Egypt's Position On Operation Protective Edge Reflects Conflict. (Memri).
Egypt's Position On Operation Protective Edge Reflects Conflict Between Its Hatred For Hamas And Its Solidarity With The Palestinians
The position of the Egyptian regime and its supporters regarding the current fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is characterized by the internal conflict between their hostility towards Hamas and their desire to express solidarity with the Palestinians.
Egypt sees Hamas as responsible for the crisis, because of the June 12 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens by its members.
It also blames Hamas for the Gaza residents' ongoing suffering, arguing that the movement had abandoned the Palestinian national struggle and instead was pursing power, undermining the unity and interests of the Palestinian people, and serving the interests of foreign elements – chiefly the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Qatar, and Iran.
Finally, it blames Hamas for escalating the crisis and triggering an IDF ground assault by rejecting the ceasefire initiative of Egyptian President 'Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi.
In the eyes of the Egyptian regime that followed the June 30, 2013 ouster of president Muhammad Mursi, Hamas is an enemy. 'Imad Al-Din Adib, columnist for the Egyptian daily Al-Watan who is close to the regime, sees Egypt as no longer applying the concept of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" vis-à-vis Hamas. Instead, it views Hamas as a branch of the MB that it considers to be working against the will and interests of the Egyptian people.[1]
However, along with the accusations in the Egyptian media against Hamas, and its schadenfreude at Hamas' misfortunes since Israel launched its attack on Gaza,[2] there have also been calls to not allow these sentiments to deflect Egypt from its decades of commitment to the Palestinian cause and from its efforts to actualize the rights of the Palestinian people. Headlines such as "Palestine is not just Gaza" and "Gaza is not all Hamas" have appeared numerous times on op-eds in the Egyptian pro-regime press since the start of the conflict.[3]
'Imad Al-Din Adib summed up the Egyptian dilemma on this matter as follows: "How can [Egypt] support the [Palestinian] 'people' without paying Hamas back what it deserves for its insane and hostile policy vis-à-vis the Egyptian regime and people?"[4]
In this context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said, at a breaking of the Ramadan fast with Egyptian journalists: "The Egyptian people are very sympathetic towards the Palestinian people, but they may be outraged at the Hamas leaders' involvement with the MB, because of the ideological connection [between them]. But our brothers in Gaza are besieged and face extermination, and Egypt will never hesitate to support them. The Palestinian people realize that the Egyptian people loves and supports it. Egypt is capable of dealing with Hamas as it [also] preserves both its own rights and the rights of its people." He added: "Whoever opposed Egypt's initiative bears responsibility for the current situation."[5]
The MB and their supporters, on the other hand, have expressed complete solidarity with Hamas, and have criticized the conduct of what they call the "coup regime" in the current crisis, comparing it to that of the Mursi regime during the November-December 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense.
The MB presents President Al-Sisi as an Israeli agent, the Egyptian media as the "Zionist lobby," and Israel as the "real enemy" against which Hamas stands alone, as Al-Sisi and other Arab rulers combat their own people.
According to the MB, Egypt is no longer capable of mediating fairly between Israel and Hamas – and the "coup regime" is causing the erosion of Egypt's role as the leader of the Palestinian cause, and of the region in general.Read the full story here.
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