Egypt blocks Gaza also

If the Muslim world loves the Palistinians so much, there is an obvious way around Israel's blocking access to Gaza. Egypt can open its border to Gaza and allow free going in and going out. But Egypt has first-hand experience with the semi-governed Gaza. Read about Egypt's problem with Gaza below then draw your own conclusions. Egypt's conclusion is that Gaza is run by a criminal enterprise, Hamas, and has to be restrained. Egypt has long had a wall along the Gaza border with Egypt and allows very restricted border crossings. Now Egypt is sending the wall down; building an underground wall 30 meters deep. That's almost 100 feet into the earth. Why? The peaceful people of Gaza and their criminal friends dig tunnels so they can smuggle guns, rockets and every other thing into Gaza and people can come out to Egypt. CBS News

Egypt is building a massive iron wall, approximately 30 yards into the Earth. The controversial move — intended to shut down smuggling tunnels which are the Strip's only remaining lifeline — would further tighten a 3-year-long Israeli blockade, which has turned the poverty-stricken enclave into what critics call "the biggest prison on Earth." The tunnels are used for smuggling everything from food, medicine and household goods, to vehicles, even livestock. But Israel says they're also used for bringing weapons into the Palestinian-controlled territory. The installation of the 10-kilometer-long, 30-meter-deep barrier started physically last November, and it may be months before it is finished. Sealing the underground links would further throttle the Gazan economy and finally cut off Gaza's main link to the outside world. Egyptian officials initially would not discuss the $500 million project, and still decline to provide details. ... Several Egyptian newspapers devoted editorials to the danger facing Egypt from the arms smuggling and the tunnels, and stressed Egypt's right to defend its sovereignty and security. Egypt is wary of Hamas (the Palestinian resistance group that controls Gaza and which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union) because it is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the long-established trans-national movement that supports the creation of an Islamic state in Egypt and which has long been a thorn in the flesh of President Mubarak. Two years ago, Hamas militants cut down a metal border wall that had been erected by Israel, enabling tens of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt until the border was resealed. Though described as a policy of "collective punishment" by many aid organizations, Egypt's decision to build the steel wall has been defended as its sovereign right by the leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement, President Mahmoud Abbas — who, ironically, also condemned Israel's "apartheid wall" in the West Bank, urging the international community to tear it down. ...

Why does CBS blame Israel for the blockade when it is describing Egypt building a wall plus underground barrier? Does the Muslim world love the Palestinians? If so, why don't they allow access to Gaza through Egypt? Hat tip to Brian Suits on radio KVI.