F L A M E : Letter to J (the Jewish newspaper of Northern California): Egypt to guard Gaza’s borders?

Letter to J (the Jewish newspaper of Northern California): Egypt to guard Gaza’s borders?

September 20, 2005

You may have read or heard that Israel has solicited Egyptian troops to guard the Gaza-Egypt border against smugglers bringing arms into the Gaza Strip. The idea of abandoning Gaza looked to be a terrible mistake from the outset, but making the Egyptians guardians of the border would seem to compound it.

My following letter was published by J. (the Jewish Bulletin for Northern Califoirnia). We hope that will agree with our views.

Immediately following this letter, we reprint an article from the Jerusalem Post that confirms these concerns.

Dear Editor:

Ariel Sharon, who famously declared that "responsible statesmen do not give away pieces of their country to appease their adversaries and as negotiating chips," has now decided and successfully accomplished to make Gaza, part of the Jewish homeland, judenrein.

It is very sad and Israel will have to reap the bitter harvest of this dreadful deed. It will be understood by Israel's enemies, and by the world at large, as a sign of weakness. In view of its implacable enemies, Israel cannot afford to show any weakness.

But what really boggles the mind is that Israel has invited the Egyptians to send a contingent of 750 soldiers to police the frontier of the Sinai with Gaza. Their mission is to prevent smuggling of arms into the Gaza Strip. Is the Israeli government composed of the fools of Chelm or their descendants? If that is not inviting the fox to guard the chicken coop, what is?

Best regards,

Gerardo Joffe
President, FLAME

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