The Repeat of Egypt's Inhumane Blunder

On the scale of humanitarian countries, Egypt pretty much falls slightly above Iran and Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. They're probably tied with Saudi Arabia and Jordan and light years below Western countries that care about humans, so long as they are not Jewish, Sudanese, or from poor countries in Africa and Asia.

When tragedy strikes in the Western world, for the most part, Western nations offer some manner of assistance. Certainly, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Europeans and Americans did rally for the citizens of Ukraine. Millions were allowed to flee across to neighboring countries. Even when civil war raged in Syria, its neighbors accepted refugees, as did much of Europe.

Isn't it ironic how quiet the world is about Egypt's unwillingness to accept refugees from Gaza? How simple it would be to allow the truly innocent Gazans, primarily women and children, to cross into Egypt long enough to allow Israel to eradicate Hamas.

How simple, if Western nations are stupid enough to want to pay to remove all the rubble that is Gaza, to clear the area of humans until such time as Gaza becomes livable. But no. The Egyptians do not seem to care enough, obviously, to take any action beyond issuing statements.

And the latest is that Egypt has issued a statement threatening to re-arm the Sinai Peninsula if Gazans attempt to cross their border. Specifically, they are saying they will bring tanks, aircraft and weaponry into an area that has been largely demilitarized since Israel agreed to withdraw from Sinai as part of the peace agreement between the two countries.

It seems Egypt has forgotten the humiliating defeats of 1956 and 1967 and believes its words will scare Israel. Ironically, all that their words accomplish is to show their inhumanity to the world. When European countries are opening their doors to Gaza, how ironic it is that Arab countries keep their gates tightly sealed.

It is the same problem as 77 years ago. In 1948, there was not an expulsion of Arabs from Israel; there was an exchange of populations. The numbers are quite interesting and usually ignored:

Jews from Arab countries: Approximately 850,000-900,000 

Arabs from British Mandated Palestine: Approximately 700,000-750,000 

In other words, more Jews were made homeless than Arabs. In Israel, we absorbed them, cared for them, helped them rebuild their lives. In the Arab world, they boxed them into refugees and fed them hate and lies. They were never going to go back to their homes, just as the Jews were never going to go back to all the Arab lands from which they were expelled (and no, we didn't expel the Arabs and yes, the Jews were - mostly - expelled).

Then, had the Arabs absorbed them, welcomed them, cared for them, there would have been peace, there would be peace. Egypt's inhumanity then and now sets the stage for the tragedy that was will be the tragedy of the future. Israel did its share; the Arab world never did.

The Gaza experiment failed. Gaza lies in the rubble of its own making. It's time for the Arab world to open their borders, absorb their "brothers" and let the world, finally, have peace.