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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Egypt's siege of Gaza continues

From Ma'an:
Egyptian authorities kept the Rafah crossing with Gaza closed for a fourth consecutive day on Saturday.

There have been frequent closures of the terminal in recent weeks due to political unrest in Egypt and violence in the Sinai peninsula.

The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Egypt, Barakat al-Farra, urged Gazan students enrolled in Egyptian universities to send their details to the embassy in Cairo so that arrangements can be made to obtain special permits to allow students to cross into Egypt.

The ambassador told Ma'an that his team will contact Egyptian universities to try to delay examinations for Palestinian students who are not able to cross into the country.
This being Ma'an, they have to throw in some anti-Israel lies as well:
The crossing is the only way most Palestinians in Gaza can enter or leave the territory. Israel imposes an air and sea blockade on the enclave, and its border is closed to Palestinians.
Well, in July Israel allowed 4002 people through Erez, including 1000 patients and family members plus many businessmen (34% of total, although I don't know how many of those live in Gaza. Many certainly do, though.)

It seems likely that more Gazans crossed Erez Shalom in August than crossed Rafah.

Still don't see any anti-Egypt flotillas, though. Funny, that.