Egypt

Dehumanisation of the Palestinians

Al Ahram Weekly

Azza Radwan Sedky, Tuesday 28 Nov 2023

The Western media is reluctant to allow the Palestinians their full humanity, often reducing them to statistics rather than seeing them as human beings, writes Azza Radwan Sedky

In a respite that will not last long, Israel has maintained its part in the truce in the war on the Gaza Strip. It has temporarily stopped bombing Gaza, so that the Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas can be freed and returned to their homes.

The event has been depicted with anticipation and heartfelt anxiety in the Western media. However, the imbalance in the reporting of it has been blatant.

I watched the mainstream Western media as the Israeli hostages were about to be freed. There was an aura of elation and relief on the Israeli side, even as it did not expect Hamas to deliver on its promises.

Western reporters, seen standing on Israeli soil, were determined to highlight the feelings of Israelis. They named the hostages and displayed their photographs, a fundamental act in the humanising process. They spoke to their kin and cited anguished family members. They presented viewers with information about the hostages, who they are, what they enjoy, and what they favour.

They also went further and spoke about what the hostages could have been exposed to, what they should not be asked, and the medical procedures they were about to face. They focused on the needs of the hostages, whether psychological, emotional, or medical.

The presenters also showed maps to help viewers to understand the route the hostages were about to take from Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip to the Rafah Crossing on Egyptian soil and then on to Israel where they would undergo initial medical checkups and be reunited with their families. The channels outdid each other in detailing the suffering that the hostages had experienced in their 49 days of captivity and the process of their returning home.

Much as I sympathised with the hostages and was overjoyed at their being reunited with their families, something was lacking in the coverage of this event: balance. What the channels did was have their viewers empathise with the hostages by talking about their lives and their agonising experiences, but the fact that the Palestinian prisoners that were also about to be freed were not given names or stories was dehumanising.

The 5,000 Palestinian children who have thus far died as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza were presented as merely statistics instead of human beings. The elation of the families awaiting the 39 freed Palestinian prisoners was ignored. This is what the Western media have been doing all along, and it is revolting.  

When you relate to a person, you empathise with him or her, seeing him or her as a full human being. When you do not relate to a person, he or she remains unidentified and less fully human. A tweet by US commentator Juan Cole on X (Twitter) put it this way by saying “Hey @msnbc why are released Israeli hostages humanised (as they should be) as dads and kids, but released Palestinian hostages are given no names or families and called ‘males’ and ‘females’ as though they were animals?”  

The racist rhetoric is deliberate and calculated unless, indeed, the Palestinians really do not matter much to the Western media.

It goes without saying that the Western media has adopted a pro-Israeli stance in the current war. The Palestinian NGO the Institute of Palestinian Studies, in a series titled “Genocide in Gaza,” says that its “racist rhetoric is intended to dehumanise the Palestinians in order to neutralise public outrage at what may amount to the worst ethnic cleansing since the 1948 Nakba and what constitutes a genocide at the hands of one of the most advanced militaries in the world, while all the world powers watch and do nothing.”

The same article says that “the American government props up an Israeli military that openly condemns Palestinian children to death and refers to Palestinian civilians as ‘human beasts.’ Palestinian life does not hold value in the profane equation of American power, wherein the bombing of a hospital in Gaza is rendered as ‘an explosion.’”  

The Western media parrots what Western politicians say. When the leaders of major Western countries like the US and the UK promote the daily aggression by Israel against the Palestinians as the “right to defend itself” and give Israel the green light to commit genocide, it is no surprise to hear the same sort of rhetoric from the media.

The sheer imbalance in the presentation of the lives of Palestinians and Israelis has never been more obvious. Each time a Western television channel interviews an Arab or Palestinian spokesperson, the question is asked whether the interviewee “condemns” the actions of Hamas on 7 October.

Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian politician, and Bassem Yousef, the Egyptian satirist, were asked this question during Western media interviews. Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot was also asked it, and he responded by noting “the business of always being obsessed with blaming the victim, the occupied, the colonised, the besieged, when in fact I didn’t see you asking her [the Likud politician also being interviewed] to condemn… with your first question the killing of an entire family [in Gaza] that your reporter just mentioned.”

Words can be powerful and manipulative, and the Western media uses them craftily to mislead. Words are used to dehumanise the Palestinians. Israelis are “killed,” while Palestinians “die.” Palestinians are “terrorists,” while Israelis “have a right to defend themselves.” Israelis are "men" and "women," while Palestinians are "females" and "males." Israeli sources report the “facts,” while Hamas or Arab sources make “allegations” or “claims.” The double standards are glaring.

The New York Times changed its original headline after the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza was attacked. Originally, this said “Israeli attack,” but then it was changed to “attack on the hospital in Gaza,” and finally to “explosion at the hospital in Gaza.”  

The Washington Post’s headline on the same attack was “Hundreds feared dead in Gaza Hospital attack,” which made it seem as if the Palestinians involved had died of other causes and not because of the attack on the Hospital. The euphemism used to dilute the violent Israeli attack is undeniable.

No Western media outlet mentions the injustices committed by Israel; no Western media outlet talks of what happened in 1948 as being the main cause of the current crisis; no Western media outlet points to Israel not wanting a permanent peace with the Palestinians or recognises that its intention is to displace the Palestinians by sending them off to other countries.

Will there ever come a day when the Western media is impartial and avoids biased disinformation? I doubt it.

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*The writer is former professor of communication based in Vancouver, Canada.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 November, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Israa Jaabis - A Palestinian's tale of struggle and resilience

We need to humanize them by repeating their names and recalling their stories. 

Ahram Online

Farah Ahmed, Sunday 26 Nov 2023

Israa Jaabis, a 37-year-old Palestinian woman, endured a challenging eight-year incarceration by Israeli occupation authorities from 2015 to 2023, in a story of struggle, resilience, and triumph of the human spirit.

Prominent Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabis (C) arrives at her home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem early on November 26, 2023. AFP

On 11 October 2015, Israa set out on a journey from Jericho to Jerusalem with her son Mu'tasim, their car loaded with household items. A breakdown near an Israeli military checkpoint changed the course of her life. An encounter with a former Israeli police officer escalated, resulting in a tragic turn of events.

Requesting Israa's ID, the officer insisted she remain inside the car while he inspected her documents. Ignoring her concerns about a strange smell, the situation took a dire turn when a kitchen gas cylinder in her car caught fire due to engine failure. Desperate to escape, Israa's attempts were thwarted as the officer forcefully shut the car door, causing her severe injuries.

The aftermath left Israa with third-degree burns covering 60% of her body, leading to the amputation of eight fingers, significant damage to the remaining digits, and partial vision loss in her right eye. Her ears fused to her head, resulting in hearing impairments. Despite her critical condition, she was denied proper medical care and pain relief in prison, with surgery requests consistently turned down by Israeli prison authorities.

Israa's release on 25 November 2023 marked a significant moment, as part of the truce between Hamas and Israel. Expressing humility upon her release, she said, "We are ashamed to rejoice while all of Palestine is wounded," emphasizing the need for the release of all prisoners.

Today, a Jordanian doctor announced their commitment to provide free medical treatment for Israa, offering a glimmer of hope for her recovery.

It is noteworthy that the released Palestinian prisoners, including Israa, are exclusively women and individuals under the age of 19. Similarly, those released by Hamas as captives are limited to women and children.

The plight of around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli captivity, including 31 women and 160 minors, is a growing concern. This number has surged since October 7, with Israel arresting 1,215 Palestinians in the West Bank.

سيناريوهات ما بعد الحرب

الاهرام

الأثنين 13 من جمادي الآخرة 1445 هــ 27 نوفمبر 2023 السنة 148 العدد 50029

د. عزة رضوان صدقى

إسرائيل سوف تستمر فى تصعيد العمليات القتالية وتسوية غزة بالأرض، وطمس آلاف آخرين من الأبرياء. ومع ذلك، مثل كل الحروب، ستنتهى هذه الحرب عند نقطة ما. ما الذى سوف يحدث آنذاك؟ المسألة شائكة وليس لها إجابة مبسطة

لسنوات طوال، شنت إسرائيل غارات وحشية على غزة وقصفتها بالقنابل مرات ومرات ليعقب الوحشية وقف هش لإطلاق النار، لتعود الأمور إلى وضعها المأساوى القائم منذ عام ٢٠٠٧، حيث يعيش سكان غزة فى سجن مفتوح قائم على الذل. هذه المرة الاختلاف بيِّن. بدأت حماس بقتل آلاف الإسرائيليين؛ وردت إسرائيل بقتل أكثر من ١٣ ألف مدنى حتى الآن. لكن فجأة أصبح العالم أكثر وعيا بمحنة الفلسطينيين والوضع الإنسانى الذى تسبب فى حرب اليوم

إذا تمكنت إسرائيل من إبادة حماس فما الذى سيحدث بعد ذلك؟ من على استعداد لإدارة قطاع سوُّى بالأرض وشعب ملىء بالعذاب والغضب؟ ومن هى القوات التى ترغب فى تولى المسئولية ودفع غرامة وجودها فى غزة؟ أحد السيناريوهات الوهمية هو بقاء إسرائيل فى غزة لتتولى الحكم والإشراف على القطاع، حتى وإن أشار بعض كبار المسئولين الإسرائيليين مرارا وتكرارا إلى أنهم لا يرغبون فى إعادة احتلال غزة. لكن آخرين تعهدوا بتحمل المسئولية الأمنية فى غزة بعد الحرب لأن إسرائيل لا تستطيع المخاطرة بالتخلى عن سيطرتها على غزة. هؤلاء يقولون إنه بغض النظر عن الكيان الذى سيتولى مسئولية الشئون المدنية فى غزة، فإن إسرائيل ستكون السلطة الأمنية الكاملة

وبالطبع فإن هذا الخيار سيكون غير مقبول على الإطلاق من جانب الفلسطينيين، لأنه يمثل عودة الاحتلال الإسرائيلى الكامل. كما أن المآسى تتسبب فى الاستعداد للانتقام والشهادة. وبالتالى، ربما نشهد ولادة جيل جديد من المناضلين. يقول خالد الجندى، مدير برنامج فلسطين والشئون الفلسطينية الإسرائيلية فى معهد الشرق الأوسط: بنفس الرغبة التى لدى الإسرائيليين فى الانتقام، يمكننا أن نفترض أن نفس الدافع الإنسانى سيكون حاضرا على نطاق أوسع بكثير بين الفلسطينيين

فى هذا السيناريو، تتصور إسرائيل غزة منزوعة السلاح، مع عدم وجود حماس لتدافع عنها، لكن الحلقة المفرغة سوف تستمر، حيث سيتكبد جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلى خسائر مفجعة ومتواصلة، لأن ما لا تدركه إسرائيل هو أن المعاناة تولد الكراهية، وأن الإبادة الجماعية غير المسبوقة التى تحملها سكان غزة سوف تطارد المحتلين. هذا السيناريو الأول سوف يفشل فشلا ذريعا

وهناك سيناريو آخر يتمثل فى قوة متعددة الجنسيات تتبع الأمم المتحدة، تضم قوات مصرية وعربية أخرى، لإدارة القطاع. يقول عامى أيالون، الرئيس السابق لجهاز المخابرات الداخلية الإسرائيلى: أستطيع أن أرى جنودا مصريين وأردنيين وسعوديين مع المجتمع الدولى يسيطرون على المنطقة خلال المرحلة الانتقالية. إلا أن الدول العربية ستكون مترددة فى المشاركة فى مثل هذا المشروع لأنه يمثل نسخة أخرى من الاحتلال. وتعتقد مصر والعرب أن غزة والضفة الغربية يجب أن يديرهما الفلسطينيون. وقد رفضت مصر مقترحا بإدارة الأمن فى غزة حتى تتمكن السلطة الفلسطينية من تولى المسئولية بعد انتهاء الحرب

مرة أخرى، لا يبدو هذا خيارًا ممكنًا. قد يُطلب من السلطة الفلسطينية إدارة القطاع، وهو السيناريو الأمثل. لقد تمكنت السلطة الفلسطينية من التعامل مع القمع الإسرائيلى فى الضفة الغربية، وقد يقبل سكان غزة بالسلطة الفلسطينية، لكن إسرائيل سوف تتمسك برفض هذا الخيار، فهى تنظر إلى كل الفلسطينيين، سواء كانوا من حماس أو السلطة الفلسطينية، باعتبارهم نفس الكيان. وفى كل الأحوال، فإن السلطة الفلسطينية مترددة فى الإشراف على غزة ما لم يتم التوصل إلى اتفاق شامل يشمل الضفة الغربية. علاوة على ذلك، فهى لا تريد أن تبدو وكأنها مؤيدة ومتواطئة لإسرائيل

الولايات المتحدة متحمسة لعودة السلطة الفلسطينية إلى غزة، ومغادرة إسرائيل غزة بمجرد انتهاء الحرب. وقال وزير الخارجية أنتونى بلينكن مرارا: يجب أن تخضع غزة لإشراف السلطة الفلسطينية موحدة مع الضفة الغربية، وهو إشارة قوية حول ما تعتبره الولايات المتحدة النهاية المفضلة للحرب. هذا الحل قد يؤدى فى النهاية إلى حل الدولتين. ومصر لها نفس الرأى. مع ذلك، سيكون من الصعب للغاية إقناع الإسرائيليين بمثل هذا الخيار، الأمر الذى يخلق تحديا معقدا للغاية للولايات المتحدة. فهل ستتمكن الولايات المتحدة من إجبار إسرائيل على السير فى هذا الطريق؟ هذا أمر مشكوك فيه للغاية

جميع الخيارات المذكورة أعلاه محفوفة بالمخاطر وغير مقبولة لجميع الأطراف. ومع ذلك، فإن ما سيأتى بعد ذلك ينبغى ألا يكون أقرب إلى السيناريو القديم اليائس إذا كان العالم لا يريد تكرار ما حدث فى أكتوبر ٢٠٢٣

لمزيد من مقالات د. عزة رضوان صدقى

رابط دائم: 

 

 

 

 

Scenarios for "The Day After"

Israel is intent on levelling Gaza, and, in the process, will kill thousands of civilians more. However, like all other wars, this war will end, too, at one point. What happens then? This is a thorny issue that does not have a simplistic answer.

For years on end, Israel bombed Gaza ferociously only to be followed by a fragile ceasefire. After each barrage of hostilities, things would then return to the bizarre normal that existed since 2007, where Gazans lived in an open-air prison. Never did the ceasefire move beyond being just that, a ceasefire, and the tragic vicious cycle went on and on.

This time things are different; everything about this war is different. Hamas started off by killing thousands of Israelis; Israel retaliated by killing over 13,000 civilians thus far. The number of casualties on both sides is unprecedented. However, in the process, the world is suddenly becoming more aware of the plight of the Palestinians, with many calling for a change to the status quo, the status quo that created today’s calamity.

So, what will become of Gaza? Who is willing to take over an uninhabitable shell and a people filled with agony, despair, and fury? And whose ground troops are willing to take over and possibly pay a hefty penalty?

A set of unappealing scenarios are provided here.

One scenario is for Israel to remain in Gaza and take over the governing and the overseeing of the Strip. Israel may consider this option though the Israelis themselves are not united on this front. Some senior Israeli officials have repeatedly indicated that they have no desire to reoccupy Gaza.

Others vow to take security responsibility of Gaza after the war. Prof Jacob Nagel, a former national security adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, insists that Israel must maintain responsibility over the Strip, that it cannot risk relinquishing security control over Gaza. “No matter which entity will take responsibility for Gaza’s civil affairs, Israel will be the full security authority.” And Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said, “It’s not like we’re going to destroy Hamas and another body will come along.” A presence to prevent any Hamas groupings from reforming may be what Israel believes is a better option, which is why it is difficult for Israel to let go of Gaza and maybe allow Hamas militants to come out of the woodwork to cause more damage.  

It goes without saying, this option will be totally unacceptable by the Palestinians, since it is a return to a full-fledged Israeli occupation.

Moreover, once a people lose so many of their loved ones, they become more attuned to getting even and dying for the sake of the cause. Hence, we may be seeing the birth of a new breed of Hamas militants. Khaled Elgindy, the director the Middle East Institute’s program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli affairs says, “In the same way that Israelis have this desire for revenge, we can assume that that same human impulse is going to be present on a much more massive scale among Palestinians.”

Chances are Gazans will make the Israeli occupation of Gaza very strenuous. In this scenario, Israel visualizes a demilitarized Gaza, with no Hamas to fend for it, but the vicious cycle will continue as the IDF, the Israeli Defence Forces, will suffer sporadic but ongoing losses. What Israel doesn’t realize is that suffering breeds hatred, and the unprecedented hardships the Gazans, and the Palestinians in the West Bank, too, endured will haunt the occupiers.

Scenario One will fail miserably.

A multinational force, including Egyptian and other Arab forces, to run the Strip is another scenario. However, Arab nations will be hesitant to partake in such a venture as it is another version of occupation especially to the Gazans. Egypt and the Arabs believe that Gaza and the West Bank should be controlled by the Palestinians. And I doubt Israel would agree to a UN-led peacekeeping force.

According to the Wall Street Journal, President El-Sisi rejected a proposal for Egypt to manage security in Gaza until the Palestinian Authority can take over after the end of the war.

Still, Ami Ayalon, the former chief of Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet says, “I can see Egyptian, Jordanian, and Saudi soldiers with the international community controlling the region during an interim stage, and a huge amount of money that will come from the Emirates and the Saudis in order to reconstruct,” a farcical way of looking at the destruction Israel is causing; it destroys and awaits the Arab community to pay for fixing the destruction.

Again, this doesn’t sound like a feasible option.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) may be asked to run the Strip, which would be an ideal outcome. The PA has managed to survive the Israeli oppression in the West Bank, and Gazans may accept the Palestinian Authority, but Israel rejects this option, and it may stick to its guns in refusing it, for it views all Palestinians, whether they are Hamas or the PA, as the same entity. In any case, the Palestinian Authority is reluctant to oversee Gaza unless a comprehensive agreement that includes the West Bank is in the works. Besides, it does not want to come across as a complicit Israeli supporter willing to do its dirty job.

The US is enthusiastic for the Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza and wants Israel to leave Gaza once the war ends. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said “Gaza should be overseen by the Palestinian Authority.” This scenario “must include the Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza,” he said. “It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,” offering a strong signal about what the US sees as its preferred culmination to the war between Israel and Hamas.

This is the best solution since it may ultimately lead to a two-state solution. Egypt is of the same view; that no settlement may occur for the Palestinian cause but the two-state solution. However, it will be extremely difficult to convince the Israelis of such an option, which creates a very complicated challenge for the US. Would the US be able to compel Israel to take that route? This is very doubtful.

All the above options are dicey and are not agreeable to all parties. Still, what comes next must not be akin to the old, despaired scenario if the world doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in October 2023.

A viable “Day-After” is still not entirely distinguishable.

ماوراء الهدنة الانسانية؟

الأثنين 29 من ربيع الثاني 1445 هــ 13 نوفمبر 2023 السنة 148 العدد 50015

د. عزة رضوان صدقى

خلال الأسابيع الأولى من الحرب بين إسرائيل وغزة، وقف العالم بجانب إسرائيل ومقت كل رؤساء الدول تقريبا حماس وأفعالها الوحشية، ومنحوا إسرائيل الحق فى الدفاع عن نفسها والقضاء على المهاجمين. إل أنه مع نية إسرائيل إبادة غزة غيّر الزعماء الغربيون لهجتهم بعض الشيء ودعوا إلى هدنة إنسانية، لكن هذه الدعوة بعيدة بشكل صارخ عن تحقيق أى سلام فى غزة المحاصرة

إسرائيل، فى إطار الدفاع عن النفس والأخذ بالثأر صعَّدت القتال وقصفت المدنيين العُزل الذين صُنِّفوا على أنهم أضرار جانبية. لأسابيع طويلة، تعرضت غزة للقصف، وعُزلت عن العالم وانقطع عن أبنائها سبل العيش. وربما كانت هذه هى النية الإسرائيلية: قتل أكبر عدد ممكن من الفلسطينيين لكونهم يشكلون مصدر إزعاج لها فى مواجهة هيمنتها على الشرق الأوسط

اليوم ورغم دعاية وسائل الإعلام الغربية، أصبح العالم على يقين بالفظائع التى ترتكبها إسرائيل، ودعا إلى وقف فورى لإطلاق النار. لكن العالم الغربى لم يطلب من إسرائيل إلغاء مخططها الثأرى وطالبوا إسرائيل بما سُمِّى الهدنة الإنسانية فقط

الهدنة الإنسانية تعنى فترة راحة للسماح بتدفق المساعدات الإنسانية إلى غزة؛ لكنه حل مؤقت لأن القتال سيعود من جديد فيما بعد. دعا رئيس الوزراء الكندى جوستين ترودو إلى وقف مؤقت للقتال بين إسرائيل وحماس للسماح بوصول الإغاثة الإنسانية إلى غزة، دون ذكر وقف إطلاق النار. كما دعا وزير الخارجية الأمريكى أنتونى بلينكن إلى «هدنة إنسانية» فى اجتماع مجلس الأمن الدولى. وقال رئيس الوزراء البريطانى ريشى سوناك إنه يؤيد وقفا إنسانيا للصراع للسماح بإيصال المساعدات بشكل آمن للمدنيين، لكنه رفض الدعوات لوقف كامل لإطلاق النار. أما بالنسبة للاتحاد الأوروبى، فقد فشل حتى الآن فى التوافق فى الآراء بشأن بند الهدنة الإنسانية، فحتى الهدنة الإنسانية كانت أكثر من أن نطالب بها

وعلى الرغم مما يبدو من حسن نية هؤلاء الزعماء، إلا أن إحسانهم لا يتم توجيهه بالكامل نحو سكان غزة المنكوبين. فقالت وزيرة الخارجية الكندية ميلانى جولى إن الهدنة ضرورية للسماح للكنديين بمغادرة غزة. وقال ترودو إن التوقف سيسمح بالإفراج عن الرهائن.وبمجرد إطلاق سراح الرهائن ومغادرة الأجانب، الأمريكيين والكنديين، غزة، فإن المذبحة سوف تستمر ضد المدنيين الفلسطينيين الأبرياء

إن وقف إطلاق النار البيِّن يعنى التعامل مع الوضع بشكل مختلف، وحل الأسباب الحقيقية وراء الحروب بين غزة وإسرائيل ووضع حد لبؤس المحاصرين فى غزة. قال الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة أنطونيو جوتيريش إن هجمات ٧ أكتوبر الماضى التى شنتها حماس كانت مروعة، لكنها لم تحدث من فراغ. لقد تعرض الشعب الفلسطينى لـ ٥٦ عاما من الاحتلال الخانق. لقد رأوا أراضيهم وهى تلتهمها المستوطنات بشكل مطرد، وعانوا العنف وخنق اقتصادهم، وتم تهجير أهلهم وهدم منازلهم وقد تلاشت آمالهم فى التوصل إلى حل سياسى لمحنتهم

إن لم يحاول العالم تصحيح الوضع فى غزة وتقليل معاناة أهلها فإن كل هذه الحلول العابرة ستكون عقيمة وعديمة الفائدة. إن التسلسل الدموى سوف يستمر ما لم تتم معاملة سكان غزة بطريقة إنسانية وكريمة بدلا من اعتبارهم سجناء على أراضيهم. يقول مقال نشرته مؤسسة بروكينجز منذ فترة طويلة: الدورة المأساوية سوف تكرر نفسها مرارًا وتكرارًا لأن الأطراف لا يعنيها أبدًا اتفاق سياسى أكثر استدامة ... إن أكبر الخاسرين هم ما يقرب من مليونى شخص فى غزة يعيشون فى ظروف رهيبة، مع اقتصاد على وشك التوقف. ارتفعت البطالة إلى واحدة من أعلى المعدلات على وجه الأرض، أكثر من ٥٠ بالمائة. كما يعانى القطاع النقص الحاد فى الكهرباء ومياه الشرب النظيفة، حيث إن معظم المياه غير صالحة للاستهلاك البشرى

يجب علينا كبشر أن نخجل من أنفسنا. لسنوات طويلة، عانى سكان غزة بشدة ليعانوا اليوم أسوأ كارثة. كل الصور ولقطات الفيديو التى تصلنا من غزة تصوِّر البؤس والخسارة: مئات الآباء يحملون أطفالهم الموتى؛ المدارس والمستشفيات مكتظة بالبشر الفارين وأطفال ملطخين بالدماء ينتظرون الموت. لقطة الفتاة الفلسطينية البالغة ٧ أو ٨ سنوات الجالسة بجانب والدها الباكى على الرصيف المدمر المحاط بالركام وهى تندب وفاة أختها لقطة مفجعة. سألته مرارًا وتكرارًا عما إذا كانت ستراها يومًا ما. ثم بدأت تسرد الصفات الطيبة التى كانت تتمتع بها أختها وهى تنتحب وتبكى

ومع ذلك، فحتى وقف إطلاق النار البسيط والحتمى ليس قيد التنفيذ. وكل ما يأمل العالم فى تحقيقه هو هدنة إنسانية، وهى انعكاس محزن لما وصلنا إليه. لقد اختار العالم أن يغض الطرف عن الدمار الذى يلحق بغزة

لمزيد من مقالات د. عزة رضوان صدقى

رابط دائم: 

 

The Extreme Ambitions of West Bank Settlers

The New Yorker

A leader of the settlement movement on expanding into Gaza, and her vision for the Jewish state.

By Isaac Chotiner

November 11, 2023

“We want to close the option for a Palestinian state, and the world wants to leave the option open,” Daniella Weiss says. ”It’s a very simple thing to understand.

For decades, Daniella Weiss has been one of the leaders of Israel’s settlement movement. Weiss became involved in settlement politics in the wake of the 1967 war. In the early seventies, her family moved to the settlements in the West Bank and she later served for a decade as mayor of Kedumim, a community in the north. She has also been arrested numerous times, including for assaulting a police officer and interfering with an investigation into the destruction of Palestinian property. More recently, she has been affiliated with the Nachala settlement organization, which helps younger settlers establish illegal outposts in the West Bank, an initiative that’s controversial even among the settler community. (Weiss is a neighbor and an ally of Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist minister of finance, who has said that the Palestinian people do not exist and that Palestinian communities need to be erased; he also lives in Kedumim.)

Weiss and I recently spoke by phone. Since the Hamas massacre of October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government—in addition to invading Gaza—has, with its allies in the settler movement, become increasingly aggressive in the West Bank. Sixteen Palestinian communities have been removed from their land, and a hundred and seventy-five Palestinians have been killed. I wanted to talk to Weiss to understand the extremism of the settler movement, and her ultimate intentions for the West Bank. During our conversation, edited for length and clarity, we also discussed how her religious attitudes shape her view of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, why human rights should not be considered universal, and why she should not be expected to mourn for dead Palestinian children.

Where are you from?

I was born in Israel in 1945, three years before the birth of the modern Jewish state. I was born in the Tel Aviv area.

And your parents?

My father was born in the United States. My mother was born in Warsaw, Poland, and she immigrated with her parents to Israel when she was a year old. So she came to Israel many years before the state of Israel was born.

How would you describe the settler movement?

I see the settler movement today as a direct continuation of the settler movement of a hundred and twenty, thirty, forty years ago. I see it as a chapter in the history of Zionism, and we are in one of those chapters of modern Zionism. Settlement is the way to return to Zion.

You said, "Settlement is the way to return to Zion”?

Yes. It’s the end of the dispersion and the beginning of the revival of the Jewish nation in this homeland.

What are the borders of that Jewish nation?

The borders of the homeland of the Jews are the Euphrates in the east and the Nile in the southwest. [This would include the territory of multiple Middle Eastern countries as well as the territory that Israel controls today.]

There’s a Palestinian slogan that has become very controversial: “From the river to the sea,” which means from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. It’s controversial because it would include all the land that currently makes up Israel. But you’re saying from the river to the—

What is controversial?

Palestinians sometimes use the slogan “From the river to the sea.” But what you’re saying is that from the river to the Nile is the Jewish homeland, correct?

Of course. If someone decides to invent a new religion today, who will decide the rules? The first nation that got the word from God, the promise from God—the first nation is the one who has the right to it. The others that follow—Christianity and Islam, with their demands, with their perceptions—they’re imitating what existed already. So, why in Israel? They could be anywhere in the world. They came after us is the double sense of the world

When did you first get involved in the settler movement?

In 1967, in the Six-Day War. The Six-Day War was such a miracle, and aroused very deep feelings toward the birthplace of our nation—Hebron, Shiloh, Jericho, Nablus. And, because of the miracle of the war, we had this spiritual sensation that something happened in the dimensions of a Biblical scene. I felt that I wanted to be an active part in this miraculous happening. My husband didn’t like the idea of moving from Tel Aviv to the mountains of Judea and Samaria. He liked our life near Tel Aviv. But then, when the Yom Kippur War broke out, in 1973, I became involved in a very intensive way, and so did my husband.

We both became part of the settlement movement of Gush Emunim, the movement that established communities in Judea and Samaria. I forced my husband to follow me and our two daughters—they were little ones—to a tiny tent on the mountains of Samaria, where we all live today. Now we have a big family with four generations. My mother-in-law came with us, and then we have our daughters and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are all settlers in Samaria.

In a lot of these places where settlements have been developed, from 1967 to the present day, there have been Palestinian communities and Palestinian families. What is your feeling about where these people should go?

It’s the opposite. None of the communities in Judea and Samaria are founded on an Arab place or property, and whoever says this is a liar. I wonder why you said it. Why did you say that, since you have no idea about the real facts of history? That’s not true. The opposite is true. Who got this idea into your mind?

Palestinian communities have been removed from their land, kicked off their land by—

No, you never read things like that. No. There are no pictures. [According to a report by Btselem, an Israeli human-rights group, parts of Kedumim, where Weiss lives, were built on private Palestinian land; in 2006, Peace Now found that privately owned Palestinian land comprised nearly forty per cent of the territory of West Bank settlements and outposts.]

 

O.K. I’m a little surprised you are denying this. I thought you were going to say, “It’s O.K. to kick Palestinians off land because it belongs to the Jewish people.”

You did no homework before you interviewed me. Everything that you say is the opposite of my personality and my philosophy. You are interviewing a person, and you don’t know anything about them. It’s very strange. I’ve never encountered a situation like this.

I was trying to understand where Palestinians who live in the West Bank should go.

Why should they go? Why should they go?

They should stay where they are, you’re saying?

They should accept the fact that in the Land of Israel there is only one sovereign. This is the issue. So let’s not confuse things. We the Jews are the sovereigns in the state of Israel and in the Land of Israel. They have to accept it.

If they accept it, should they receive full voting rights and things like that?

In the state of Israel, they have the right to vote for the Knesset, because Ben-Gurion gave them this right. He trusted them—and, even if he didn’t trust them, he didn’t have much of a choice. Three years after the Holocaust, he wanted to have a state for the Jews, and he knew the world would make problems with the issue of voting. But, in the seventy-five years since independence, the Arabs in the state of Israel and the Arab members of the Knesset showed in every possible way that their idea is to establish a Palestinian state. They are not working for the interests of the state of Israel. So I think the Arabs in Judea and Samaria have no right to ask for rights or take part in elections for the Knesset. They lost their right to vote for the Knesset. They will never get this right. They will have their own Palestinian Authority where they can run their civilian affairs in a logical way, but not as members of the Knesset. No, no, no.

So rights are not some sort of universal thing that every person has. They’re something that you can win or lose.

That’s right.

You’ve been part of the settlement movement during a lot of different governments. How do you feel that the current government of the past year has been treating settlers broadly compared with past governments?

I will say that it’s better under Netanyahu. It doesn’t satisfy my ambitions and my dreams and my plans, but there are eight hundred thousand Jews—or settlers, if you want. So this gives me a lot of encouragement that from eight hundred thousand we will become two million, then three million.

When you say that the government’s been better, but it hasn’t realized your dreams, what are those dreams?

Two million Jews in Judea and Samaria. More settlements, more farms, bigger cities.

When you say that you want more Jews in the West Bank, is your idea that the Palestinians there and the Jews will live side by side as friends, or that—

 

If they accept our sovereignty, they can live here.

So they should accept the sovereign power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean having rights. It just means accepting the sovereign power.

Right. No, I’m saying specifically that they are not going to have the right to vote for the Knesset. No, no, no.

Can you talk about the settlement-outpost movement and your role in that, especially with young people that you’ve served as somewhat of an inspiration for?

A post is a basis for a bigger community. That’s the name of the game.

And why is that controversial, even among some settlers?

I don’t know that it’s controversial. Some might not know the process. And people say to me, “I want you to build a new outpost that will be as nice as the older one that we see.” I say to them, “It was a place with one family and now hundreds of families.” So this is how it started.

In Israel, there’s a lot of support for settlements, and this is why there have been right-wing governments for so many years. The world, especially the United States, thinks there is an option for a Palestinian state, and, if we continue to build communities, then we block the option for a Palestinian state. We want to close the option for a Palestinian state, and the world wants to leave the option open. It’s a very simple thing to understand.

When Israel pulled out of Gaza, in 2005, it also closed down settlements in the region. This was under the Sharon government. And there’s been talk by some settlers since October 7th about the need to repopulate Gaza with settlements. What are your feelings about what should happen with Gaza?

Right now, I’m on my way to a TV interview where I’m going to speak about our movement’s efforts to return to Gaza, the entire Gaza, and build settlements.

So you think it was a mistake to pull out of settlements nearly twenty years ago?

It was a mistake. The whole world is crying now because of that. The whole world suffers from Hamas’s rise. Not my problem. It’s your problem. No country in the world said they were going to accept even a thousand people from Gaza. The world hates them. It was such a big mistake to let them rise.

Where should the Palestinians in Gaza go?

To Sinai, to Egypt, to Turkey.

They’re not Egyptian or Turkish, though. Why would they go to Turkey?

O.K. The Ukrainians are not French, but when the war started they went to many countries.

Their country was being bombed, and so many of them fled west.

And Gazan people are dying to go to other places.

I think Ukrainians wanted to go to Europe because they didn’t want to get bombed.

And the Gazan people want to get bombed by us?

Maybe one option, rather than bombing them, would be to help try and develop a society for them in Gaza, right?

O.K., I wish you luck. Go ahead. Go for it.

Do you feel that Netanyahu and the people in his government are sympathetic to you and your cause?

He’s very sympathetic, but he is not as brave as we are.

What about Smotrich, and people like that?

They are brave, but the settlers themselves, which I represent in my movement, are more brave than them. [Smotrich is also a settler.]

We saw some horrible images on October 7th of what happened to Israeli children, and now we see some horrible images in Gaza of what is happening to Palestinian children. When you see Palestinian children dying, what’s your emotional reaction as a human being?

I go by a very basic human law of nature. My children are prior to the children of the enemy, period. They are first. My children are first.

We are talking about children. I don’t know if the law of nature is what we need to be looking at here.

Yeah. I say my children are first. ♦

Hundreds of journalists sign letter protesting coverage of Israel

The Washington Post (Hundreds of journalists sign letter protesting coverage of Israel)

The letter exposes divisions and frustrations within U.S. newsrooms about how they are covering the Gaza conflict.

By Laura Wagner

and 

Will Sommer

Updated November 9, 2023 at 3:35 p.m. EST|Published November 9, 2023 at 2:43 p.m. EST

More than 750 journalists from dozens of news organizations have signed an open letter published Thursday condemning Israel’s killing of reporters in Gaza and criticizing Western media’s coverage of the war.

The letter — which said newsrooms are “accountable for dehumanizing rhetoric that has served to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestinians” — is the latest in a string of impassioned collective statements staking out ground in the stateside reaction to the Israel-Gaza war.

But while other writers, artists, scholars and academics have criticized media coverage of the conflict, the latest letter — which includes signatories from Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and The Washington Post — is notable for exposing divisions and frustrations within newsrooms.

For some of the journalists, signing the letter was a daring or even risky move. Reporters have been fired from some newsrooms for espousing public political stances that could open them to accusations of bias.

But those who organized the newest letter argue that it is a call to recommit to fairness, not abandon it.

“My hope for this letter is to push back on the culture of fear around this issue,” said Abdallah Fayyad, a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and former editorial board member at the Boston Globe, who signed the letter, “and to make decision-makers and reporters and editors think twice about the language that they use.”

“What it comes down to is just asking journalists to do their jobs,” said Suhauna Hussain, a labor reporter at the Los Angeles Times who signed the letter. “To hold power to account.”

Most strikingly, the letter argues that journalists should use words like “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

While the letter-signers maintain these are “precise terms that are well-defined by international human rights organizations,” there have historically been debates among diplomats, aid groups and participants over when a particular incident or conflict fits the definition of those terms.

Fayyad said he wasn’t calling on newsrooms to adopt those terms for their own descriptions, “but it is a relevant fact to say that leading human rights groups have called Israel an apartheid regime,” he said, just as many news stories note that the U.S. has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. “That’s the kind of double standard I hope this letter will call out.”

Much of the text focuses on the journalists who have been killed in the month-long conflict that erupted after Hamas militants crossed the Israeli border on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking about 240 hostage.

So far, 39 media workers have been killed, mostly in retaliatory strikes by Israel, according to the latest tally from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

An investigation by Reporters Without Borders determined that Israel targeted journalists in an Oct. 13 airstrikes that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six others. (Israeli officials have denied that they target journalists and said they are reviewing the incident.) In late October, Israeli military officials advised Reuters and Agence France-Presse that it could not guarantee the safety of their employees operating in the Gaza Strip.

Joe Rivano Barros, an editor at San Francisco nonprofit Mission Local who signed the letter, maintained that there has not been “widespread condemnations of [the killings of journalists] from Western newsrooms.”

“This particular conflict seems to bring in a lot of prevarication in a way that other conflicts don’t,” Rivano Barros said.

The journalists’ letter follows several other open letters in recent weeks, most expressing solidarity with Palestinians. The New York Review of Books published one signed by well-known writers including Ta-Nehisi Coates calling on the “international community to commit to ending the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza.” A letter signed by hundreds of Jewish writers that was published in N+1 magazine said, “we are horrified to see the fight against antisemitism weaponized as a pretext for war crimes with stated genocidal intent.”

"Israel is losing this war and Netanyahu is done." Fmr. U.S. Marine Scott ritter

Redacted News

 

 

Reaching the Western world

Al Ahram Weekly

Azza Radwan Sedky

Tuesday 7 Nov 2023

Two separate incidents over recent weeks have seen the debunking of Western media stories about the Middle East, writes Azza Radwan Sedky

It is hardly possible for those outside the Western world to get their messages across to the Western public.

Their plights and causes are seen through the lens of the Western media, which views matters from its own perspective. So, when a window of opportunity presented itself last month, it was a chance like no other, and we must applaud the set of circumstances that allowed this to happen.

The Israeli-Gazan war was introduced to the West in the usual warped and distorted fashion: Hamas is a designated terrorist organisation; it conducted a heinous and unprovoked attack on innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October; Israel has the right to defend itself and finish off Hamas; and collateral damage will be incurred because Hamas hides behind civilians and treats them as human shields.

In two separate incidents, this story has been debunked, and a more realistic view presented from our restricted sphere.

Rahma Zein, an Egyptian podcaster, was at the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip where humanitarian aid had been awaiting permission to enter Gaza for days on end. Aggravated by the delay and the siding of the Western media with Israel, Zein confronted Clarissa Ward, a reporter for the US network CNN, for the false reporting that her network and other Western media outlets are presenting.

Furious, Zein told Ward that the voices of Palestinians are not being heard and that instead of being able to mourn the dead Palestinians in the War the Arabs have to deal with more dehumanisation and misrepresentation. She expressed her rage at what she considered to be the lies promoted by Israel and the Western media.

Her video of the incident went viral.

Not out of the goodness of his heart but due to the potential for skyrocketing numbers of viewers, Piers Morgan, a well-known UK broadcaster, then invited Zein for an interview on his programme “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” Again, Zein, aggrieved and distressed, expressed herself passionately and bluntly, saying that the relationship between the US and Israel was putting the world in jeopardy and that the US had given Israel the permission to commit genocide.

She called Israel a “spoiled brat,” to which Morgan exclaimed that “Israel has the right to defend itself.” Zein fired back “against what? Against women and children? How many Palestinians have died?”

She also said that Arabs and Jews had lived together peacefully in Palestine and Egypt before the establishment of Israel. Now, however, “Palestinian women under occupation give birth sometimes at Israeli checkpoints, and Palestinians are being jailed in Israeli prisons. In mercilessly bombarding the Palestinians, you are breeding a new Hamas.”

Before the interview ended, Zein asked Morgan to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing war. His response was, “that’s not my job. My job is to interview people on the issue.” “Your job seems to be conducting sensational interviews,” Zein said as she took off her mic.

Again, the interview went viral, and in the process exposed viewers to another aspect of the war.

The second incident occurred when Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian heart surgeon turned satirist, was invited on to Piers Morgan’s show. This was a golden opportunity for Youssef, who, using a blackly comic and satirical approach, talked about the calamity taking place in Gaza.

Using wit and a few swear words, Youssef got his message across as he satirised the harsh reality. Why should Israel kill hundreds when it can kill thousands, he asked. Why not get rid of all the Palestinians? He spoke of his wife’s family home in Gaza turning into rubble and his wife’s cousin, “a total loser who has never had a job and failed all his interviews as a human shield.”

Morgan was unable to decipher the jokes from the facts. He didn’t know whether he should laugh, rebut what Youssef was saying, or end the show. He explained things later by saying that “last time [in the last interview], I was very taken aback. I remember feeling unusually uncomfortable, thinking I didn’t know how to react to that. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to laugh or be silent. I sort of ended up slightly grimacing and listening.”

Morgan said that it was his most-watched interview since his show was launched a year earlier. With 20 million viewers watching the first interview, he had had no alternative but to bring Youssef back for another two-hour interview and a chance for a non-Westerner to air his views in an eye-opener for the world.

Youssef presented the Palestinian cause in a serious, cordial, and riveting fashion, forcing Morgan to listen to him and understand where he was coming from.  He brought Morgan a gift, a bottle of olive oil and some zaatar, a mixture of herbs, from the West Bank, and he explained why this olive oil was so special since it came from a tree planted 600 years ago. That olive tree, planted by Palestinians, existed long before the state of Israel.  

The interview covered many crucial side issues of the Palestinian catastrophe, again ones not thoroughly understood by the West. They included the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, the question of terrorism, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the fabrication of stories by Israel, and the threat of the Palestinian displacement into Sinai, amongst many others.

Youssef’s double-edged jokes were there, too, which somehow eased the very dark topic the two men were discussing. “Those Palestinians, they’re very dramatic. ‘Israel is killing us,’ they say, but they never die. I mean, they always come back. They’re very difficult to kill. I know because I’m married to one. I’ve tried many times. I try to get her every time, but she uses our kids as human shields.”

However, this time round Morgan was ready for the satire and irony.

Youssef identified the real reasons behind the Israeli carpet-bombing that has caused thousands of casualties in Gaza. “They can tell you it’s about Hamas, but they have said this many times,” he said. “In fact, this is a way of pushing the Palestinians into Sinai. This is not about eradicating Hamas. That ship has sailed. I am sorry, but anybody who believes that this is still about Hamas is stupid.”

This is a crucial point that the West does not understand. Westerners sometimes ask why Egypt does not want to take the Gazans, all 2.2 million of them, as refugees, comparing this situation to Poland’s immediately taking in Ukrainians fleeing from the Russian-Ukrainian war.

But there is no comparison between the two situations, since the Ukrainians will return to their country once the war is over, or, if they wish to do so, can return right now. It is only when Westerners understand the original displacement of the Palestinians that occurred in 1948 that they will be able to understand the difference between the two cases.

Not one of the Palestinians displaced in 1948 can return to their homeland, and if the Gazans leave Gaza, they will never be allowed back. It would be a repeat of the original story.

“If you meet Palestinians, you’ll often see them wearing a necklace with a key,” Youssef said. “That key is the key to their house, the one they were kicked out of. Those people have absolutely no ability to go back. Even if you are a Palestinian with a US passport, they give you hell in order to go in.”

This is terribly revealing, as it depicts the agony that displaced Palestinians feel.

“This is not an eye-for-an-eye anymore,” Youssef said. “This is an eye, a limb, a life, a house, a neighbourhood, a whole population for an eye… It’s not about Hamas anymore.”

These are realities that the West never gets a chance to understand. It cannot fathom that Israel, that idolised country created for Holocaust survivors, can err or do wrong, and it thinks it’s more likely that the Arabs, whoever they may be, are the culprits.

It believes that the war started on 7 October, never realising that Palestinian pain and suffering have been going on for decades and that 7 October was the outcome of that pain.

I don’t know how much of what we publish in the Arab media reaches the West, but to have 20 million viewers watch a Western show about the current Israeli war on Gaza could be the most effective way of getting the message across.

Piers Morgan may have had an ulterior motive in interviewing Rahma Zein and Bassem Youssef, but both were able to get through to millions of viewers, who, thanks to the Western media, rarely get insight into the reality of the situation.

The writer is former professor of communication based in Vancouver, Canada.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 November, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

 

Egypt quietly prepares as Gaza proves most worrying of neighbouring conflicts

The National, MENA

High-profile war drills, fuel conservation and greater scrutiny of mainstream and social media point to growing security concerns

Egypt has allowed aid to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. EPA

Hamza Hendawi

Cairo

Nov 06, 2023

Egypt has for years been concerned by the strife roiling its neighbours to the west and south.

But it is the outbreak a month ago of the war in Gaza, its neighbour to the east, that is rocking the most populous Arab nation to its foundations.

To Egypt, stability in Libya, its western neighbour, and in Sudan to the south has been an integral part of its national security, with Cairo traditionally keen on keeping its adversaries from gaining a foothold in either country.

For more than a decade now, Egypt has watched with alarm the armed conflict and subsequent chaos in Libya, with which it shares a porous desert border.

The lawlessness in Libya after a Nato-backed uprising in 2011 allowed militants to find a safe haven in its eastern region, which they used as a springboard for deadly attacks in Egypt.

To the south, Sudan has been torn apart by fighting since April between the army and a rival paramilitary.

The conflict there has displaced nearly six million people, of whom more than a million fled the vast and impoverished nation. Nearly 300,000 of those went to Egypt.

Ignited by a deadly rampage in Israel by Hamas on October 7, the Gaza war has already tested Egypt's patience and restraint in a way it had never seen as a result of the conflicts in Libya and Sudan.

Last month, a stray Israeli shell hit a border tower, injuring nine soldiers, two seriously.

Last week, drones launched by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi forces hit the Egyptians towns of Taba and Noweiba in the southern region of the Sinai Peninsula, when they fell short of their targets in Israel.

Israel has on four occasions bombarded the Gaza end of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Mediterranean enclave, endangering lives and indicating to Cairo and Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, that they should not consider sending in relief supplies without its approval.

Egyptian officials say the government is also concerned that an escalation of attacks against Israel by Iran-backed groups other than Hamas, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Houthis, could have serious repercussions for Egypt.

Developing North Sinai will thwart other nations' plans for it, Egypt's PM says

One concern is the Houthis closing the Bab Al Mandeb, the southern entrance of the Red Sea, or the closure by Iran of the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf.

A disruption to shipping in the Red Sea would mean the suspension of traffic in Egypt's Suez Canal, the vital waterway linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and a major source of foreign currency for the dollar-strapped country of 105 million people.

It would also mean a dramatic surge in the price of oil and other essential items on world markets – significantly increasing Egypt's already hefty annual import bill of more than $90 billion.

It is against eventualities such as these that Egypt is making preparations for the worst.

In the four weeks since the Gaza war began, Egypt has placed its armed forces and large police force on high alert. It has also on several occasions put on displays of military might to deter potential foes.

It has asked government institutions to halve their fuel use and is accelerating its procurement abroad of wheat and other essential items to bolster its strategic reserves in case of a major disruption to shipping.

Foremost among Egypt's concerns is that Israel's bombardment of Gaza and the ground offensive now under way will force many of the territory's 2.3 million people to flee for safety across the border into Egypt's sparsely populated Sinai region.

Egypt has warned that it will not allow this to happen for reasons of national security and because this would contribute to the "liquidation" of the Palestinian cause by establishing a homeland for them on land other than their own.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, a former general who came to power a decade ago, often prides himself on not having dragged Egypt into risky "adventures" – political parlance for military campaigns outside Egypt.

"Beware of the illusions of power forcing you to take a step and later saying I never carefully weighed my move," Mr El Sisi cautioned troops last month.

"Egypt's armed forces, "with all its capabilities, resources and efficiency has just one objective and that's protecting Egypt and its national security."

This weekend, the armed forces Chief of Staff Gen Osama Askar oversaw war drills with live ammunition by units from the 2nd and 3rd armies, which together comprise a large part of the nation's combat numbers and are normally stationed along the Suez Canal and parts of the Sinai Peninsula.

To maintain calm at home, authorities are now diligently enforcing a de facto ban on street protests in force since 2013, after relaxing it for two weeks at the start of the Gaza war to allow pro-Palestinian rallies across the nation.

Tighter control of the media and heightened scrutiny of social media platforms have also been introduced in a bid to suppress calls for pro-Palestinian street protests or for the government to take punitive action against Israel and its western backers, particularly the US.

To avoid adding to frustration, authorities increased fuel prices at the pump by 14 per cent on Friday, but left unchanged the price of diesel, which is used by public and commercial transport.

A rise in diesel prices invariably leads to price increases across the board, particularly of food.

El Sisi reassures Egyptians as war rages next door in Gaza

Unfortunately for Egypt, the Gaza war coincides with a grinding economic crisis that began early in 2022.

The war in Gaza is also affecting tourism, a major source of income, just as the peak winter season is approaching.

The crisis, which the government blames on the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, has seen the local currency lose more than 50 per cent of its value since March 2022; a dollar crunch that is suppressing imports and hurting local industries; and record inflation that hit 38 per cent in September.

Adding to the country's already deepening woes, Fitch Ratings last week downgraded Egypt's credit score for the second time this year, citing rising financial risks as progress on fiscal reforms remained slow.

The latest ratings action comes after Fitch revised Egypt's credit score lower in May – the first downgrade it gave the country since 2013 – with a negative outlook, and after S&P Global Ratings also downgraded Egypt last month.