CAIRO - Egyptian activists, political powers and parties have called for a review of the peace agreement with Israel. Following the attack in Rafah on Sunday that left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead, the call for reviewing the Camp David Accord has become a must. Egypt shares a 180km-long border with Israel in the Sinai Peninsula. The terms of Camp David do not allow Egypt to have more than a token force in Sinai. This stipulation in the treaty is obviously to the Israelis' advantage. The 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel prohibits the former from deploying its armed forces or heavy weapons in the Peninsula's eastern and central regions. Although officials haven't said anything about amending the accords, popular and revolutionary say that this must happen. The Free Bloc for Peaceful Change called on Tuesday for changing some terms of the accords, in order to secure the borders and Sinai, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. The leftist Tagammu Party's youth yon Tuesday launched a popular initiative entitled ‘We will amend it', calling for reviewing the accords in the country's national interests. Haitham Abdel-Fattah, the co-ordinator of the initiative, said that the aim of this initiative is to press the Egyptian Government to amend the peace treaty, adding that they will hold seminars to highlight the parts of the accord that are unfair. Abdel-Fattah said that two pages in Arabic and English have been created on Facebook, so that people round the world can read the accord. Former presidential candidate and the founder of the ‘Strong Egypt Party' (under foundation), Abdel-Monem Abul Fotouh, said that the Rafah attacks happened because the Camp David Accord prevents Egypt from controlling part of its territory, calling for amending it. "What happened in Sinai is deeply wounding," said Mohamed Mahsoub, the newly appointed Parliamentary Affairs Minister. "We must rethink the security arrangements [stipulated in the Camp David agreement] concerning restrictions on the movement of our troops [in the Sinai Peninsula]," he stressed. In statements issued on Monday morning, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa likewise demanded the modification of the peace treaty. Moussa, also a former presidential candidate, while stressing his full support for the Palestinian cause, went on to praise the military's decision to close Egypt's borders with Gaza. Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi said that the Egyptian authorities must reconsider the current security and political arrangements between Israel and Egypt. Ayman Nour, the Chairman of Ghad Al-Thawra Party, also called on President Morsi to renegotiate the terms of the Camp David agreement, in order to allow the deployment of Egyptian armed forces in the Sinai. The Coalition of Revolution Youth on Tuesday called on Dr Morsi to urgently deploy troops in Sinai, as “the circumstances are now exceptional", and to request the United Nations to amend the accord.
