Egypt, Gaza, Israel...peace?

It was a typical day in Israel and the Gaza Strip. 

Typical for the last two weeks, anyway. Hamas launched rockets at Israel, Israel launched rockets at Hamas, and there was a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv, all of which added to the body count that has mounted rapidly since last week's escalation of violence (nearly 150, as of tonight).

Then a cease-fire brokered by Egypt went into effect (at 19:00 or 7:00 PM, GMT) So far, it's holding.

This is significant for a couple of reasons.

First, because anything that keeps people from dying has to be significant. I'm not going to say that it's certain to be a lasting peace; if I were to judge by history alone, I'd say the odds are against it. But it's a reason to hope. Any cease-fire will save lives, even if it's just a few over a couple of days, and I feel that that is significant.

Second, because Egypt came down on the side of peace.

Since the "Arab Spring" revolt against its totalitarian government, Egypt has been considered a wild card in Middle Eastern politics. Their new President, Mohamed Morsi, came from the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that though officially banned has come to dominate Egyptian government. No one was really sure in which direction Morsi would lead Egypt. No one really knew how he's react to Israel. (His recall of Egypt's ambassador to Israel over the Gaza air and missile strikes certainly didn't put anyone at ease.)

But now there's hope for peace. Maybe it's no more than a faint hope, maybe it won't last, maybe it's too fragile to survive in such a harsh environment. But as long as there is a hope for peace, there's a hope for peace. And it appears to be mostly Mohamed Morsi's doing.

Egypt was one of Israel's first, worst enemies, a situation that existed until 1979 when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin got together and decided that it might be a good idea to stop shooting at each other all the time. They visited each others' countries. They vacationed together at Camp David. They hung out with their friend Jimmy Carter.

And they sighed a peace treaty. A peace treaty that has survived either man. A peace treaty that Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak, kept for decades.

And it has been uncertainty over the fate of that treaty that has been keeping Middle East politics lively. Without Mubarak's staunch support for the treaty, with Mubarak's old foes in the Muslim Brotherhood running the show in Egypt, the world has been anxiously waiting to see which way Egypt would jump.

In a lot of ways, it's still waiting. Egypt could still turn away from the treaty, the Muslim Brotherhood could call for its repudiation, Egypt and Israel could start shooting over Gaza any day now. In spite of these very real fears, today Egypt sided with peace. The world, while still wary, is breathing just a bit easier.

There is reason to hope.

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.

Cease-fire declared in Gaza conflict (CNN)

Israel-Hamas ceasefire comes into effect in Gaza (BBC)

Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza cease-fire (Associated Press through Yahoo! News)

Egypt's President Morsi Wins U.S. and Israeli Gratitude in Gaza Deal (ABC News)

Islamic Fundamentalism Gains in Egypt (New York Times)

Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in Wikipedia