Never Peace In The Middle East . Perhaps never is a strong word . But judging by what is happening now in Gaza , I should stay with that term for a while . Let us ask ' Why " ? .
The Middle East is akin to Times Square in New York City : Full of humanity unattached to one another ; tourists ; jugglers ; a nearly naked cowboy with his hand out for money ; shoppers ; and pickpockets . Plus adult films and scary films . There is also a big display of the hat of Zahi Hawwas --a more effective ad for tourism to Egypt than an office for tourism .
Back to the Middle East and the elusive peace : Oil and territory define richness and poverty . Ahmed Shawqi said it best : " With knowledge and money , people build their countries . No country was ever built on ignorance and poverty " . But both can be overcome by luck and planning . The discovery in the Egyptian deserts of huge natural gas deposits is expected to lift Egypt of 105 million inhabitants from a living standard of the 19th century to the 21st and far beyond .
Bloomberg Business News painted a rosy picture of a presently impoverished Egypt . On the occasion of opening a second Suez Canal , it predicted that by 2025 Egypt shall be a great regional power : Location ; population ; stability ; forward looking leadership ; a million persons under arms ; two aircraft carriers ; pride in its pharaonic past ; and a new Capital . By comparison , the Panama Canal has no chance to compete with Suez . Egypt is expected to attract 85% of world maritime trade by 2025 .
Though surrounded by conflicts in Libya , Sudan , and Gaza , the word is out : " Don't mess with Al-Qahirah ( Cairo ) " . Egypt has been a security State since 7000 years ago . She lives in a bad neighborhood . And as in 1973 , Egypt proved ready to strike back .
Egypt has never abrogated a treaty . Nor has an Egyptian head of State been assassinated for the past 700 years , except for Sadat . And it was at the hands of those who said " To Hell With Egypt " uttered by Mahdi Akef of the Muslim brotherhood . Morsi's rule was curtailed by that negativity , not by El-Sisi . No fidelity to Egypt , no legitimacy for those who want to rule it by the sword .
Those who wish to drag Egypt into war for the sake of Abbas and his corrupt regime in Ramullah or by Maghniyyah in Gaza can wait forever and ever . Enough is enough . The Camp David Accords provided them with a Palestine which they rejected . And when Sadat was killed , the PLO said " May God Bless the hand that pulled the trigger " !! . Let us also recall that the PLA in Ramallah is the only entity on the planet that does not publish its budget . What are they hiding ? . Hiding facts known to the outside world such as the great wealth accumulated by the sons of Abbas and his second in command , Qurie . My source on Qurie is his own son Ala , who bragged to me about their millions . Yet they are still divided in two Palestines with their hands out for Gulf and other international money .
- Egypt of today has returned to the adage said by Lotfi El-Sayed Pasha : " Build Walls Around Egypt " . But it is a wall with balconies overlooking the entire world . Peace in the Middle East is attainable the Egyptian way : National interest , secured by a vast military establishment , funded by local resources , and by an Egyptian public that sees peace and globalism as a highway leading away from those calling for a forever war .
- Where does all of this leave Israel ? . In a very precarious position regardless of the recent normalization of relationship with some of the Gulf States . It is the Palestinians on the ground that shall give Israel sleepless nights . That is regardless of its iron dome . It is the Arab people on the ground who shall prove that the Dome of The Rock at Al-Aqsa is more durable than the Israeli iron dome which stands for two things : Jews have " the right of return " , after 2000 years ; Arabs do not . On the contrary , Arabs are evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem , and are treated as second class citizens in their own ancestral land . Ramullah is an ivory tower . It is a business center , not a resistance headquarters . Their tools are empty speeches and Security Council non -productive sessions . The Palestinian children , armed only with stones , are a mighty army that forms the best guerills in colonial situations . Palesinian Lives Matter !! . And No Justice No Peace !! .
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Dr. Yassin El-Ayouty, Esq.
Founder