Israel Matzav

Will the ISM come to protest?

It's amazing what happens when you turn the screws just a little bit.

Almost exactly a month ago, I reported that the US Congress had made a portion of the massive foreign aid that the US provides to the Mubarak dictatorship contingent upon its behavior in areas that are important to the US:

The 2008 House legislation requires the US Secretary of State to certify that Egypt is addressing arms smuggling into Gaza, as well as some human rights abuses, before $200 million of a total of $1.3 billion in military aid is given to Egypt. The rest of the aid package to the Arab power has no such restrictions, but the move is seen as a sign of growing American dissatisfaction with Egypt and loosening in the relationship between the two countries.

Today, we see some movement regarding arms smuggling.

The Egyptians are planning to destroy 'several' houses in Rafiah (along the Philadelphi corridor in the map above) that are used in arms smuggling.

Egyptian authorities say they are planning to destroy several houses in the city of Rafiah, which straddles the Egypt-Gaza border. Residents have already been forced to leave buildings within 50 meters of the border, and officials now intend to expel all those living within 150 meters of the border.

Unfortunately, at this point, it's probably too little, too late:

Analysts warn the move may be a case of too little, too late. Since Hamas seized control of Gaza last month, weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza has now reached “import” levels, according to military intelligence sources.

The Egyptian-Gaza border has become little more than a demarcation between the two entities since Hamas took over Gaza, allowing terrorists to bring in increasingly sophisticated weaponry. “Hamas has jumped light years in its capabilities since Israel withdrew from Gaza two years ago,” said a military official quoted in a Haaretz report.

Hamas recently imported 20 tons of explosives through Rafiah, according to the official. The town’s location straddling the border with Egypt has long made it the weapons smuggling capital of Gaza.

It's still nice to see that the US is capable of using foreign aid to force countries to behave properly when it wants to use it that way. Too bad it wasn't done sooner.

This got me to wondering about something: As some of you may recall, Rafiah is the town where St. Pancake, ISM member Rachel Corrie, was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting against the destruction of 'homes' that were used to house weapons tunnels to smuggle weapons for Palestinian terrorists seeking to murder Jewish civilians. The International Solidarity Movement, or ISM, to which she belonged openly endorses 'Palestinian' "armed struggle" against Jewish children and civilians and openly collaborates with terrorists.

I wonder if the ISM will come to protest when the Egyptians destroy those same 'homes.' I wonder whether Caterpillar or whomever manufactures the bulldozer used by the Egyptians will be sued in American courts for destroying the 'homes.' I wonder whether anyone will cry for the poor 'homeless families.' I wonder whether anyone will even care. I doubt it. If there are no Jews involved, why would they?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:18 AM