No Pictures At 11 At Israel-Egypt Border

Sudan refugees are desperate to find havens.

Israel is a favored destination.

Israel is ambivalent, wary of possible Muslim extremist infiltrators, but compassionate toward others fleeing a genocide. Israel’s Hasbara Committee describes the Israeli “Refugee Quandary.”

More than 2,000 African refugees, about half from Sudan, are provoking strong reactions in Israel. Some of these desperate people are Christians from Darfur [in Sudan], while many are Muslim. Regardless, none are Jewish. Opinions are divided between those who want to open Israel to refugees, remembering how borders were closed to Jews fleeing the Nazis, and those who want to deport the refugees who are already here and prevent others from crossing our borders, fearful of adding more non-Jews to our population….

The Sudanese refugees are victims of Arab racism, which is probably the reason that no aid has been forthcoming from the nearby Arab nations. Nor has there been much succor from non-Arab Muslims, whose countries constitute the majority of the Islamic peoples.

Cairo’s Al-Ahram doesn’t gloss over the situation:

Stories are rife about an increase in the numbers of Sudanese refugees fleeing Egypt for Israel. Dozens of Sudanese are reported to have crossed the border into Israel under the cover of darkness. Smuggling rings in Israel and Egypt are taking advantage of the desire of Sudanese refugees in Egypt to seek greener pastures in Israel and are making a killing out of the business….

While the problem is not new it is getting "worse" according to the Israelis. Khamis, one of the first Sudanese to cross the border from Egypt to Israel maintains that he does not regret the move. "In Israel Sudanese can earn $4 per hour. In Egypt such a wage is unheard of. Moreover, medical care and educational opportunities are far better in Israel than in Egypt."

Another Sudanese refugee in Israel, Daniel, described his ordeal. "We were smuggled across the wilderness of Sinai at night. There were Egyptian and Israeli military patrols and we were in constant danger of hitting a minefield. It was a hellish journey but we made it to the 'Promised Land'," he said.

Such stories have prompted many Sudanese to make the dangerous journey across the Sinai wastelands to Israel where, according to Mike Kagan of the American University in Cairo, some Sudanese refugees live for free on Israeli kibbutz's.

Yesterday, the desperate plight of Sudanese refugees at the Egypt-Israel border shocked Israelis anew:

Egyptian soldiers killed four Sudanese refugees near the Egypt-Israel border overnight Wednesday in full view of IDF troops, a shaken-sounding IDF soldier said in an interview with Channel 10, Thursday evening.

According to the soldier, female IDF troops operating night vision devices identified several refugees approaching the border in an attempt to infiltrate Israel and alerted other soldiers who arrived after a few minutes in an army jeep.

However, Egyptian troops who also discovered the refugees, fired upon them, immediately killing two and wounding a third. A fourth refugee ran towards the fence and an IDF soldier stretched out his hands, trying to help him cross.

At that point, the soldier recalled, two Egyptian soldiers arrived and started pulling at the refugee's legs.

"It was literally like we were playing 'tug of war' with this man," the soldier said. The soldier eventually loosened his grip on the man, fearing the Egyptians would shoot him.

"They were aiming loaded weapons straight at us, I was afraid they were going to shoot us," he said.

The Egyptians then carried the man several meters away from the border fence, and proceeded to beat him and another wounded refugee to death with stones and clubs.

"What happened there yesterday was a lynch. These are not men, they're animals. They killed him without even using firearms," the soldier said. "We just heard screams of pain and the sounds of beatings. Then the screams stopped."

The entire event was caught on IDF tapes, but the soldier said that his commanders, who were not at the site, would not dare watch them.
The entire incident took place on the Egyptian side of the border, IDF sources told Israel Radio later Thursday evening.

A Channel 10 commentator said the channel preferred not to show the tape, so as not to cause a diplomatic row with Egypt.

Consequently, Israel’s Knesset is moving toward added protections for Sudan’s refugees in Israel:

A majority of Knesset members signed a petition urging the government to refrain from deporting Sudanese refugees to Egypt until safe haven is found for them elsewhere.

As many as 1,400 refugees have reached Israel, crossing from their war torn homeland through Egypt. They fear return to Egypt, where they report abuse and in some cases killings by authorities.

Students from Jerusalem and Beersheva initiated the petition, Ha'aretz reported Friday, and obtained the signatures of 63 of 120 lawmakers in the Knesset. Signatories range from Effi Eitam of the right-wing National Religious Party to Dov Khenin of Hadash, formerly the Communist Party and include leaders of the Likud and Labor parties.

At the same time, as Solomonia comments, “They can't keep Hamas from smuggling in weapons, but unarmed desperate people, those they can beat to death.”

So, Israel’s Interior Minister calls for erecting added barriers at its border with Egypt, to prevent infiltration, arms, and refugees from crossing.

Not a simple quandary, is it?

A bet: Israel will be pilloried in the international media, whatever it does.