Following a week in which the authorities denied passage of food supplies and a construction material convoy led by opposition MPs through the Rafah border crossing, Amira Howeidy reports on efforts to change border regulations Local pressure on the government to break the Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza via the Rafah border crossing is mounting here in the aftermath of Israel's killing of peace activists who attempted, from the sea, to end the blockade on 31 May. The Israeli assault which resulted in the killing of nine Turkish passengers who were on the flotilla provoked massive protests in Egypt, particularly outside the security-tight capital. While the demonstrations conveyed a message of solidarity with Turkey and the besieged Gaza Strip, they also delivered a message to the authorities here: lift the blockade and open the border. A day after the Israeli massacre in the Mediterranean, Egypt announced it will open the Rafah border crossing "until further notice" for humanitarian cases. But the brief announcement was void of a mechanism for this, leaving room for speculation and scepticism. And the government's seriousness was immediately put to test. Less than 24 hours after the decision to open the border crossing, two aid convoys carrying medical and food supplies took off from Alexandria's Pharmacists Syndicate to Rafah. The convoys were stopped several times by security officials and for long hours in Suez then in Balouza, near Arish in North Sinai. Once they arrived in Arish on Wednesday late afternoon, they were prevented from advancing towards Rafah, approximately 48km and advised by security escorts to try the next day. The convoy ended up waiting for four days until its medical aid was eventually allowed to enter the crossing on Saturday 5 June. The food supplies continued to be stalled in Arish for days afterwards. The Pharmacists Syndicate organisers of the convoy eventually gave up and returned to Alexandria on Monday 7 June, leaving the food items in a warehouse owned by the Doctors' Syndicate Relief Committee (RC). Although they had no intention or desire to do so, the organisers decided that the RC will deliver the foods through the Israeli Nitzana border crossing in Al-Ouga. Ayman Abdallah who accompanied the convoy since its departure from Alexandria told Al-Ahram Weekly that they were compelled to resort to this option, "because it was clear that the [Egyptian] authorities were not going to allow the food through Rafah and it would have rotted if we continued to wait for their approval." Ever since Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza in June 2007 after Hamas took control of the Strip, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza became problematic for Cairo. The crossing is Gaza's only exit to the world that's not controlled by Israel. If Egypt opens it as it does with its other border crossings with Libya and Sudan, it will thwart Israel's siege of 1.5 million Palestinians. But Cairo decided it can not open the crossing normally, citing an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) -- which expired in 2006 -- whereby PA officials and EU observers control the crossing which is connected to monitors, on the other side, that allow the Israeli army to observe and check anything going in or out of Rafah and to approve or deny entry of individuals. But when Hamas took over the Strip in 2007, the EU observers refused to remain at the border because the PA was no longer in charge there. This left the border to Hamas's control only and Egypt responded by closing the border. Cairo later managed the border crossing by reconnecting it with Israel which fully supervises passage to and from Gaza, from monitors in Rafah. In an interview with state TV during Israel's war on Gaza in December 2008, President Hosni Mubarak said that Cairo reached an agreement with Israel in order to "open" the crossing. He added in the 2 January 2009 interview that "there are Israeli cameras there and a monitor to oversee movement in the crossing. Israel must be notified of who enters through the crossing." Mubarak said there are "observers" who are present at the crossing and who report to Israel when there are violations. During Israel's 22-day war on Gaza, Egypt came under heavy international and local criticism for not opening the border to allow safe passage, as per the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Palestinians. Criticism escalated lately following the Israeli attack on the flotilla, which drew attention to the miserable situation in Gaza as a result of the blockade. And again, all eyes turned to Cairo because of the 14km Egypt-Gaza border. But this time around critics decided to take matters into their hands. On Monday morning a group of nine opposition MPs -- seven from the Muslim Brotherhood and two independents representing the would-be Karama (Dignity) Party -- led a convoy of cement and steel rods and aid to Rafah. The MPs had notified the parliament speaker on 2 June of their decision. The mission of the "Egyptian Freedom Convoy", they told the Weekly, was to make a "point" about what Egypt is allowing into Gaza and the "reality" of its decision to "open the border crossing". After security attempts to stall the convoy's advance to Rafah, which were met with defiance from the MPs who threatened a sit-in in Balouza, they were allowed to proceed. But they were stopped again at a checkpoint in Al-Reesa, right before Arish where a police force with high ranking security officers prevented the MPs from entering Rafah with their supplies of construction material. After lengthy negotiations where the security officers cited "orders from above" the MPs decided to leave the cement and steel rods in Arish and proceeded towards Gaza. They rejected the proposal by the security officers to send their aid supplies to Gaza via the Israeli Nitzana crossing in Al-Ouga. When it finally arrived at the crossing, the delegation denied entry by border officials who said they were not notified of the parliamentary delegation and therefore weren't authorised to allow them entry to Gaza. The MPs succeeded in crossing into Gaza the next day, Tuesday 8 June where they were greeted enthusiastically in the Strip and held a join press conference with their Palestinian counterparts from Hamas. They were still in Gaza as Al-Ahram Weekly was going to press. On Wednesday morning Karama MP Hamdeen Sabahi posted the following message on Twitter: "Greetings from Gaza, the symbol of resistance and pride... The liberation of Palestine begins with the liberation of Egypt." Speaking to the Weekly by phone, Sabahi said that the point of their convoy was to "defy" the blockade and end it. He considered Egypt "part of the siege" and must, therefore, end it from its side. "We demand that the Rafah border crossing be subject to the same laws, rules and forms of sovereignty that Egypt exercises over its other border crossings with Sudan and Libya," he added. After suffering the Israeli war, and despite international pledges to reconstruct Gaza, Israel has prevented any form of construction material from entering the Strip. Thousands of families live in tents and make shift houses after their homes were destroyed during the war. The opposition MPs wanted to emphasise this element and, in the words of Sabahi "expose" what Egypt is "preventing from entering Gaza from its side of the border." In an interview with the Weekly last week, North Sinai's Governor Murad Muwafi said that Egypt allows only individuals and medical aid through Rafah. Anything else must go to Israel's Nitzana crossing in Al-Ouga. As part of its siege policy, Israel bans lots of products from entering Gaza. The Israeli authorities refuse to disclose information regarding the restrictions on transferring goods into Gaza. But the Tel-Aviv based Israeli Gisha legal Centre "deduced" a list of the banned products based on information provided by Palestinian traders and businesspersons. The "list" changes from time to time and is not final, but is updated constantly by Gisha. According to the centre, Israel banned chocolate, pasta, tea, coffee, jam, potato chips, coriander, biscuits, sweets, newspapers, toys, notebooks amongst a host of prohibited items. Israel does not allow any form of construction material. Likewise, Egypt does not allow any of these products across Rafah and invites those who want to deliver non-medical aid to do so via Al-Ouga. After the parliamentarians, another convoy will head to Rafah tomorrow, Friday from Cairo to defy this situation. The convoy will carry symbolic supplies of variety of banned food items and attempt to deliver them via the Rafah border crossing. Public figures including novelist Radwa Ashour and media figure Hamdi Qandil, left wing, Islamic and independent activists with the "End the Siege" popular committee headed by ex-judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri and dozens of journalists will be on board.
