Border opening dedicated to killers
By Ryan JonesNovember 27th, 2005
PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas Friday dedicated his regime's newfound control over the Gaza-Sinai border to all the “Palestinians” killed, wounded or jailed in the decades-long struggle to erase the Jewish state.
In a highly-publicized ceremony, Abbas officially opened the Rafah Crossing, which will be manned by Palestinian Authority and Egyptian officials.
It marks the first time an entity with the label “Palestinian” has every controlled any border.
“The achievement we’re celebrating today belongs first and foremost to the martyrs, wounded, prisoners, and all Palestinians who have sacrificed plenty in this struggle,” Abbas told those gathered.
A day later some 1,587 Gazan Arabs made their way over the international line.
Since 1967, Israel kept tight control over the border in light of the Palestinian Arabs’ propensity (with Egyptian assistance) to import large quantities of weapons and then use them to mass murder Jews.
Israeli defense officials for more than a year expressed grave concern over surrendering the border, warning that what was already a porous frontier would turn into an open gateway for terrorist arms.
That assessment was shared by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon up until the implementation of his “disengagement” plan, at which point he and his government began sounding a more moderate tone on the issue culminating in Israel's capitulation in the face of what some officials said was heavy pressure exerted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this month.
Abbas, meanwhile, declared the Rafah Crossing opening was another step towards realizing the Arab dream of wresting control of the Jews' biblical heartland and at least half of their ancient capital.
“This is a small dream that is part of our progress on the way to an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Yasser Arafat's former right-hand man stated dramatically.
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