33 of the Day

"3,300 year old city to be wiped off the map" 

The city of Rafah, which has been a part of Egypt since the pharaonic period, is to be removed from the map; its residents relocated to the imaginatively named, yet-to-be-built city of New Rafah.

Rafah is located in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt’s northeast, straddling the border with the Gaza Strip. It is home to thousands of families, all of whom will be forcibly relocated under plans to create a “buffer zone” on the border.

Just a week ago, the plan was to demolish 1,220 houses. The Egyptian method of enforcement was as simple as a forced confession. With little warning, police notified residents that they would clear the area, and said they would forcibly seize the property of those who refused to comply. Though journalists are forbidden in Egypt’s troubled easternmost governorate, images trickled out of families bearing bundles of clothes and belongings looking on powerless as army bulldozers destroyed their homes.

But soon the Egyptian government decided that these methods were too, how shall we say, respectful of human rights. The entire border city of Rafah is to be levelled to the ground, Egyptian authorities have announced. “The establishment of a buffer zone requires the complete removal of the city. In fact, it will be completely destroyed,” said Abdel Fattah Harhour, governor of North Sinai, to which Rafah is administratively affiliated.

Soon, Rafah will be gone. What won't be gone is all the intractable political problems of the region that is causing its destruction.

Our wonderful ally Egypt is really fucked up (though what else is new)....