Voices from Cairo: Egyptians, Palestinians speak on Israel’s Gaza assault

CAIRO - Egyptians as well as Palestinians living in Egypt this week shared their thoughts with Middle East Eye on an ongoing Israeli offensive in the embattled Gaza Strip that has left nearly 2,000 Palestinians dead, over 10,000 injured and tens of thousands homeless in four weeks of relentless aerial, naval and ground strikes on the enclave - home to some 1.8 million Palestinians.

Cairo, a crucial actor in the Arab-Israeli conflict, has hosted a Palestinian and an Israeli delegation for indirect talks with the stated aim of bringing forward a durable truce. However, parties remain at a deadlock as a 72-hour truce ended Friday at 5:00 am GMT without renewal.

[Editor's Note: The participants refused to be photographed due to the sensitivity of the issue].

 Hammam Mubarak, 23, political researcher

 Israel wiped out my neighborhood in Rafah. The last thing I knew before I lost contact with my family there was that our house was turned into a shelter for all my uncles and their families. One of my childhood friends was killed in the massacre and on the evening of the same day, his daughter was born. Another friend lost his home and entire family.

Every time, the Palestinians pay hefty sacrifices and the Israeli siege still doesn’t get lifted. Before this Israeli offensive, everyone in Gaza was already dead. Even before the Israeli attacks started, my family used to say goodbye on the phone like it’s the last time they’ll ever hear my voice.

People here in Egypt have lost sympathy for us; they’ve gotten used to the sight of blood after all those protesters and security forces were killed in the past three years. Moreover, many of those who have anti-Hamas views have turned against Palestinians altogether.

The [pro-army] media here keeps saying Palestinians want Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing so they could occupy Sinai. That’s ridiculous. Gaza is beautiful and bountiful; it’s like Egypt’s Alexandria. Why would we want to leave that and go live in a desert? I understand that Egypt has a political problem with Hamas, but Egypt’s role towards the Palestinians is bigger than that.

Marwan Rassmy, 21, engineering graduate:

It is beyond depressing that as all these children are getting killed and families are made homeless in Gaza by Israeli attacks, some figures in our media in Egypt would say that the Palestinians deserve it.

Israel seized the distraction with Ramadan and the World Cup to ravage as much as it could of Gaza. They hyped-up the media with accusations that Hamas kidnapped and killed three Israelis in the West Bank without providing any evidence, just to use the incident as a pretext to assault Palestinians in Gaza.

The Egyptian government says it has its reasons for keeping the Rafah crossing closed, but still, this approach does not represent me in any way.

I might disagree with Hamas ideologically, but I would never blame them. They want a Palestine, and they’re doing everything they can to see that happen.

Dalal Naffas, 54, retired teacher:

I have lived in Egypt for decades and I have the Egyptian nationality but all my cousins still live in Gaza City. Their houses weren’t bombed, but so many other people’s have. Israel has underestimated Hamas’ capabilities in retaliating to this assault. So when Hamas caused them significant losses, they went rabid.

Egypt’s closure of the Rafah border is inhumane. People around the world are sympathizing with the Palestinians while their own neighbors have aligned themselves with Israel. It makes me feel sorry for myself.

I am not an Islamist, but that has never contradicted with my support of Hamas. They are still standing tall and resisting the occupation. They’ve managed to make their own rockets despite all the crippling restrictions.

I’ve become wary of telling people here that I’m Palestinian; the media is trying to sabotage Egyptian’s minds by telling them that Hamas are nothing but terrorists who want to destabilize Egypt. But do Egyptians not realize that Gaza is Egypt’s last line of defence against Israel?

Nasser Khalil, 47, businessman:

Unfortunately, Hamas has exploited the blood of innocent Palestinians by refusing truce. They could have both saved Palestinians’ lives and embarrassed Israel, but they’re stubborn.

Hamas has been seeking to destabilize Egypt for over a year and now the government found a golden opportunity to suffocate them. The current Hamas leadership is corrupt. Why are they staying outside Gaza? Why aren’t they fighting with their own hands like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and al-Rantisi, who were assassinated by Israel in the heart of Gaza? I am starting to believe that the current Hamas leadership is even cooperating with Israel on some level.

But still, no matter how much we disagree with Hamas, we should never condone the killing of Palestinians like that. They are Arabs and Muslims just like us Egyptians. I can’t believe the government isn’t even letting medical aid pass through the border.

Mohammed Antar, 28, musician:

I just want to go home. I’ve been stuck here in Egypt for two months because the border is closed. The last I know about my family was that they returned to our home during the truce, but I am sure they will be displaced again. This time, the scenes of destruction in Gaza are reminiscent of the Nakba itself.

Egypt, like all Arab governments, wants to avoid colliding with Israel at any cost. For that, it has reduced the whole of Gaza to Hamas, calling them agents of the so-called Islamist conspiracy in the region. And it’s not worth trying to change the mind of any Egyptian who believes that.

I observe some people’s faces here getting nervous when I say I’m Palestinian. Some of them ask me if I support Hamas, hoping I’d say yes so they would feel better about rejecting me. I feel sorry for them.

Hamas is fighting back. At the very least, they broke the image Israel tries so hard to portray about its army being the strongest in the world. So many Palestinians are still dying because no one is supporting us. But at least we’re not dying without a fight.

Mahmoud Mahfouz, 24, advertising student:

My family fled Jabaliya refugee camp and took shelter at a UN school, I haven’t been able to reach them for days. I don’t know what happened to them since then.

I feel helpless that I cannot be with them. My mother was denied entrance to Egypt through the Rafah crossing, even though she has Egyptian nationality. I understand that the Egyptian government has the right to protect its borders, but why haven’t they done anything on a humanitarian level? Why deny aid supplies from crossing through to Gaza?

I have been seeing a lot of anti-Palestinian media propaganda, but I think people here have stopped taking the media seriously. Many times Egyptians approach me and say: “I know what we’re hearing on the media about Gaza is wrong,” and then they ask me to tell them what’s really happening. I understand that President al-Sisi has a problem with Hamas, but does that justify trapping 2 million people in Gaza amid overwhelming Israeli bombings?

I blame all parties involved; Hamas is too focused on emerging as the victor, no matter how many Palestinians get killed or lose their homes from Israeli strikes. And in the end the people of Gaza, who have nowhere to go, always pay the price.

Omar, 27, military conscript:

This Israeli aggression on Gaza brought me to my lowest. During Ramadan, I would listen to preachers crying for the Palestinians during dawn prayers. This government in Egypt knows nothing about humanity; they went as far as to even deny access of medical aid to the Palestinians. When I left the military camp on vacation, I went to see a psychiatrist.

Every now and then, the senior military officers would go on tirades against the Brotherhood and Hamas. They would try to lead us to believe that everything the government says about them is true. During this Israeli assault, one of the senior officers was so adamant on convincing us that Hamas are the real traitors. “Why are their leaders based outside Gaza? Why aren’t they facing the Israelis with their own bodies?” he would say. And I would want to tell him: “If war broke out in Egypt, would you or any of the army leaders be fighting on the ground with the soldiers? Doesn’t every war need masterminds?

Fatah keeps saying it wants peace, but Hamas are the real men who are standing up to Israel. They are defending themselves and their land against the occupation and the siege. And they are the ones who are truly ready to sacrifice everything to live with dignity. They are doing what no Arab army has dared to do.