CAIRO: Gazans needy to cross over to Egypt will have to wait this weekend, as the Rafah-Gaza border will be closed for Egypt's national holiday “Armed Forces Day,” on October 6. The holiday commemorates the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, where leading Arab officers led major victories in the first battles of the war. The war was fought from October 6-26, 1973, with Egypt and Syria leading an Arab coalition force against Israel. The war started with a surprise attack on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The practice of closing borders for national holidays is a familiar phenomenon to the Palestinians, as they do not themselves control their own borders. The checkpoints between Israeli and Palestinian territory close now and then for Jewish holidays. Last week, the entrance to the West Bank and the Allenby crossing connecting the West Bank and Jordan were closed off, as Israelis celebrated Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. BM
