Epstein Secrets

special committee enjoys legitimacy in the underground smuggling network, and following the recent killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers and officers in Rafah, for example, the committee ordered all tunnel owners to shut down their smuggling operations for a period of three days. This decision had an imm

sraeli occupation and is thus punishing us," Mona Abdo, political activist who ran for parliament under Mubarak, told Ahram Online from her home in Rafah. "I am more Egyptian than other Egyptians living in Cairo or elsewhere, as I reside on the turbulent borders," she said. Political sociologists st

h during their meeting in Cairo last month. Hamas views the tunnels as a matter of life and death, whilst the Palestinian Authority [PA] — based in the West Bank — supports their closure and destruction. The PA has claimed that 600 new millionaires have made their fortunes thanks to the tunnels, at the expen

they erroneously attribute to Islam, upon which Islamist forces presumably base their political legitimacy. Also, in the immediate aftermath of the Rafah attack, President Mohamed Mursi came under fire for his "ill-considered" decision to establish closer relations with Hamas. It was argued that step

Jewish state as a means of diplomatically isolating it, limiting its military and economic options, and pressuring it to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank (which, for some, would be a first step toward Israel's elimination). While such efforts have not garnered widespread support in the United States a

the popular sentiment in favor of the Palestinian cause, the new Egyptian leadership initiated two important policy shifts. First, it re-opened the Rafah border, which has allowed most residents of Gaza to escape the suffocating siege imposed by Israel. Second, Egypt has played an active role in faci

nd judiciary branch, so long as Hamas did not control the recipient. It also permitted funding to nongovernmental organizations that provide aid to the West Bank and Gaza relating to humanitarian needs and democracy promotion. Ultimately, the dilemma over funding the PA resolved itself in 2007, when Hamas b

they cross from Egypt into Gaza through the Rafah passenger terminal there. Gaza's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, is to greet the emir at Rafah and also host him at his office in Gaza City, the officials said. The Qatari ruler is also expected to tour the sites of the projects funded by Qa

, including three roads, a hospital and a new town that will bring thousands of jobs to the impoverished territory. Hamas' Palestinian opponents in the West Bank were watching the emir's plans with some concern. They fear that any gestures that strengthen Hamas' hold on Gaza will make the Islamists less incl