For the third straight day, Egypt has closed the Rafah crossing, stranding thousands of people on both sides who want to cross the border. Egypt also closed the Salah a-Din Gate from where some truckloads of goods are sent.
Egypt's sudden closure is largely assumed to be an expression of anger over Hamas organizing violent protests at a time when Egypt has been putting its own reputation on the line to bring down tensions between Israel and Gaza.
Gisha, the Israeli NGO that monitors movement from and to Gaza, is upset over this - but they don't blame Egypt.
On the first day of the closure, they wrote, "The closure of Rafah compounds severe movement restrictions imposed by Israel, leaving Gaza residents with even fewer options to travel for medical, professional, educational, or personal needs."
And in its conclusion, they don't call on Egypt to lift the restrictions - but Israel: "Given its ongoing effective control over Gaza, which amounts to occupation, Israel is obligated to protect human rights and facilitate normal life in the Strip to the greatest extent possible. This includes facilitating access abroad, particularly given Egypt’s closing of Rafah Crossing."
This NGO doesn't even call for Egypt to lift the restrictions. Even though Israel cannot do anything to help people who want to go to or return from Egypt, Gisha is programmed to make everything Israel's fault and Israel's responsibility.
Moreover, Gisha doesn't even ask Hamas to stop its activities that are prompting Egypt to make this decision.
Arabs hurt Arabs and Israel gets blamed.
Gisha's obsession with castigating Israel is part of its DNA. For example, on August 17, it wrote that Israel was not allowing communications equipment into Gaza. However, since then Israel has lifted that restriction. You wouldn't know about it from Gisha, though - the article about the restriction is still on their front page, and there has been no update.
Israel has recently allowed over a thousand traders and businesspeople from Gaza to resume entering Israel to facilitate trade - but Gisha was silent. Israel recently resumes allowing construction material into Gaza for international organizations - but Gisha ws silent.
In fact, one can see more accurate information about imports and exports from Gaza from Islamic Jihad media than from an Israeli NGO. If you want reliable information on people and goods going in and out of Gaza, this Western-funded NGO is the worst place to look.
Gisha has 25 employees, a budget of $1.6 million and is funded from a variety of sources:
Action Against Hunger
Broederlijk Delen
Danish Representative Office
DROSOS FOUNDATION
Foundation for Middle East Peace
Irish Aid
Leonard Hill Charitable Trust
New Israel Fund
NGO Development Center
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Oxfam SDC-Danida
Oxfam Novib
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Salesforce.com Foundation (in kind donation)
Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
The Embassy of Finland in Tel Aviv
United Nations Development Programme
All of them are complicit in demonizing Israel, even for things not under Israel's control.
