Egypt's adaptation of the 'War on Terror'

Egypt’s penal code has been updated to reflect Zionist terror and impositions. Following collaboration with Israel in destroying the tunnel network, the alleged “War on Terror” has now been extended by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi to Gaza. Individuals found guilty of tunnel construction or usage as regards the border between Gaza and Rafah can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to Al-Arabiya’s quoting of the decree: “Anyone who digs or prepares or uses a road, a passage or an underground tunnel in the country’s border areas with the purpose of connecting with a foreign entity or state, its citizens or residents … will face life in prison.”

The decree extends also to incriminate people who have knowledge of cross-border tunnels and fail to report to authorities, rendering interpretation of the amendment as one reflecting conspiracy. The Egyptian government is now also authorised to appropriate equipment used for tunnel construction as well confiscate property concealing tunnels.

Talk of “terrorist infiltration” has escalated in Egyptian and Israeli rhetoric, with the people of Rafah being subjected to home demolitions with the intent of destroying cross border tunnels and increasing the buffer zone.

Earlier in December 2014, PA President Mahmoud Abbas expressed support for Al-Sisi’s role in the tunnel network crackdown and destruction, declaring: “We will continue to support any measure protecting Egypt from danger.”

Within the context of Sinai, which has been cited as a reason for the new decree, US President Barack Obama stated that military supplies to Egypt will resume, as part of “Egypt’s efforts to combat terrorism in the Sinai and throughout the country, and we will continue to work closely to address shared threats to regional security.” This trend has been discernible throughout the “Arab Spring” and further magnified by media distortion and disruption, with focus strategically shifting to countries which are now struggling with the ramifications of US sponsored terror. A betrayal unfurled within a realm that held nothing but imperialist participation in fomenting terror and spectators applauding the parody of freedom.

Hence, threats within the region have been primarily instigated and funded by the US, which utilised the manipulation of democracy and society to nurture a wave of mutating violence that intentionally eclipses the tragedy of Palestine. As Al-Sisi continues to impose an image that suffices as an extension of the so-called war on terror coined by the US, Palestinians in Gaza remain shackled by the impositions that have affected the necessity of anti-colonial struggle.

As the region becomes embroiled within premeditated and sponsored violence, the repercussions on Palestinians portray an extreme isolation of the colonial process. Primarily, internationalism with regard to Palestine has been rendered obsolete, with the exceptions of Iran and Venezuela. Secondly, the colonisation process is strengthened through other countries’ collaboration with Israel under other generalised pretexts. The Egyptian government has usurped and adapted Israel’s colonial rhetoric with regard to land, citing territorial integrity while subjected a colonised and displaced population to indignity, humanitarian abuse and forced incarceration.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.