Egypt: 1. Treatment of Palestinians in Egypt
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | EGY3345 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Egypt: 1. Treatment of Palestinians in Egypt, 1 February 1990, EGY3345, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab188.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
One map detailing the Palestinian "diaspora" throughout the Middle East shows a Palestinian population of 35,000 in Egypt. [ Alain Gresh et Dominique Vidal. Les Cent Portes du Proche-Orient, Paris: éditions Autrement, 1986, p. 189.] Limited information on the treatment of Palestinians in Egypt is available to the IRBDC. Relations with the Egyptian government appear to have fluctuated over the past decade. After Egypt signed the treaty with Israel in 1979, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) severed ties with Egypt, but links were later restored when Yasser Arafat visited in 1983. [ "Angry Mubarak Closes PLO's Egyptian Offices", The Ottawa Citizen, 28 April 1987.] For example, the PLO was allowed to operate offices in Cairo and Alexandria, but following a meeting of the Palestine National Council in April 1987 wherein Egypt was allegedly harshly criticized, President Mubarak shut down many of the PLO's offices. [ Ibid. ] The PLO offices dealing with labour and women's affairs, however, were allowed to continue to operate. The same article states that Egypt has "extended [support] to the troubled guerrilla movement for the last four years" (1983-1987), and that Egypt has "consistently argued the case for a Palestinian homeland and has supported the PLO's claim to be the sole representative of the Palestinian people.... Egypt will continue to support the struggle of the Palestinians."
Islamic fundamentalist groups in Egypt have been challenging the Egyptian regime during the latter half of the 1980s, and the Intifada in the Occupied Territories of Israel has
offered these fundamentalists an opportunity to champion the Palestinian cause. It is not clear from the news reports consulted whether the Egyptian government's response to demonstrators is directed at the Egyptian Islamic groups in general, or specifically at their pro-Palestinian position. For example, in 1988, pro-Palestinian demonstrations at two universities were "crushed by the police in Cairo, with dozens of students arrested". [ Ihsan Hijazi, "23 Palestinians Seized by Jordan; Plot to Subvert Regime is Charged", The New York Times, 25 January 1988.] The article does not state whether those detained were Palestinian students or Egyptian pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
As a result of the diplomatic relations that Egypt has maintained with Israel over the past decade (though it has not always been congenial or smooth during the period) and the importance of the Palestinians as regional neighbours, Egypt sees itself as the "most qualified catalyst to get Israelis and Palestinians together for peace talks". [ Magda Abu Fadil, "Cairo Won't Let Go", The Middle East, February 1990.]
The attached information deals primarily with Egypt's political goals with regard to the PLO; there is little mention of the treatment of Palestinians residing in Egypt.
The recent incident involving the killing of Israeli tourists outside Cairo has precipitated the arrest of "several hundred people, many of them Palestinians". [ Carol Berger, "Egyptian Police Detain Hundreds in Investigation of Tourist Killings", The Globe and Mail, 7 February 1990.] It is not known whether this event will have long-term repercussions for the treatment of Palestinians resident in Egypt.
Attachments:
- Alain Gresh et Dominique Vidal. Les Cent Portes du Proche-Orient, Paris: éditions Autrement, 1986;
- "Angry Mubarak Closes PLO's Egyptian Offices", The Ottawa Citizen, 28 April 1987;
- Ihsan Hijazi, "23 Palestinians Seized by Jordan; Plot to Subvert Regime is Charged", The New York Times, 25 January 1988;
- Magda Abu Fadil, "Cairo Won't Let Go", The Middle East, February 1990;
- "Egyptian Police Step in to Quell Anti-Israeli Protest", The Ottawa Citizen, 2 January 1988;
- Jim Travers, "Egypt, Israel Settle for Fallen `Soufflé Summit'", The Ottawa Citizen, 13 September 1986;
- "Egypt Sits at the Top of the Table Again", The Middle East, July 1989;
- "Jordan Arrests Palestinian Radicals; Arab States Move to Avert Unrest", The Globe and Mail, 25 January 1988;
- Carol Berger, "Egyptian Police Detain Hundreds in Investigation of Tourist Killings", The Globe and Mail, 7 February 1990.
