Rami Almeghari writing from Gaza City, occupied Gaza Strip, The Electronic Intifada, 1 January 2008
""We are in a prison. Our situation is so miserable in the arena the Egyptian authorities have placed us in. Yesterday a 45-year-old woman pilgrim died in front of us," says Nayef al-Khaldi. The 55-year-old al-Khaldi is stuck at an arena turned into a shelter at the Egyptian border town at al-Arish along with more than 1,100 other Palestinians, including high-ranking Hamas members, following the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.......
"It's hell. The Egyptian authorities should have taken us back to the Rafah crossing terminal instead of placing us in this sports stadium. Our situation is unbearable, as no one seems to care," al-Khaldi explains in a phone interview.
Almost one week ago, al-Khaldi completed the pilgrimage along with his wife and sister-in-law, with whom he is waiting, suffering the cold winter days and nights.
Cairo at first allowed the entry of the pilgrims through the closed Rafah terminal but now demands these worshipers to enter through the Israeli-controlled crossing.....
Palestinian political analyst in Gaza, Talal Aukal, views the Egyptian move as unjustified.
"Cairo's justification with respect to the emerging standoff is inadequate as any excuses Egypt may produce should not lead to a humanitarian crisis for such helpless believers," he said......
The situation of the stranded pilgrims is a reminder of last summer's impasse when about 6,000 Palestinian travelers were stranded at al-Arish town after Israel closed the crossing to Gaza for three months. The crisis resulted in the deaths of some of the travelers, mostly medical patients who had already received treatment at hospitals in nearby Arab cities, including Cairo......
Thousands of Palestinians staged protests at the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Egypt borderline in Rafah, demanding the Egyptian authorities to allow the return of their family members through the Rafah crossing terminal......."
No comments:
Post a Comment