1.5 million residents of Gaza finally have a gateway to the outside world after the new interim Egyptian government lifted restrictions of the Rafah border with Gaza after 4 years. Ever since former Egyptian President Mubarak was in charge along with the insistence of Israel, Gaza was in total lock-down except for extreme medical conditions. It was in effect to drive Hamas out of power along with depriving millions of Palestinians from basic humanitarian care. (Speaking of Hamas, its such a shame upon the world powers where they insisted Hamas come into the political fold from the gun into making the group into a legitimate power. What the world powers did not bank on was the fact that the Palestinian people democratically voted Hamas into a legitimate political power. The world powers at be screamed democracy and here was a clear and just example of it; and what did the Palestinians get? They got punished for voting for Hamas).
Back to the border opening, the stringent border has led to numerous underground smuggling tunnels that brought vital supplies from Egypt into Gaza. After all, what are the Gazans supposed to do? - who`ve had a border blockade with Egypt as well as a naval blockade by Israel.
The new Egyptian foreign minster said this past Saturday (5/28/11), "the decision to close the border was shameful." His promise to open the Rafah border permanently with out the Israelis is now coming true. An agreement made 6 years old between former Egyptian President Mubarak, U.S., Israel and the EU will no longer be in effect that gave EU monitors full access to the crossing and allowed Tel Aviv to supervise/monitor security though cameras from afar. Israel watched with Egypt at the checkpoints.
Now the permanent opening of Rafah terrifies Israelis - especially weapons finding their way into hands of Gaza militants and being used against Israel.
However, this new development is a major and huge step in deflating the humanitarian crisis that will immediately and significantly improve Palestinian lives - and improving living standards will lead to a drop among those who join the militant groups. This holds true in any urban western city, where armed-gangs are prevalent mainly among socio-economic disadvantaged areas.
This is Godsend, that the current interim Egyptian government understands the will of the people and basic human rights, and not letting outside voices and puppetmasters dictate policy. Creating a new life, invigorating new spirit and hope into Gazans will affect the atmosphere from militancy/conflict into growth and prosperity.
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