Palestine's big test

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The Palestinian Authority took its first step toward nationhood last week, when it assumed control of the Gaza Strip's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, nearly three months after Israel closed it.

The event, attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, offers Palestinians living in the Strip an outlet to the world without transiting through Israel. This is both good and bad news, but above all it will test Palestinian resolve. It will test the PA's ability to govern and its trustworthiness in carrying out international accords.

The opening of Rafah is good news because it offers a safety valve from which Gazans can release pressure on the territory by Israel's encirclement and restrictions. It will allow residents of the Strip a way to communicate with the outside world. For the last few months, Gaza was like a giant prison from which very few could enter or exit.

Granted, Gazans still must pass through Egypt. But for many, this will be a great advantage over traveling through Israel where security is extremely strict and passing the border, when it is open, can take several long hours.

Palestinians arriving in Israel usually must submit to hours of humiliating searches, have all their belongings carefully examined and face long questioning sessions with security officers who want to be convinced they are not letting potential terrorists into the country.

Additionally, many Gazans jailed by Israel during its 38-year occupation of the Strip for various security reasons are banned from entering Israel, even if only to head straight for the airport and fly out of the country.

The reopening of Rafah is the result of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's intervention during her visit to the region earlier this month. As part of the deal brokered by Miss Rice, monitors from the European Union under the command of Italian Maj. Gen. Pietro Pistolese will oversee security at the border crossing on real-time closed-circuit television cameras.

Israel, too, will closely watch who and what goes back and forth across this border via a live video-link from a nearby control post in southern Israel, where security officers will watch for Palestinian militants trying to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

For Israel, the border reopening is bad news because of fears Islamist militants will take advantage of it. Since withdrawing from the Strip and closing all crossing points Sept. 7, at the end of the 38-year occupation, Israeli security officials were concerned the Palestinian border reopening would give a free hand to Islamist militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The opening was well-received internationally. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed through a spokesman his "satisfaction today's official opening of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing in Rafah." He extended "congratulations to the Palestinian people, and wishes the Palestinian Authority well on taking up this historic responsibility."

However, PA policing faces the greatest test, to prove to the international community and particularly to Israel with whom it must co-exist that it can act like a state and maintain a tight rein on its borders and on militants who are not entirely in accord. Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said his group has "reservations about the Rafah agreement."

Much hangs on the PA's ability to properly manage this crossing. A sign near the newly reopened border post reads, "Gateway to Liberty." Palestinian President Abbas who formally opened the crossing said: "I think every Palestinian now has his passport ready in his pocket. Let them come to cross at this terminal whenever they want."

The onus is now on Mr. Abbas' administration. It must demonstrate it can administer the border fittingly and win the trust of the Israelis. The border crossing at Rafah not only connects Gaza to Egypt, it also connects the Palestinian Authority to the future of an independent Palestinian state.

A smooth transition at Rafah will set the ground for future agreements. A setback will delay statehood.

As another of the signs near the crossing attested, the reopening of Rafah is "A step toward complete sovereignty." All factions should remember sovereignty will come only if there is security for both sides.

Claude Salhani is international editor for United Press International.