Egypt's actions in Gaza have been a source of confusion for some time. But confusing as it may seem, the Egyptian government's policy is part of a purposeful campaign by a two-faced regime. Four factors shape the Egypt authorities' approach to the Gaza Strip. First, the Egyptian regime aims to present Hamas as an example of the Muslim Brotherhood's ineptitude at governing. Second, the regime's acquiescence to American policies in the region entails an emphasis on Israel's “security.” Third, the Egyptian government wants to preserve its role as a principle mediator in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and thus a significant political player in the region. And finally, Egypt's government attempts to maintain its image as a supporter of the Palestinian cause. Two days after the one-year anniversary of the start of Operation Cast Lead--the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008--Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Cairo for a closed meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. The visit underscored Egypt's important role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and especially in the siege of the Gaza Strip. Egypt's population of 80 million is a force to be reckoned with, and the Mubarak regime has no interest in having the masses up in arms about turmoil in the neighboring Gaza Strip. The timing of the Israeli Prime Minister's visit suggests that the regime is confident about where it stands vis-à-vis the Egyptian public. A closer look at the tactics Egypt uses in the Palestinian enclave, and at the regime's propaganda machine will help shed some light on Egypt's position in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In January 2006, the Egyptian regime was one of many governments who did not recognize Hamas's parliamentary election victory. While the supplanted Fatah government did accede to Hamas forming a new cabinet, president Mahmoud Abbas and his confidants held on to their control over all Palestinian Authority security forces. Due to this condition of undefined authority, widespread violence prevailed in the following months between Palestinian factions and clans. In the Gaza Strip, lawlessness started spiraling out of control. During this period of internal struggle, the Mubarak regime opened Egypt's borders to weapon shipments from the US intended for Mohamed Dahlan, the Palestinian President's National Security Advisor. The controversial Fatah strongman was the mastermind behind much of the unrest on Gaza's streets, funding and arming dissidents willing to oppose the new Hamas authorities. When the Gaza-based cabinet anticipated an impending Dahlan-led coup, it reacted with force, taking control of PA police stations, intelligence, and security forces headquarters. Though by law these security apparatuses fall under the jurisdiction of the PA Ministry of Interior, up until that time Fatah had denied its rival Hamas authority over them. On the final day of Hamas's four-day sweep of the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military sent a ship off the coast of Gaza City for select Fatah escapees. The Egyptian authorities sheltered the Fatah members in Egypt while providing others safe passage to the West Bank. Since that time, the Egyptian regime has treated the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity. Following Hamas' “takeover,” Israel intensified a siege on the Strip that had already been in place. What is often obscured is the fact that Egypt has full legal sovereignty over Gaza's southern border and thus plays a part in the Israeli-led blockade. All exports are prohibited via both Israeli and Egyptian controlled border crossings. Moreover, Israel has slowed the flow of goods into Gaza to Israeli-determined essentials--largely limited to international aid and select Israeli goods dumped onto Gaza's captive market. The Mubarak regime, for its part, has opened its border to Gaza for international aid only under extreme external--never internal--pressure. During Israel's Operation Cast Lead, with aid convoys amassing on its border, goods entered at a trickle. Eventually, Egyptian authorities re-routed aid through the Karem Abu Salim crossing, where Israeli “inspection” implied that the Israeli military determined every item that would and would not enter. Counter to Egyptian government claims, the regime has complete sovereignty over its border crossing with the Gaza Strip, yet coordinates closely with Israeli authorities. The Mubarak regime allowed the opening of the Rafah border crossing when it sent arms shipments to Fatah--with Israeli approval. Furthermore, the Egyptian authorities opened the border under particular international pressure created by the likes of the Viva Palestina convoys, which provided the Egyptian government with fodder to claim their professed pro-Palestinian stance. During Operation Cast Lead, the Egyptian regime likewise opened its border crossing with the primary purpose of portraying itself as in line with an historic tradition of standing by the Palestinians in times of crisis. The recent construction of a steel wall 30 meters under the ground along the Egypt-Gaza border is a further sign that the Egyptian authorities are conceding to collective punishment of Gaza's population. Initially, Egyptian government sources responded to reports of the wall's existence as “baseless,” claiming that the regime “is dealing with smuggling seriously and is capable of stopping it without this wall.” Eventually the Egyptian president conceded to the barrier's construction as a prevention of "threats to national security." The wall, built by the Egyptian firm Arab Contractors with foreign funding, includes pipes that delve deep into the earth with the assumed purpose of flooding existent tunnels. The steel wall is likely to have devastating effects on agricultural land on either side of the barrier. If successful at preventing tunnels, the wall could cut Gaza's final economic lifeline. The tunnels are used to import everything from clothes, household items like tea glasses, coffee and spices to spare car parts, gas and medicine. If the Egyptian government succeeds in preventing such vital imports, the wall will be a case in point of the Egyptian regime's political efforts. By joining the Israeli authorities in collectively punishing the Gaza Strip's entire population, the Egyptian authorities reveal themselves to be a key component of an Israeli undertaking to choke Hamas's opposition to Israeli colonial expansion. The Egyptian regime is complying with its American ally's demands, as well as trying to position itself as a political heavyweight in the region. With growing opposition--not from Israel--but from the likes of Syria, Iran and Qatar, Egypt's regime wants to hold on to its historic regional hegemony. Cynically, Egypt's Foreign Minister reported that in Netanyahu and Mubarak's 29 January meeting, the Egyptians had requested Israel, to “take many internal steps to lift the pressure off of Palestinians.” The Egyptians, however, have no interest in doing so.
