Not everyone's border

Serene Assir reports from Rafah as the Egypt-Gaza border reopens

---

Last Saturday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border with Egypt for the first time. According to an agreement reached over recent weeks between Egypt, Israel and the PA, Egyptians and Palestinians will administer the border. European monitors will watch over the work of the PA police through the first months.

For the moment, the terminal is open for four to five hours each day. According to the EU, these hours are set to increase once another 50 monitors arrive to assist the 20 who are currently working.

"I am very happy with the way things have turned out," Hussein from Gaza said as he handed Egyptian officials his personal identification documents. "No doubt this constitutes a step towards granting the Palestinians greater freedom."

While reports confirmed that over 1,500 Palestinians managed to cross into Gaza on Saturday alone, by Monday many others remained stranded on the border. "Entrance into Gaza is forbidden without a Palestinian ID," an Egyptian official working at the Rafah terminal told Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity. "This is a term stipulated in the initial agreement with the Palestinians. There is nothing we can do about it."

As a result, Palestinian passport holders who do not have the infamous Israeli-issued ID cards are barred from entering Gaza -- despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's reassurances during the terminal's reopening ceremony on Friday. "I think every Palestinian now has his passport ready in his pocket. Let them come to cross at this terminal whenever they want," he said.

Thousands of Gazans who were not residing in their homelands during the start of the Israeli occupation and during the Israeli-conducted registration process thus remain exempted.

Speaking to the Weekly from Gaza, 24-year- old Ahmed said Israel's August withdrawal from Gaza has not been a "withdrawal at all. The only change that has taken place is that the power has been shifted from the occupiers' hands into the PA's hands. The PA is now charged with fulfilling Israel's role." His family did not return to Gaza from Egypt -- which is where they had been residing for 20 years -- until after the occupation was reinstated. "As a result, I remain imprisoned, like many others. For me, the withdrawal has granted me no new freedoms."

In many ways, the agreement governing the Rafah terminal is providing a live test case for issues related to Palestinian refugees and the still unresolved question of their right to return. Several Gazans still stranded at the border told the Weekly that they had been living as refugees in other Arab states -- including Saudi Arabia and Jordan -- for decades, and had hoped that they would be able to enter Gaza when the PA took control of the Palestinian side of the border for the first time.

"We were wrong," said Abu Khalil. "I've been living in Saudi Arabia for 38 years. When the terminal opened, I hoped that things would finally be alright. I was shocked, however, to find that only those who bore an ID card issued by the occupation forces were actually allowed to enter Gaza. I've been here for four days. As long as the terminal is controlled by the Egyptians, the Palestinians, and a third party, as is the case today, Gaza will remain a prison."

Abu Khalil promised to wait and see how the situation developed over the next few days; if he failed to make any progress, he would ultimately "return to Saudi Arabia. It's a shame that I should be allowed to reside in a country which is not my own, while I am not permitted to visit my own homeland."

Tarek, another refugee from Gaza, said that he "may have lived abroad for many years, but my sisters, my brother and my children are all in Gaza. I am a Palestinian! Do Palestinians not have a right to return to their homeland, even after all these years of suffering?"

Having spent most of their savings on the journey to Rafah itself, some were unsure whether they could pay for transport back to their countries of residence. "This can't be! Why are [PA Civil Affairs Minister Mohamed] Dahlan and Abbas doing this to us?" asked a young woman who has been living in exile in Yemen with her husband and three young children. "The businessmen, the rich, and those with contacts with the PA are going in. What about the rest of us? My son was so upset today when he saw a family cross over with their dog. 'Is the dog better than us?' he asked me. The dog has an ID and we don't? It's shameful!" She said she was unsure of how she would be paying for her family's transport back to Yemen if they were not granted a permit.

The woman had no complaints about the way Egypt was handling the border. "The Egyptians allowed me to check with the PA side about whether I'd be allowed in. The Egyptian side is really being very good about this deal. They are making no problems for us. On the other hand, the PA is making life very hard."

Adel -- another refugee without an ID who was waiting at the border -- also complained about the hardships facing those who were being forced to wait. "There are no bathrooms, no drinking water, and sanitary conditions are very bad. Women, children and old men are sleeping out in the cold. People have been here for days, and it doesn't look like they will be given any news any time soon."

The agreement governing the terminal also stipulates that Israeli officials will watch the crossing via CCTV, allegedly for security purposes. "This is a very sad aspect of the deal," said Hussein, who was allowed to cross the border.

"It all goes to show that, in the end, the PA doesn't have any real control," Tarek told the Weekly. "In the end, it's the Israelis who decide our fate. And even today, after their partial withdrawal, that continues to be the case."

According to Adel, "we're now discovering the real meaning of the term partial withdrawal: the Israelis tell the PA how to behave, and the PA acts accordingly."