There comes a time in every leader’s life when choices have to be made along lines of what is right and wrong.
If only it could be that easy.
Right and wrong, though seemingly divisible are actually highly ambiguous: at times an action can be politically right, but morally wrong, and vice-versa. The sign of a good leader is one who can surmount both, and still come up smelling of roses.
Which is why I don’t envy the Egyptian government, who seem to be trapped in their own dilemma, and pursuing the morally wrong course with alarming gusto.
As the death toll in Gaza tipples over the one-hundred mark with little respite in sight, Egypt has continued with its agreement to pump natural gas into Israel.
The move comes in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between Cairo and Tel Aviv signed in mid-2005.
According to the agreement, the Cairo-based East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) can sell 1.7 billion cubic meters of Egyptian natural gas annually to the Israeli state-run Israel Electric Corporation over a period of fifteen years.
Naturally on the defensive, the Egyptian government has pushed its Department of Flimsy Excuses into overdrive and concluded that the move is in the country’s best interests:
The government sees the sale as an economic rather than political decision. Cairo also wants to send a message to the US that it enjoys a stable peace with Israel and is ready for economic cooperation.
While self-interest is the order of the day, the government is clearly not immune from guilt for its Arab brothers and sisters across the Rafah Crossing, as Egyptian ambulances hurtled over the Rafah Crossing yesterday to offer first aid to wounded Palestinians.
But this surely does not justify the honouring of the Tel Aviv-Cairo accord on natural resources; to assist a few Palestinians while furnishing their tormentor with fuel (which may or may not ultimately facilitate the siege on Gaza) is cruelly ironic.
In times of low-conflict, the destitution of the Palestinians of Gaza remains painfully evident: during the recent opening of the Rafah Crossing, Egyptians lamented their fervent buying of goods – does this not provide an insight into how dire their living standards are in times of relative calm?
Just as the atrocities in Gaza make my stomach turn, the actions of neighbouring Arab states such as Egypt - or rather the lack of action – are equally disturbing.
Arab unity is for sure a long-forgotten dream. But as long as Egypt looks good in American eyes, what are a few more sacrifices?
Filed under: Conflict Zones, Egypt, Israel, Middle East, Palestine , Gaza
