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A file photo of Palestinian women stuck on Rafah. |
CAIRO — Thousands of people stranded on Egypt's borders starting from Rafah in the north to Aswan in the south have found some solace in bags containing hot meals, cans, sugar and dried food provided by benevolent Egyptians during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The people of Rafah have taken the initiative as hundreds of Palestinians, including children, elders and patients, remain stranded on the Egyptian side of the city border with no food or shelter due to non-stop Israeli closures of the only gate to the outside world for the Palestinians.
"Many locals in Rafah and Arish (North Sinai) have raced to prepare dozens of Ramadan aid packages for penniless and homeless Palestinians," Abdel Rahman Mohammad, the head of Rafah Municipal Council, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, October 17.
The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has been largely closed by Israel for most of the past few months.
Many of the stranded have ran out of their food and money and left on their own in the open.
"Most of the stranded are patients, who went all the way to Egypt for treatment," Mohammad added.
Men and women of all ages are crammed into an arid area where shops are rare and are exploited by peddlers.
"Arish businessmen and well-off Bedouins have also donated generously for the Palestinians stuck on Rafah and passers-by, providing similar Ramadan bags and delicious iftar meals," Mohammad noted.
Life Makers
The sufferings of Sudanese fleeing war-battered areas in the west and the east were swelling in the southern Egyptian Nile city of Aswan.
Though their deplorable conditions hardly make headlines, the Life Makers Union, founded by famed Egyptian preacher Amr Khaled, swang into action and prepared Ramadan bags for the Sudanese, mostly families with toddlers.
"We sent them Ramadan bags from our braches in neighboring areas though they were not on our charity list this year," Iman Mohammad, a Life Makers coordinator, told IOL.
In the Red Sea port city of Safaga, Life Makers has also left its indelible marks, reaching out to hundreds of Egyptians stuck on the harbor for days waiting desperately for a vessel to transfer them to Makkah to perform `umra.
"They were under actual siege in Safaga," Mohammad said. "We have sent many of our volunteers so that they can cope with the growing number of stranded pilgrims."
On the Egyptian-Libyan borders, luxury cars and SUVs owned by the sons of the influential tribe of Awlad Ali were turned into canteens that offer fast food for those stopping for rest or to break their dawn-to-dusk fast.
"A number of youths with broad smiles welcomed us as we stepped out of the customs department and gave us plastic bags containing a miscellany of food and fruit," Mohammad Mostafa, who was on his way to the Libyan capital Tripoli, told IOL.
"We knew later that they were the sons of the rich Awlad Ali tribe and they are used to doing this every year." |
