Blaming Gaza for the Egyptian government’s folly in Sinai
Demolishing homes in Rafah to establish a 'buffer zone' with Gaza. (Galal Amr/Twitter)
Blaming Gaza for the Egyptian government’s folly in Sinai is not the answer.
Following the October killings, I wrote: “If the intentions are to truly curb attacks in Sinai, knee-jerk military solutions will backfire.” Others too sounded the alarm that the security solution will not work.
What should have been common sense – Sinai’s problems are, after all complex and protracted – was brushed aside in the rush for war. The folly of the military action in the last few months may be registering internationally, at last, but certainly not locally.
That denial is felt through much of the Egyptian media. A top military expert, Salamah Jawhari declared on television that the ‘Sinai terrorists are clinically dead’ and the proof is the well-coordinated attacks of January 29. Per his logic, the attacks, which targeted three main cities all at once were ‘scattered’, thus the ‘clinical death’ of the militants. He blamed Qatar and Turkey for supporting the militants of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, which, as of November vowed allegiance to the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS), announcing their new name: ‘The Sinai Province’.
The massive comeback of Sinai’s militants and the change of tactics indicate that the war in Sinai is heading to a stage unseen since the revolution, in fact since the rise of militancy in Sinai starting with the deadly bombings of October 2004, followed by the attack on tourists in April 2005, on Sharm el-Sheikh resort in the same year, and on Dahab in 2006. The militants are much more emboldened, angry and organized.
The audacity of the militants seems consistent with the sense of despair felt by the tribes of Sinai, who are caught in a devastating politically-motivated ‘war on terror’.
The question remains: how long will it be before Cairo understands that violence cannot resolve what are fundamentality political and socio-economic problems? This is as true in Cairo, as it is in Arish.
Excerpts from the forthcoming article ‘The Great War of Sinai’ – Ramzy Baroud/Syndicated
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