Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CAIRO107
2009-01-22 14:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

NORTH SINAI REACTION TO GAZA CONFLICT

Tags:  PGOV PREL KPAL PREF EAID PHUM KISL ECON IS EG 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHEG #0107/01 0221415
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221415Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1418
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUCNRCC/REFUGEE COORDINATOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1844
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1111
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000107 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAL PREF EAID PHUM KISL ECON IS EG
SUBJECT: NORTH SINAI REACTION TO GAZA CONFLICT

REF: 08 CAIRO 136

Classified By: Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs
William R. Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000107

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAL PREF EAID PHUM KISL ECON IS EG
SUBJECT: NORTH SINAI REACTION TO GAZA CONFLICT

REF: 08 CAIRO 136

Classified By: Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs
William R. Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: During a trip to the North Sinai
Governorate on January 19-20, we met with local leaders and
discussed the recent fighting in Gaza, and its effect on the
neighboring communities in Egypt. All the leaders, with whom
we met, noted that the local population--which is a mixture
of Bedouins, Egyptian-born Palestinians and Nile Valley
Egyptians--is angry about Israeli military action and
psychologically affected by the conflict. Residents of
Egyptian Rafah heard the nightly bombings in Gaza and some
buildings in the town were damaged by stray ordnance.
Residents of North Sinai are participating in providing
humanitarian aid to Gaza. Many Sinai residents are
volunteering to unload aircraft and load trucks with medical
and food supplies. Additionally, many residents are donating
blankets, food, and basic medical supplies for the people of
Gaza. The local leaders feel that the conflict led the local
population to more readily accept Islamic extremism, and
makes peace in the region more elusive. End Summary.

--------------
Anger at Israeli Attacks on Gaza
--------------


2. (C) North Sinai Governor General Mohammed Abd al-Fadil
Shousha told us that the local populace has been adversely
affected by the war in Gaza. He said "many people in North
Sinai have Palestinian roots," and are personally affected by
the conflict. Fayez Abu Harb, a top Bedouin representative
and a member of the Egyptian Parliament invited us to a
Bedouin council meeting in Shaykh Zuwayd. During the
meeting, he told us that North Sinai is a "border
governorate" and incidents in Gaza "strongly impact" on the
Palestinian and Bedouin people in Sinai because they have
familial ties to people in Gaza. He stated that families in

Egyptian Rafah listened to the nightly bombings on Gaza. Abu
Harb said many families had left Rafah temporarily to escape
the danger and omnipresent reminders of war. (see septel
reporting economic situation in North Sinai).


3. (C) In a free flowing discussion during the Bedouin
council meeting, many of the tribal shaykhs expressed their
anger and disbelief at the brutality of the Gaza conflict.
They accused Israel of using "illegal phosphorous weapons,"
and asserted that these weapons were "provided by the U.S."
Some shaykhs said they personally helped victims, burned by
the weapons, enter Egypt for medical treatment. Bedouin
council members also told us that some buildings in Egyptian
Rafah were damaged by the Israel air strikes. Abu Harb told
us that despite the anger over the Gaza conflict, he asked
the Palestinian population "not to violate Egypt's
sovereignty by illegally crossing the border." He said that
unlike the past, the last three weeks passed with "no major
violation" (reftel).

-------------- --------------
Egyptian Efforts to Assist and Contain the Crisis
-------------- --------------


4. (C) As we entered the room for our meeting with Governor
Shousha, he was involved in a conversation with the Red
Crescent about the amount of aid going from Egypt into Gaza.
He was also trying to ascertain damages to buildings in
Egyptian Rafah due to Israeli bombing. Shousha told us that
"a lot" of medical supplies passed through El Arish into
Gaza. He believes that there are enough medical supplies in
Gaza, but said that he understood that food is still in short
supply.


5. (C) Shousha told us that El Arish Hospital has been
designated as a triage site for Palestinians, wounded in the
Gaza conflict. He said that approximately 40 people a day are
being brought from Gaza to the hospital in El Arish. (Note:
During our time in El Arish, we regularly witnessed convoys
of orange ambulances coming from the border area to the El
Arish hospital. End Note.) Shousha said most of the wounded
from Gaza, after being evaluated in El Arish, are sent on to
Cairo and other countries for treatment. He said this is
because the Government of Egypt wants to maintain El Arish
hospital "as a reserve for large, unexpected inflows of
wounded."


6. (C) Ahmed Orabi, President of the North Sinai Red Crescent

CAIRO 00000107 002 OF 002


Society, told us that his organization is sending 40-50
trucks of medicine per day into Gaza through Rafah, and
another 30 tractor trailers through the al-Auja (Nitzanna)
crossing. He stated that the Egyptian Red Crescent sent 100
tons of medical supplies into Gaza. Orabi told us that the
Red Crescent was also making preparations to establish
temporary "refugee camps" in Egyptian Rafah for the 500-600
Palestinians who crossed the border during the conflict. He
said that Egyptians whose homes were destroyed will also
temporarily reside in the camps. He asked for U.S.
assistance in providing tents and water for this effort. He
hoped that "the American image could be helped by providing
tents, food and water for those in the camps."

--------------
North Sinai Populace Providing Aid to Gaza
--------------


7. (C) Governor Shousha told us that the local population
responded to the war in Gaza by donating food, blankets and
medicine. Orabi stated that this was the first time that he
felt the "pulse of the Egyptian people" as a result of events
in Gaza. He stated that there were approximately 120
volunteers per day that would come to assist in emptying
planes and filling trucks with humanitarian aid supplies.
Orabi said that "many of the volunteers are students that
come to volunteer after finishing their end of semester
exams." (Note: During our 1 1/2 hour meeting at the Red
Crescent, we witnessed individuals, students, and families
continually arriving with donations of blankets, basic
medical supplies, and food for the people of Gaza. End Note.)

--------------
Consequences of Gaza Conflict
--------------


8. (C) North Sinai Red Crescent Vice President Adel el-Ghaly
opined that "Israel lost the war because support for Hamas
has grown in the region and in North Sinai." Dr. Muhammad
Nasser and Dr. Ali El Kassas, two professors at the local
branch of Suez Canal University, echoed this sentiment. They
stated that the students traditionally viewed events in Gaza
as part of the greater "Palestinian cause," but now many have
begun to see events in terms of "Israel versus HAMAS." Abu
Harb told us that the conflict in Gaza "hurt the moderate
voices in the area." He said that in addition to widespread
sympathy for the victims in Gaza, sympathy for more radical
Islamists has grown.


9. (C) Abu Harb told us that he hoped the new U.S.
administration would be able to resolve the
Palestinian/Israel issues. He said that a solution would
allow the opening of the Rafah border crossing, and create
trade opportunities for people in the North Sinai Governorate
and Gaza. He said the North Sinai Governorate was in dire
need of economic opportunities (septel),and because of the
situation between Gaza and Israel there is currently no
legitimate trade across the border.


10. (C) Comment: While there was anger at the situation in
Gaza, we were welcomed by all the leaders in North Sinai.
All expressed a desire to engage with the United States and
recognized the U.S. role in resolving problems in the region.
With the exception of one angry demonstration on January 9,
the focus in North Sinai is on helping their "brothers" in
Gaza recover from the recent conflict by providing
humanitarian aid. However, we noticed that a number of
houses on the main road from Bir el-Abd to Rafah were flying
Egyptian and HAMAS flags. A few houses were flying the Fatah
flag. We had not witnessed this phenomenon on previous trips
to the peninsula. This appears to confirm, at least for the
present, some of the local leaders' concerns that the recent
conflict led people in North Sinai to increase support for
the "HAMAS cause" rather than the "Palestinian cause."
SCOBEY