The plight of Palestinian pilgrims stranded in northern Sinai is approaching an end but the trauma of Gaza will continue, reports Dina Ezzat from Arish "We cannot be left stranded for long. It is not an option. We have to go back, and sooner rather than later... If we are kept here then there will be serious demonstrations," said Khamis Al-Naggar, an Islamist member of the Palestinian parliament, reflecting on the crisis faced by 2,500 Palestinian pilgrims who arrived by boat from the Red Sea port of Nuweiba after completing the hajj. Their journey began early in December when they entered Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah crossing. The Egyptian authorities, fearing riots on the Gaza side of the crossing, had opened Rafah to allow the pilgrims' emergency transit. Readying themselves for the holiest rite of Islam, Palestinian pilgrims had refused to pass through the Kerm Abu Salem crossing that links Egypt with Israel for fear of being subject to random arrests by Israeli forces. Under the 2005 American supervised agreement Palestinian Authority security officers and European Union observers are supposed to control the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing point, while Egypt is not supposed to open its side in the absence of Palestinian and European Union partners. Since the Hamas take-over of Gaza last June the crossing -- the only exit for the population of the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel -- has been closed. In the absence of Palestinian Authority officers and European Union observers Cairo has allowed the crossing to be opened only in the event of exceptional emergency. In the case of the pilgrims, last December, it faced heavy criticism for its unilateral decision to open the crossing point. "Serious complaints were made to the US side, not just from Israel but from officials within the [Fatah] Palestinian Authority who wanted the pilgrims denied exit from Gaza in order to score a political point over their rivals in Hamas," complained one Egyptian official. The result was a public row between Egypt and Israel, tension between Cairo and the Palestinian Authority, and a crass demonstration of anger on the part of the US. When the pilgrims arrived back in Egyptian territory they were asked to spare Egypt another headache by crossing via Kerm Abu Salem. The pilgrims say that Egyptian officials had asked them to sign a declaration saying they would return through Kerm Abu Salem. They refused, insisting the request was impossible, and now argue that if the Egyptian authorities knew they would not be able to return the way they had come they should not have opened the Rafah crossing in the first place. The pilgrims were taken to Arish from Nuweiba in two groups. They have been provided with basic shelter and healthcare services that many complain are inadequate, and are subject to tight security, prevented from leaving the camps in which they are temporarily housed. For the majority of pilgrims, though, the conditions they face in Egypt are a side issue. What they want most is to return home. Egyptian officials say they have been working round the clock to resolve the crisis in a way that accommodates the wishes of the pilgrims not to pass through Kerm Abu Salem while sparing Egypt from another diplomatic confrontation. Egyptian officials had first to secure the agreement of the Palestinian Authority to facilitate the return of the pilgrims via the Rafah crossing. A reluctant go-ahead has been offered. "President Hosni Mubarak is exerting intense effort to contain the situation," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced abruptly yesterday following talks with Mubarak in Cairo. Egypt, say officials close to the negotiations, has been in "endless talks" not just with the Israeli government but other concerned international players. "We had to explain to everybody that to leave these pilgrims stranded in Sinai is not just a headache for Egypt but will arouse widespread anger in the Muslim world," said one official. By yesterday Egypt had secured tacit agreement from all concerned parties "to contain the crisis" and allow the pilgrims back through Rafah with their belongings. Egypt, say sources, has offered to undertake the necessary security checks and searches to ensure large amounts of money and arms are not smuggled across the border, issues over which Israel has repeatedly expressed its concern. Egypt has, moreover, said that in the future it will allow the Rafah crossing point to open only after securing the agreement of all concerned parties. Under the agreement finalised yesterday afternoon the first batch of pilgrims was supposed to be allowed through the Rafah crossing point as of yesterday. Before Saturday all 2,500 pilgrims -- with the possible exception of a handful of Hamas figures to whose return Israel objects -- should be back in Gaza. Egypt remains apprehensive about the occurrence of similar problems in the future. The real answer to the problem of the Rafah crossing, they argue, is for Hamas to end its enforced take-over of Gaza. "Palestinian Authority officers and the European Union observers must be able to return. This is the only real answer to the problems faced by the people of Gaza," commented one Egyptian official. But for this to happen a major reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas must first take place. The consensus among Egyptian and Arab officials is that such a reconciliation will be extremely difficult to engineer. (see p.2)
