Brotherhood to Brotherhood ... From Gaza to Cairo

Is there any hope that Cairo will realise that the Gaza Strip has turned into a hotbed for terrorism which poses a serious threat against Egypt's national security, since the strip fell under Hamas' control? The terrorist attack that took place a few days ago near the Rafah crossing which connects Gaza to Egypt was nothing but expected, as Egypt is currently gaining the results of its policies towards Gaza. The sinful attack which targeted Egyptian soldiers serving at a security post near the border crossing was a normal result for Egypt's complacency over the situation in Gaza, a strip that was ruled by Egypt until 1967. The Egyptian complacency didn't begin recently, but it had actually started during Hosni Mubarak's era, and under the observation of his security agencies led by General Omar Suleiman who died a few weeks ago. The western diplomats working in Cairo used to say during the last few years before the collapse of Mubarak's regime, that Egypt was the state most aware of the situation in Gaza. They were always praising the efforts of the Egyptian security and they were admitting that the European states which are interested in what is happening in Gaza are drawing information from the Egyptians. At the same time, those diplomats used to refer to the fact that the leaders of Egypt's security agencies were sharing with their political leadership its failure in taking advantage of the information it has. Those diplomats were further complaining of the inability of Egypt's political and security leaders in anticipating how serious the situation in Gaza was, and how deep the Iranian influence there had become. Simply, the Egyptian officials failed to realise how negatively the situation in Gaza would affect Egypt. During Mubarak's era, particularly the last ten years of the ousted president's rule, Egypt was giving priority to another issue over Gaza; how to guarantee that Mubarak's son, Gamal, will succeed his father when the latter departs. Meanwhile, Mubarak's security agencies were working effectively in collecting information about the developments in Gaza, but those who were setting on top of these agencies failed to understand that Egypt will draw harm to itself if it remained inactive towards these developments. The Egyptian authorities working under Mubarak also failed in understanding the true reasons behind Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, in addition to their negligence to the massive spread of arms in the strip. But their most significant failure, was the failure in realising that the coup carried out by Hamas in Gaza in 2007, was not only against the Palestinian Authority, but it was actually against Egypt as well. Nobody in Cairo was able to anticipate the dangers directed at Egypt after the dismantling of Hamas into several militias which worked independently of the mother movement. Some of them have built direct ties with foreign powers, Iran and its associated groups in particular, parties that were hostile to Egypt and other Arab states. We can say that Egypt was lost during the last 10 years, as none of Cairo's political figures were able to say what should be said about the situation in Gaza, in order to protect the Palestinians' rights and Egypt's security as well. Nobody in Cairo had the courage to say that Hamas's slogans were working only in Israel's favour, and that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was not a victory for Hamas rather than an Israeli plan to improve their capability of controlling the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem. Would anything change in Egypt after the latest terrorist assault which was carried out by gunmen coming from Gaza and had led to the death of some Egyptian soldiers? It is clear that President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to which he belongs are currently embarrassed, especially as Hamas is actually a Brotherhood off-shot, and showed warm welcome to the Brotherhood's take over in Egypt, which made them feel more powerful than ever. President Morsi has admittedly delivered a powerful speech after the terrorist attack that targeted the Egyptian soldiers, but he had only condemned the "criminality and treachery" reflected in the attack, and he didn't mention the word "terrorism". He didn't admit that Hamas is the main source of terrorism in the region, and that all the other terrorist groups have came out of its pocket. If the Egyptian response to this attack is not to come from the fact that Hamas is the main source of threats against Egypt, Morsi's speech wouldn't be worth repeating. It would be considered an attempt to acquit Hamas and deny its responsibility for the unstable security situation in Gaza. Defending Hamas for the sake of Brotherhood-Brotherhood relations will not solve the problem, unfortunately it will worsen the situation in Gaza. Apparently, the new Egyptian leadership is keen on keeping Hamas's control over Gaza regardless of its influence over the Palestinians' internal disputes. The new Egyptian leadership looks to be prioritising its alliance with Hamas over the interests of both Egypt and Palestine. Egypt is in need of officials who can realise the difference between the state's interests and the ruling party's interests. The moment the Egyptian leaders will realise this difference, they will also realise that keeping the situation in Gaza as it is would ruin what is still remaining of the Palestinian rights, and would also open the way for spread of terrorism in Egypt's Sinai. Will Egypt's leaders prioritise the state's interests over the aspirations of the Muslim Brotherhood and their greed for power?             -- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.