Around and Around We Go...

It seems that since the Oslo process began in the early 1990's, a cornerstone of nearly every single agreement reached between Israel and "Palestinians" was that the Palestinians would crack down on terror and incitement, and Israel would cede territory. (Of course, time and again, the various heads of the "Palestinians" make it abundantly clear that they have no intention of ever carrying out such steps).

What has always perplexed me is how can it be that the "Palestinians" commit themselves in every agreement to do something which they failed to do in every other agreement, and yet Israel keeps going along, hailing these agreements as breakthroughs on the road to "peace"? Why is it that Israel has never once said, there's nothing to talk about until you live up to your agreements?

On that note, there is an excellent article by IMRA on the agreement that Israel appears to have reached with the Egyptians, regarding the Egyptians accepting responsibility for stopping arms smuggling from the Sinai into Gaza.

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Background: Treaty already obligates Egypt to stop arms smuggling
Dr. Aaron Lerner 5 July 2005

The Sharon team reportedly wants a written Egyptian commitment to stop the arms smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip before Israel retreat from the Philadelphi Corridor - a narrow strip between Egypt and Gaza. It should be noted that Egypt is already obligated to do this per the Peace Treaty Between Israel And Egypt signed on March 26, 1979. It is far from clear why the Sharon team considers the signing of an additional piece of paper to have significance given that Egypt has ignored the very same obligation for over a quarter of a century. If anything, the fact that a new piece of paper is being signed indicates that that is all it is - a piece of paper.

Text follows:
www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/egypt_eng.htm:

Smuggling weapons to kill Israelis falls into Article III.2.:

"...Article III 2. Each Party undertakes to ensure that acts or threats of belligerency, hostility, or violence do not originate from and are not committed from within its territory. ... Each Party also undertakes to refrain from organizing, instigating, inciting, assisting or participating in acts or threats of belligerency, hostility, subversion or violence against the other Party, anywhere, and undertakes to ensure that perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice."

Smuggling through the tunnels - regardless of the purpose is also illegal:

"Annex I Protocol Concerning Israeli Withdrawal and Security Agreements

Article II 2. Access across the international boundary shall only be permitted through entry check points designated by each Party and under its control. Such access shall be in accordance with laws and regulations of each country."