Rami Almeghari writing from al-Arish, Egypt, Live from Palestine, 26 July 2007
"Any patience we might have once had has dissipated during the past weeks we've been stranded here in Egypt -- any patience that would have held us over as we have been badly missing our loved ones in Gaza, the patience we might have once had steadily running out along with our money.
These words have been uttered by most of the Palestinians who are stranded at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing terminal that has been closed by Israel for weeks. They have been forced to stay there, should the border re-open -- yet their plight is becoming more dire day by day, while their appeals fall on deaf ears.
To learn about these seemingly forgotten Palestinians, The Electronic Initfada heard the accounts of some of the thousands of people trying to return to their homes and lives in Gaza......
The author has been stuck in al-Arish along with his sick wife, after she had finished medical treatment in a Cairo hospital.
Yesterday, when I phoned my children, my son Munir answered. When he heard me he cheered and said, "Dad, the crossing will reopen tomorrow." I learned from my mother who took the phone that they heard on al-Jazeera that there have been efforts to reopen the crossing.
Surely, the crossing will eventually reopen, but in the meantime, the patience of all those stranded will have completely run out.
The Rafah crossing terminal, the sole outlet to the outside world for the population of Gaza, has been closed since 10 June, by an Israeli order. Approximately 6,000 Palestinians have been deprived of their right to return back to their homes and families."
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