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Rashid Shahin*
Seven months after toppling the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian protesters broke into the Israeli embassy in Cairo, tore down the Israeli flag and destroyed part of the contents of the embassy. Consequently, the Israeli government evacuated the embassy staff and rushed to the American president for help and intervention. For more than three decades the Israeli embassy was planted in the middle of the Egyptian capital, after the two countries signed what is believed by the Egyptians to be an unfair peace treaty. Since then, the embassy was "protected" by the only two Egyptian presidents in the past four decades, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. Since the peace treaty was signed, diplomatic relations with Israel were one of the most problematic issues in the Egyptian political arena. Peace between the two countries was always described as cold and limited to political elites and a few intellectuals who dared to build relations with Israel or its embassy. It is not strange that the Arab Spring arrived at the Israeli embassy, which for some Egyptians is a symbol of humiliation and disrespect.They believe that the peace treaty and its conditions were unfair and imposed on their country in a specific moment of history, when President Sadat was ready to pay any price to take his country from the Soviet Camp to the Western Camp during the cold war era. In fact, as a result of the peace treaty, the Egyptians lost control and sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula, which lies between the Suez Canal and the Gaza Strip, a huge area which was demilitarized and the Egyptian army banned from entering.Instead of changing its policies and finding ways to solve problems with other Arab countries, like ending the occupation of Arab lands in Syria and Palestine, Israel continued its arrogant policies, believing that by signing the peace treaty with Egypt, the main Arab country at the time, it could manipulate the world and other countries in the region, imposing policies on them through force or other means. With regards to the storming of the Israeli embassy, it is worth mentioning that some leaders within April 6th movement had accused supporters of Hosni Mubarak of planning "violent events" and being behind the "attack on the embassy." A member of the political bureau of the movement Mohammad Adel noted that people may have been "hired and paid" in order to drag the country into a "state of chaos."Sherif Sadeq, a member of the Revolution Coalition, didn’t exclude the possibility of third parties and remnants of the former regime being involved in the violence. Sadeq told the London based news service Ilaf: "the break in at the Israeli embassy and the burning of police cars is a criminal act, this cant be justified or proved by any of the political groups or factions which pursue peaceful ways in the protests."Regardless of the condemnations of the act, the embassy break-in should raise a question in hearts and minds of Israeli leaders, especially since it is well known that there are dozens of embassies in the Egyptian capital: Why were the protests only against their embassy? Last month, Israeli forces shot and killed five Egyptian soldiers. The Israeli government refused to officially apologize to Egypt, in a response similar to that given to Turkey after the killing of nine civilians on the Mavi Marmara in international waters in the Mediterranean. Israel, by its policies, is making enemies.A quick look at the relations between Israel and other surrounding countries shows that Israel has no good or adequate relations with Jordan for instance, it has bad relations with Turkey, and of course hostile relations with Iran. Now its relationship with Egypt is on a thin string and could be lost at any moment.Israel also violated diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates when it sent a death squad to eliminate a Hamas leader. Investigations said that Israel had forged passports of many countries including Canada and Ireland in the operation. Above all, Israel continues to occupy Palestinian land, ignoring the fact that Palestine was and will remain a central issue for Arabs and Muslims around the globe.Israeli refuses to find a solution for the Palestinian people who have suffered for more than sixty years in an issue which will always make Israel an enemy not only to the Palestinian people, but to the Arabs and peace lovers around the world. After the break-in at the Israeli embassy, Israeli people should urge their leaders to review their policies and positions instead of blaming others. They should understand that things are changing around them, they have to know that the Arab Spring will not be limited to the few Arab countries and that Arab neighbors before the "Spring" will not be the same countries afterward. None of the countries will have leaders in power for three or four decades like before. Therefore, it would be advisable for Israel to reconsider its position, if they really do seek natural and normal relations with their "near and far" neighbors.
Rashid Shahin is a writer and journalist based in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
