This article titled “Egyptian uprising enables jailed Hamas militant to escape” was written by Harriet Sherwood in Nuseirat refugee camp, for The Guardian on Monday 7th February 2011 21.07 UTC

In a small cell in Egypt’s al-Marj prison, the BBC World Service brought encouraging news to Ayman Nofel. The senior Hamas commander from Gaza had just passed the third anniversary of his imprisonment on unspecified charges.

The voice coming from his radio told him that prisoners at another Egyptian jail had been freed amid the chaotic uprising sweeping the country. He saw his chance and wasted no time.

“I shouted to other prisoners to break down the doors and gates,” said Nofel, who described himself as the only political prisoner among al-Marj’s criminal population. Using smuggled mobile phones to mobilise locals to storm the prison gates, Nofel and his fellow-prisoners fought their way outside the walls and to freedom.

In an unintended consequence of the Egyptian people’s revolt against decades of repression and economic misery, the Hamas militant accused of planning bomb attacks against Israel found himself at the centre of a hero’s welcome in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

One by one, men queueing under the blue tarpaulin of a reception tent stepped forward to embrace the commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. They flung arms around his shoulders, clapped his back vigorously and planted kisses on each cheek before turning to accept a celebratory sticky pastry and cup of potent Arabic coffee. Despite the festivities, Nofel, 37, a stocky man in a checked shirt, said he was ready to return to “work”. Three years “and a few days” in the dank and wretched conditions of an Egyptian jail had not dulled his eagerness for what he described as “the next battle”.

The Hamas commander claimed he was held for political reasons in Egypt after being detained at a security checkpoint in Sinai in 2008. “I never went on trial. My family got a lawyer, who went to court and got an order to release me but I was never freed.”

His escape came amid the chaos of the early days of Egypt’s revolution. Having broken out of the prison with help from local people he contacted “people here in Gaza”. Hamas? “Yes, of course. They arranged for some Egyptians to pick me up,” he said. Nofel stayed in a house in the area for about seven days “until the situation was more stable”. Finally he was brought through a tunnel dug beneath the Egypt-Gaza border to his home and family. He was grateful to the Egyptian protesters who “inspired us to rise up against the prison guards. This should have happened earlier. They have spent 30 years being enslaved by the regime.” He hoped to see the Muslim Brotherhood in power in Egypt – “and all over the world, not just Egypt”.

Now, he would “resume my work with the Qassam Brigades. We are preparing and training for the next battle. This is our right.”

Nofel’s unambiguous support and gratitude for Egypt’s revolutionaries has not been universally shared in Gaza. Fatah supporters are worried that President Hosni Mubarak’s demise could boost the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, the political partners of their arch-rivals Hamas.

“Hamas has not spoken a single word,” said Gaza political analyst Mkhaimar Abusada. “My information is that they gave instructions to spokesmen not to say anything. They are closely watching the situation, but they don’t want to publicly side with either the people or the government.”

However, Hamas imams in Gaza’s mosques had described the regime as a dictatorship and offered strong support to the attempt to overthrow the government, he added. “Deep in their hearts, Hamas is very happy because they believe the Mubarak regime was conspiring with Israel, the US and the [Fatah-dominated] Palestinian Authority to impose the siege on Gaza. But they are waiting to see how it plays out.” Fatah supporters, he said, took the view that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend. They know Hamas is keen to see Mubarak leave power. Any change in Egypt will not serve the interests of Fatah and the PA, but the interests of Hamas.”

A senior Israeli government official said: “We have no doubt that Hamas is exploiting the current chaos in Egypt to advance its own interests, whether by arms smuggling or strengthening its terrorist infrastructure. We are deeply concerned about it.”

On the streets of Gaza City, many people spoke of being glued to TV pictures from Egypt over the past fortnight. “I keep pushing my children out of the way,” said Emtiaz Abu Watfa, 45. “If I could go there, I would. Mubarak will be forced out.” Could she see similar scenes to those in Cairo’s Tahrir square in Gaza City’s Palestine square? “Inshallah. We want change everywhere, here in Gaza too. People are suffering. Democracy must take its place.”

Basel Atwana, 32, a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, agreed. “The Egyptian youth have become more aware of their rights, and they knew the road to Tahrir square. They will keep on fighting. One day we will do the same.”

But minding his music shop, its shelves lined with CDs and DVDs featuring Egyptian stars, Fatah supporter Haytham Waheidy, 38, feared that Egypt could become another Iraq, racked by division and violence. “I think the Egyptian people deserve freedom, but Mubarak has promised change and they should give him a chance to implement this. It is outside interference that is keeping them in Tahrir Square.”

The historical, cultural and social ties between Egypt and Gaza are strong. Gazans lived under Egyptian rule for almost 20 years until 1967; there are business and family connections; for three years Gazans almost exclusively consumed Egyptian products smuggled through the tunnels. “Egypt is everywhere in Gaza,” said Abusada.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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According to the liberal media the mean old Jews are keeping the Palestinians in Gaza from living their lives. The horrible naval blockade prevents food, medicine, and building materials from getting through. The people in Gaza can’t build anything! Damn the Zionist regime! Damn them!

…Meanwhile in other news, a luxury shopping mall celebrated its grand opening today in the “besieged” city of Gaza.

I know I’m really going out on a limb here, but maybe just maybe the so-called humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a manufactured PR stunt by Hamas.

Hamas would never want to make Israel look bad by crying to sympathetic ears overseas about the mean Jews.

I know, crazy suggestion. My bad.

You just gotta love Joe The Plumber. He’s milking his celebrity for all it’s worth. Good for him.

For the second time in recent weeks, honorary Palestinian militant and former President, Jimmy Carter, opined about Mid-East peace and offered his own foreign policy.

While in the Welsh border town of Hay to attend the Guardian literary festival, Carter told the Guardian that Britain and other European governments should break from the US over the international embargo on Gaza.

He described the EU’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as “supine” and its failure to criticise the Israeli blockade of Gaza as “embarrassing”.

He also called on the EU to reassess its position on Hamas if the terrorist group agrees to a cease-fire.

Carter never misses an opportunity to criticize Israel and carry water for Hamas. I really think the old man has lost it. Hamas is one of the most vicious terrorist groups on earth, and a former President of the United States hugs these people and constantly shills for them.

Never mind the constant rocket attacks on Israeli civilians or the 4-ton truck bomb that detonated at the border with Gaza instead of Israel thanks to an alert Israeli soldier.

For Carter it’s all about peace and negotiation and hugs, but Carter doesn’t live in the real world. That’s why he allowed Iran to make a mockery of America while he was President.

When President Bush spoke of appeasement while in Israel recently, he was speaking about Jimmy Carter. Carter has shown himself to be the world’s biggest appeaser time and time again.

-Chris Jones

It looks like Jimmy Carter’s favorite “partners in peace” are up to their old tricks again! A Palestinian terrorist tried to cross into Israel from Gaza, but was stopped by alert Israeli soldiers.

Israeli soldiers fired on the vehicle as it approached the border crossing at which point the driver detonated the truck. The resulting blast could be heard 18 miles away, but thankfully only the would-be killer died.

Two other men allegedly involved in the attack were intercepted by Israeli helicopters and killed in an air strike as they fled in their getaway vehicle.

Had that truck bomb entered Israel and detonated in a public place, the result would have been devastating. A 4-ton truck bomb would have killed hundreds of people and leveled a city block. These are the killers and assassins that Jimmy Carter hugs and talks of peace with.

-Chris Jones

From The Jerusalem Post:

Eight people were confirmed dead in a terror attack at Merkaz Harav Yeshiva, near the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday evening. The attack was reportedly perpetrated by a resident of Jabel Mukaber in east Jerusalem.

Magen David Adom have confirmed 10 wounded civilians, including three seriously. One terrorist was said to have been killed by a student.

Witnesses said that only one terrorist had entered the building and that he managed to fire 500-600 bullets over the course of 4-10 minutes before he was killed.

Although witnesses said only a single terrorist carried out the attack, police were searching the building for an additional terrorist, preventing the entrance of rescue workers. Later Police Chief David Cohen confirmed that there were no additional attackers.

The terrorist entered the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in the neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe carrying weapons. He was not wearing a suicide-bomb belt as earlier reported.

The gunman entered the library where about 80 people were gathered, witnesses said, and opened fire.

Yitzhak Dadon, a student, said he was armed with a rifle and waited on the roof of a nearby building. “He came out of the library spraying automatic fire … the terrorist came to the entrance and I shot him twice in the head,” he said.

Approximately 50 ambulances were sent to the scene and a 16-year-old boy in serious condition and suffering from chest wounds was seen being evacuated from the scene.

“It’s very sad tonight in Jerusalem – many people were killed in the heart of Jerusalem,” Mayor Uri Lupolianski told Channel 2,

“We bless the (Jerusalem) operation. It will not be the last,” Hamas said in a statement.

In Jebaliya, about 7,000 Gazans of different factions marched in the streets, firing in the air in celebration, and visited homes of those killed and wounded in Israel’s ground operation this week.

In Rafah on the Egyptian border, residents distributed sweets to moving cars, and militants fired mortars in celebration.

The student who took decisive action and killed that terrorist is a true hero. That’s a good example of how one student can stop a massacre if he has the ability to protect himself. Eight people were indeed killed, but had that student not acted you can be sure the death toll would have been even greater.

-Chris Jones

Here is some video footage relating to the earlier post about the suicide bombing in Israel today. Only one bomber was able to detonate himself thanks to the heroic efforts of an Israeli policeman.

Just before the terrorist killer can press the trigger on his vest, an Israeli Policeman shoots him in the head.

-Chris Jones

Hamas is threatening to harm kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit if Israel Defense Forces carry out a planned incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is also threatening to carry out suicide bombings deep inside Israeli territory as well as kidnap additional Israeli troops. Hamas spokesman Abu Mujahed told Nazareth-based newspaper A-Sinara that if Israel were to invade Gaza, the group would begin rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

I think Israel should quite playing games with these thugs. For every rocket attack by Hamas, Israel should completely destroy a mosque. If Hamas kills the kidnapped soldier, then Israel should respond by completely destroying the Gaza Strip.

Israel must make the retaliation so severe for suicide attacks, that it’s just not worth it for Hamas to carry them out.

-Chris Jones