Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.These constant attacks hurt Jordan at least as much as they hurt Israel. Yet I have not seen any Arab argue that these acts of sabotage must stop because they are hurting fellow Arabs.
The explosion was set off west of El-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said. There was a second consecutive blast, about 100 metres away, sources said.
State news agency MENA said the explosion was in al-Sabeel area. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene.
Security sources said the explosions were detonated from a distance and that tracks from two vehicles were found in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The blast marked the ninth time this year that terrorists have bombed the pipeline. The previous attack on the pipeline occurred Friday, when assailants bombed a portion of the pipeline some 60 kilometers from El-Arish. Egyptian officials said that the damage to the pipeline in the Friday blast was small compared to other such explosions this year because that portion of the pipeline has been empty since the last explosion earlier in November.
Which is yet more proof that Arabs hate Israel more than they love each other.
This is a fundamental problem, and another reason why real peace is simply not possible. Peace can only come about between two rational players, but when one side is so consumed with hate that he doesn't mind hurting his own people just to have a chance of hurting the enemy, we have gone way beyond anything that can be solved with talks and goodwill gestures and negotiations.