Border with Egypt
Border with EgyptAriel Hermoni

Egypt is urging pro-Palestinian Authority activists to cancel a rally aimed at crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip to show support for PA Arabs on their ‘Nakba Day’, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

According to the report, authorities called on the activists in a public statement to give priority to internal issues and “to prevent any repercussions that might result from this march.”

A Facebook campaign by pro-PA Arab Egyptians had called for rallies on Friday and a march toward the border on Sunday, called the “Sunday of Liberation.”

AP noted that the radical yet powerful Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has come out in support of a rally in central Cairo on Friday but does not favor the planned march into Gaza.

‘Nakba Day’ marks the ‘catastrophe’, in the Arabs’ view, of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. On Sunday, Arabs in areas administered by Hamas and Fatah are planning to mark this day through demonstrations.

But while Israel expects Fatah officials to contain the demonstrations, Abbas Zaki of the Fatah Central Committee said Thursday that would likely be impossible.

“The Palestinian leadership has faced a dead end and has been unable to advance the many Palestinian issues even a bit,” Zaki told The Media Line. “This leadership won’t be able to quiet the street, which has witnessed the success and achievements of the Egyptians and Tunisians. The Palestinian people will react according to its level of hope in a peaceful solution.”