Former Egyptian FM expresses surprise at his successor’s comments

Former Egyptian FM expresses surprise at his successor’s comments

Former Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmad Maher, indirectly criticized comments made by his successor, Ahmad Abu al-Ghait, who criticized the Palestinian resistance and doubted its effectiveness.


“I find myself unable to ignore the waves of criticism of the resistance which we hear and read about,” he wrote in an article published by the London based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.


He said in his article that people resisting occupation are usually weaker than the occupier which they fight and by their resistance they do not aim to defeat the occupier, but rather to pester the occupier and make his occupation costly to force him to look for a political solution.


He added that this situation has been true in all cases of resistance such as that of Mau Mau revolt and the Vietnamese resistance.


He also said that he finds strange that some people want to absolve the Israeli occupation of its responsibilities and the real tragic situation it has created in the Gaza Strip as well as the campaigns of death and destruction, not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank.


Maher criticized the campaign of  incitement by some writers and in some Egyptian official media which aims to drive a wedge between the Egyptians and the Palestinians saying that he trusted the wisdom of President Hosni Mubarak to put an end to such a campaign, stressing that the Palestinian-Egyptian relationship has always survived the occasional strains.


“We must not forget that the Israeli conspiracy is there and ongoing; Israel wants to drive Palestinian to desperation through persecution, death and starvation to force them to commit acts which will lead to the second aim which is to cause strife between Egypt and the Palestinians,” Maher wrote.


Maher called for a review of protocols pertaining to the border crossings to make sure it guarantees freedom of movement for Palestinians and security for Egypt. He criticized Europe for its role in the Rafah crossing calling it the roll of the “dumb witness” who refuses to speak the truth.


On the regretful incidents that took place after the closure of the border he said that the Palestinian police intervened to stop irresponsible acts of individuals that only God knows the nature of whose motives.


Earlier, Ahmad Abu al-Ghait, the incumbent Egyptian Foreign Minister, criticized the Palestinian resistance and described as comic its acts of resistance against the occupation, considering the imbalance of power.