Word: egypts
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...although Egypt's compliance in the siege has been widely denounced in much of the Arab world and in Turkey, the Egyptian public remains largely oblivious. That's because the government has successfully persuaded much of its citizenry that the blame for Egyptian-Gazan tension lies with Hamas and Israel, even mobilizing state-funded religious authorities to criticize Hamas and give their blessing to Egyptian security measures on the Gaza border...
...Hala Mustafa, editor of the state-funded Al-Ahram Quarterly Democracy Review, says Egypt's role in the blockade is based on its obligations under its peace agreement with Israel. "In this accord, Egypt has to watch its border and should not allow any third party to cross the border in order to attack Israel." As for blocked aid convoys, she says: "This aid has been used as ... a kind of propaganda to bring the attention of the other Arab communities and the international community against Egypt...
...state-sponsored press has reinforced efforts to deflect criticism for Egypt's Gaza policies by appealing to nationalist sympathies, focusing on the killing of the Egyptian soldier during last week's clashes, and on Hamas extremism. Last weekend's opinion pages were flooded with vitriolic rants against Hamas that ranged from accusing it of having neither religion nor country to accusing it of acting in Israel's interests...
...killed the Egyptian soldier? Palestinians. Egypt would never fire on the Palestinians. That's a lie," said Mohamed al-Tamimi, a retired air-force pilot, who also admitted that he disliked the government. Others suggest that domestic social and economic woes have made most Egyptians indifferent to foreign affairs...
...thus far, the regime of the aging President Hosni Mubarak, who has held power for nearly three decades, is struggling to maintain legitimacy in the face of other domestic threats. Corruption, police brutality, a widening income gap and a recent spike in Muslim-Christian violence have added fuel to Egypt's disorganized but politically diverse opposition. And it may not be long before Gaza comes back to haunt...