Gazans want open borders, not handouts

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - As top diplomats pledged billions of dollars for war-ravaged Gaza on Monday, ordinary people here – from merchants to housewives – said they’d rather have open borders than handouts.

Even some tunnel smugglers who profit from Gaza’s blockaded borders say they’d rather import legally through open crossings than risk Israeli bombing raids and shaft collapses.

“I want a cease-fire and open borders. Crossings are better than tunnels,” said 22-year-old smuggler Abu Mahmoud, leaning over a shaft as workers tried to clear a 300-foot stretch of tunnel that had collapsed under an Israeli airstrike.

The closure of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after a violent Hamas takeover in June 2007, has deepened poverty and fostered militancy. A three-week military offensive in Gaza by Israel caused considerable destruction but left the militants in power.

Now donor countries have to find a way to rebuild Gaza. On Monday in Egypt, donors pledged a total of $5.2 billion for Gaza and Hamas’ main rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Aid officials say reconstruction is only possible with open borders. But Israel and Egypt have set conditions that include a complicated prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas and reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas.

Abbas sought at least $2.8 billion in new aid from the donors’ conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Nearly double that amount was pledged, leading Palestinian Planning Minister Samir Abdullah to declare the conference a success.

But Palestinians say there will be no real success until the borders are opened.