The two countries, which flank Israel on opposite sides and share borders with Gaza and the occupied West Bank, respectively, have replied with a staunch refusal. Jordan already has a large Palestinian population.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made his toughest remarks yet on Wednesday, saying the current war was not just aimed at fighting Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, “but also an attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to … migrate to Egypt.” He warned this could wreck peace in the region.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II gave a similar message a day earlier, saying, “No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.”
Their refusal is rooted in fear that Israel wants to force a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries and nullify Palestinian demands for statehood. El-Sissi also said a mass exodus would risk bringing militants into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, from where they might launch attacks on Israel, endangering the two countries’ 40-year-old peace treaty.
I struggle to think of too many times any country has welcomed all refugees with open arms. Any refugees, from any conflict, fleeing to anywhere.
We should stop making refugees and forcibly displacing people, everyone loses. We already have 108 million forcibly displaced peoples, and 40% are kids globally.
Despite what the white folks have tried, America has typically been incredibly welcoming to refugees and diasporites.
It’s actually one of the biggest chips on Israel’s shoulder, because while America was never perfect for jews, it was better enough than everywhere else that jews who made it here outright rejected the notion that jews cannot be “safe” without a “homeland.”
It’s gonna get much, much worse thanks to climate change.
For sure. Which is why we need to figure it out now before we use up what resources we have left on making and shipping yet more bombs and tanks. I can’t even begin to imagine the carbon footprint of that.