CAIRO: Monday July 28 marked the ninth day that a van filled with medicines and medical supplies destined for Gaza remains waiting at Rafah's closed gates. The Scotland-to-Gaza van came to a standstill at the gates on July 20. The Rafah crossing, the only Egypt-Gaza gateway and the only crossing ostensibly not controlled by Israel, has been continuously closed since June 2007, with brief openings for a minimal number of extreme cases, usually medically-related. Since a period of "calm between Gaza-Israel went into effect on June 19, goods entering Gaza through crossings with Israel have decreased, and the Rafah crossing has yet to resume opening regularly. Khalil Al Niss and Linda Willis departed Edinburgh, Scotland on July 10 with 1.5 tons of vital medicines and medical equipment. Since they arrived, they have been waiting at the border to gain permission to carry the goods into Gaza. Due to the seemingly prevailing calm in Gaza, coupled with the humanitarian nature of the goods Al Niss and Willis are transporting, the couple expected to be granted passage after filling out the necessary forms. To their surprise, the situation is more complex. "We were told that we need to get permission from the Israeli authorities, even though the border is between Egypt and Gaza, Willis said. Al Niss and Willis have filled out a number of forms, spoken to numerous officials from the Egyptian border, Egyptian intelligence, and the Palestinian Authority, but still lack the permission to deliver the medical supplies. The two recently submitted to Egypt's Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman a letter with the signatures of six Scottish MPs supporting their endeavor. Although the letter was requested by the Egyptian authorities handling the case, Willis are yet to receive a reply. "Nothing has happened. We're still waiting for permission. Nor has there been any reply to the fax they sent four days ago to President Hosni Mubarak's office, explaining the nature of their request and highlighting the support from the Scottish parliament. Al Niss related that the Palestinian Authority consents to their crossing via Rafah. The hold-up lies elsewhere. "We're still waiting from the permission from Israel and from Egypt, Al Niss says PA officials told him. "The first day we arrived, Al Niss continued, "we were told 'these things will never go through without Israeli permission.' This raises the question: Who really controls Gaza's Rafah crossing? Three weeks have passed since Scotland and support for the couple's cause has grown, with emails and text messages pouring in from the UK and even as far as Brazil, where political cartoonist Carlos Latuff recently depicted the stalemate at the border. In the cartoon, Egypt and Israel's leaders shake hands to seal the deal of closing the border, a hospital patient languishing on the Gaza side and the stalled van filled with medicines on the Egyptian side. The wait at the border has strengthened Willis and Al Niss' conviction that the closure of Gaza's borders is a political game, with no regard for the civilians who suffer as a result of the absence of vital basics, they said. During their days in waiting, the two have observed Palestinians from nearby Al-Arish and from as far as Australia, Bahrain and Germany, all determined to visit family in Gaza, all turned back at the crossing. "They've got limited time, they go every day to the crossing and they get turned back. It's just a terrible humanitarian situation. Terrible, for all people.
