TheAltWorld Cairo’s Maritime collusion
Egypt must stop the transit of Israeli war supplies and ships
There was an uproar last week when it was reported that the Portuguese-flagged German freighter MV Kathrin had docked at Alexandria port to deliver 150 tonnes of military-grade explosives believed to be destined for Israel.
The Egyptian military responded with a statement that categorically denied providing any assistance to the Israeli military.
Whatever credibility that had was quickly dispelled by another statement issued by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) after images were published of an Israeli warship transiting the waterway. It reiterated “its commitment to upholding international agreements that ensure free navigation for all vessels passing through the canal, whether commercial or military, regardless of nationality… in line with Constantinople Convention.”
Whoever allows Israel’s warships, and not only commercial vessels, to transit the Suez Canal while waging wars of annihilation against Gaza and Lebanon, is unlikely to prevent the Kathrin from using Alexandria to convey its deadly cargo for use in those wars.
The Kathrin docked at Alexandria on Monday 28 October and left on the 31st, according to the maritime tracking agency MarinaTraffic. En route it had been denied access by several African and European countries — including Namibia, Angola, Malta and Montenegro — when the nature and destination of its cargo was exposed by campaigners.
I wonder why the Egyptian government adheres to the 1888 Constantinople Convention which it did not sign — it was under British control at the time — but does not adhere to the many Arab mutual defence pacts it has signed, especially with regard to the massacres currently being committed in Gaza and Lebanon.
Spain was a signatory to the Convention, but that hasn’t stopped it and other countries from closing their ports and waters to arms shipments destined for Israel.
Nobody mentioned the Convention when Egypt closed the Strait of Tiran and the Rea Sea to Israeli and Israeli-bound shipping in 1967. Starved and besieged Yemen has gone much further, making the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red and Arabian seas off-limits not only to Israeli naval and merchant vessels, but any shipping associated with or trading with the occupier state.
Israel, for its part, has never respected any international conventions or treaties, including the Camp David Accords with Egypt, which it violated by occupying the Salaheddin (Philadelphia) corridor and Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip. Even after it killed several Egyptian soldiers manning a nearby observation post, Cairo continued receiving the military commanders responsible.
International conventions also exist prohibiting genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, and the killing of children, as has been taking place for the past 13 months in the Gaza Strip — which was under Egyptian administration and control when the Israeli army occupied it in 1967.
Adherence to international conventions and agreements is a two-way street. But the Egyptian leadership doesn’t seem to see things that way. It complies meekly with the accords while officially acknowledging that the Israeli army is in violation of them, amid unconcealed derision from Israeli leaders and politicians.
The Egyptian leadership should seize on those violations to begin to disengage itself from those humiliating accords. They did not bring prosperity to Egypt as its signatories promised, but drowned the country in poverty and indebtedness and diminished its role and stature not only in Africa and the Middle East but globally.
The Suez Canal should be closed to Israeli shipping, both military and commercial, for Egypt to begin to reclaim that stature and be true to the legacy and convictions of its people, who have always been at the forefront of championing Arab causes and rights.
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