Daily Times

Sir: A year has passed since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, but nothing seems to have changed. A campaign, which left almost 1,500 Palestinians dead and the area in complete ruins, and in which Israel is alleged to have used phosphorous bombs, has only received mild condemnations from the international community. The Goldstone Report, the only serious attempt by the UN to address the issue, has also been pushed to the background. But while demonstrations are again being held worldwide to rebuke Israel’s offensive, the role of the Egyptian government has been baffling. The government’s decision to construct an iron wall along its border with Gaza for “enhancing its security”, has come as a shock to even the most pro-government analysts in Egypt. What makes the entire activity more suspicious is that the project was shrouded in secrecy until its exposure in mid-December. It is of course an open secret that the Egypt-Gaza border has served as a lifeline for the passage of everyday necessities to the Palestinian Muslims in the face of Israeli blockades. Needless to say, political experts in Egypt and elsewhere have severely criticised the government’s actions as an attempt to please the US and Israel, and have rightfully dubbed the barrier as a ‘Wall of Shame’. This activity, of course, comes in the wake of other similar incidents, such as the recent refusal to allow international activists from different countries to reach Gaza from Egypt to participate in a freedom march, and has definitely put a huge question mark over the sincerity of the Egyptian government to help their Palestinian Muslim brothers in their hour of need.

AKRAM KHAN
Islamabad

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