerable to Islamic extremist ideology than Israel. The Egyptian authorities have crushed the extremist movement within their borders. Do they wish to see a jihadist state emerge on their borders? It seems unlikely.”
Did Frum get it right about Sharon only to be completely blind to what Sharon, Mofaz, and Gilad were blind to -- the fact that for Egypt, the prospect of destroying Israel might be well worth having a jihad state on its border?
So what’s the IDF doing now besides idly standing by, watching the birth of this Islamo-utopia and worrying about Egyptian security? They are educating. WorldNetDaily reported this on Monday:
"With many Israeli Negev towns within firing range of the Gaza Strip – now completely under Palestinian control – the Israeli Defense Forces is preparing Jewish children in the area to get used to attacks, teaching them about Qassam rockets and terrorist infiltrations. ‘Gaza is armed and the terrorists there have already started firing Qassams into [the Negev towns],' a spokesman from the Home Front Command, a division of the IDF, told WND. 'We're trying to condition the children to get used to attacks so they have some sort of secure feeling when they start to hear that all these bad things might happen to them.’
Feeling a bit dizzy?
Not surprised -- maybe you want to hear about a good investment?
Not that they have retracted their pleas to corporations and complaints to the media following the burning of the synagogues, the mass influx of weapons and terrorists and the destruction and looting of the Zuckerman, Wolfehnsohn, Stern et al, hothouses.
Meanwhile, Debka reported on Tuesday about the latest investment ideas in Gaza:
“The influx of Palestinian long-range Qassam, anti-tank, anti-air missiles and terrorists entering Gaza from Sinai swelled on Monday, a week after it began. Weapons transfers expanded most in the Rafah area where two battalions of the Palestinian Authority’s crack Force 17 troops charged a hefty toll in cash which they pocketed for letting the weapons through. On orders from Jerusalem, the IDF continues to bide its time as though expecting the Egyptian and Palestinians to assert control over the lawless traffic transiting the Egyptian-Gazan border unchecked.”
Now let’s take a look way back to August 24 and the pre-pullout agreement reached for Egyptian control of the Gaza border. The BBC reported on the agreement which was to guarantee border security.
"Gen Amos Gilad said both sides had reached a 'very detailed agreement down to the last pistol'. Some 750 Egyptian troops will patrol the border after Israel pulls soldiers out of the area, scene of frequent clashes with militants.
Israel has insisted for months that Egypt must boost its security presence at the border, along the so-called 'Philadelphi [sic] route' buffer zone that divides Gaza from Egypt. The deal came after Egypt promised not to transfer weapons to the Palestinian Authority after the pullout. "
Fast forward to a few days ago and here is Amos Gilad again:
"Amos Gilad, an adviser to Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, blasted the current border situation.
‘The infiltration of Palestinians constitutes a potential threat to Egypt's security, and the Egyptians are aware of this,’ Gilad to Israeli radio. ‘Some take advantage of the situation along the border to smuggle arms and ammunition into the Gaza Strip, which will be used to carry out attacks, but also to defy the Palestinian Authority.’
Amos continued, "Egypt is a big country which claims to respect the agreements it signs. It is inconceivable that Egypt as a sovereign state does not control its frontiers." (WND)
Gilad’s words remind me of something that David Frum wrote a while back in a piece called “The Secret of Gaza” where he flew a theory about why Sharon was really, really pushing the expulsion plan. Here is the secret:
“The world wants a Palestinian state? Very well let them have it. And the result, as we are seeing, is something close to panic in the foreign ministries of the West. Not just the West: the Middle East too. The Egyptians do not want a Hamas state on their borders. They had expected Ariel Sharon to place a cordon between Egypt and Gaza. He has said he will not do so that he is leaving the job up to the Egyptians. And indeed last month Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that 750 Egyptian soldiers would soon arrive to replace the Israeli Defense Forces.
Is this Egyptian role on the border a precursor to a larger Egyptian role within Gaza? Egypt after all remains far more vulnerable to Islamic extremist ideology than Israel. The Egyptian authorities have crushed the extremist movement within their borders. Do they wish to see a jihadist state emerge on their borders? It seems unlikely.”
Did Frum get it right about Sharon only to be completely blind to what Sharon, Mofaz, and Gilad were blind to -- the fact that for Egypt, the prospect of destroying Israel might be well worth having a jihad state on its border?
So what’s the IDF doing now besides idly standing by, watching the birth of this Islamo-utopia and worrying about Egyptian security? They are educating. WorldNetDaily reported this on Monday:
"With many Israeli Negev towns within firing range of the Gaza Strip – now completely under Palestinian control – the Israeli Defense Forces is preparing Jewish children in the area to get used to attacks, teaching them about Qassam rockets and terrorist infiltrations. ‘Gaza is armed and the terrorists there have already started firing Qassams into [the Negev towns],' a spokesman from the Home Front Command, a division of the IDF, told WND. 'We're trying to condition the children to get used to attacks so they have some sort of secure feeling when they start to hear that all these bad things might happen to them.’
Feeling a bit dizzy?
Not surprised -- maybe you want to hear about a good investment?
posted by Barry Freedman at 2:02 PM
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