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Deadly attack in Sinai

Oct 28,2014 - Last updated at Oct 28,2014

The atrocious attack that killed more than 30 Egyptian soldiers at a border outpost in Sinai earlier this week was not the first of its kind. This scenario has been repeated many times in recent years.

Repeated Egyptian military operations in that region do not seem to have had the intended pacifying effect. Nor is it likely that this week’s attack at Sheikh Zuwaid will be the last that the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi will have to face.

Shaken by the attack, the Egyptian regime spared no time in announcing emergency measures, including the establishment of a “buffer zone” along the border with Gaza, something that had been contemplated earlier.

The regime rushed also to blame Palestinians — as it had before — without offering a shred of evidence to support such claim.

Further isolating Gaza will not solve Egypt’s problems, but will only add to the suffering of the 1.8 million Palestinians there still coping with the catastrophic aftermath of Israel’s summertime massacre.

What is clear is that all Egypt’s efforts so far have failed to identify the perpetrators of earlier attacks or to prevent new ones.

Condemning such attackers as “terrorists”, referring to the attacks as acts of “terror” and condemning the trend as abstract “terrorism” may grant the authorities the necessary licence to hit back hard, often indiscriminately and often causing harm to local communities.

The bitter grievances, voiced by the isolated Sinai communities that have existed for decades on the margins of Egypt’s politics, society and economy, have hardly been heeded by consecutive central authorities in Cairo.

Restrictions on Sinai placed by the Egypt-Israel peace treaty must have contributed to the security vacuum, which, due to local population’s hardships, was utilised for unlawful activities such as smuggling.

Over time, unresolved problems become entrenched and harder to cure. They also become focal points for more grievances.

This could be one explanation for the Sinai trouble, but without undermining the fact that the intensity and the deadly resolve of the fighting gangs could not but be driven by political motives as well.

And yet, in the absence of a thorough, patient and honest investigation that can penetrate the many layers of rushed accusations and scapegoating of easy “enemies”, any explanation of the violence remains within the realm of speculation.

That only makes a bad security situation worse, and that is what has exactly been happening.

It may be unfair to assume that such investigations did not take place before, or are not happening now, but no convincing results have been produced to justify repeated official narratives so far.

The scapegoating of Palestinians, particularly Hamas, has been a favourite theme. A leading Egyptian claimed last Sunday that the attackers came through a tunnel from Gaza.

In retaliation, the Egyptian regime decided to postpone once again the talks it was due to host in Cairo between Israelis and Palestinians on a long-term Gaza truce. 

Egypt has again closed the Rafah crossing, the only outlet for the vast majority of Gaza’s people.

Hamas leaders have repeatedly condemned such attacks and offered to cooperate in any investigation that may lead to the truth, but they also expressed their full readiness to face their responsibilities if any evidence was ever introduced against them.

It is hard to imagine why Hamas or any other faction in Gaza would sever their only lifeline through Egypt.

They repeatedly make that point, expressing their endless gratitude to Egypt despite the fact Egypt has been instrumental in helping Israel maintain the siege, even keeping out medicines and medical teams during the recent Israeli assault.

But logic aside, why can’t Egypt produce evidence to back up its endless accusations?

The stability of Egypt, particularly at a time when the entire region is being hit hard by chaos, internal strife, sectarian conflicts and uncertainty, is vital not only for the country itself but for all of us.

The Egyptian army is the last to remain solid and relatively secure, following the disintegration or destruction of the armies of Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.

No one should rejoice at the security difficulties the Egyptian authorities are confronting in Sinai, no matter how one may disagree with the course of events in Cairo.

Sadly, however, it does not look as if it will only be Palestinians and the people of Sinai who pay the price of hasty and misguided reactions.

The regime in Cairo has just declared what amounts to martial law — allowing military courts to try civilians.

This huge step backwards is terrible news not just for Egypt but for all of us.

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