Egypt "promises" it will open Rafah up next week for a few days.
Here is the calendar of Rafah's closings since late October:
S
|
M
|
Tu
|
W
|
Th
|
F
|
S
|
Oct 27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
Nov 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
Dec 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
Gisha's report from November gives some numbers:
Travel via Rafah Crossing has dropped dramatically, while there has been little change in travel through Erez. In November, 5,502 exits by Palestinians were recorded at Erez Crossing - a 7% drop from the number recorded in October. However, this figure still represents a 33% increase in the number of exits compared to the monthly average during the first half of 2013.Gisha is one of these NGOs that feels Israel is responsible for Egyptian human rights abuses:
Rafah Crossing was closed for 20 days in November, 66% of the time. There was an 85% drop in the volume of travel, in both directions, compared to the monthly average during the first half of 2013. Travel in November was the lowest of the year.
On November 20, Gisha received the Defense Ministry's response to its request to allow Palestinians to travel via Erez, given reduced activity at Rafah. The Ministry of Defense rejected the request, stating that: "[C]urrent Israeli policy on travel by Gaza residents within the territory of the State of Israel satisfies the requirements of the law, including those of international law, and we see no room to introduce any arrangements in addition to those currently in effect".I plan to get into the nitty gritty of Gisha's complaints against Israel's actions in Gaza in upcoming posts.
Still, major "human rights" NGOs are all but ignoring Egypt's role in limiting Gazans from being able to go to school or get medical treatment.
It's funny, because the American Studies Association falsely claims that Israel is stopping Palestinian Arabs from attending school and therefore (for some reason) Israeli universities must be punished. Yet here, Egypt is explicitly denying Palestinian Arabs from attending Egyptian schools that they were already accepted in, and there is not a word!