Special to WorldTribune.com

Egypt’s foreign ministry blasted The New York Times for an article the ministry says is “audaciously intended” to make Gaza smugglers appear sympathetic to readers.

Ahmed Abu Zeid, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, said the Oct. 7 article headlined “As Egypt Floods Gaza Tunnels, Smugglers Fear an End to Their Trade” is “trying to obfuscate reality, giving a veneer of legitimacy to what is essentially an illegal practice condemned by international and domestic law.”

Zeid said the piece is “deliberately oblivious” to the threat to Egypt’s national security posed by the Gaza tunnels.

“After all, if commodities can be smuggled undetected across a border, what is to stop weapons, human beings and historical and cultural artifacts from being smuggled in the same way?” he asked. “There is plenty of evidence that narcotics and human traffickers have repeatedly exploited the tunnels. Convicted criminals are known to have escaped through them. Weapons and firearms are constantly being smuggled across them…Is this the kind of lawlessness the NYT is advocating?”

Zeid said the piece gave the appearance of sympathy to the smugglers by calling what he said was their illegal actions “trade” and quoting one smuggler as saying the flooding of the tunnels “is the end for us.”

The spokesperson asked if The New York Times was aware that Egypt and all nations have a “sovereign prerogative” and “international duty” to defend and secure their borders against smuggling.

“What if that smuggling was taking place through clandestine, hidden, underground tunnels that can neither be monitored nor controlled?” he asked. “Would that not make the issue all the more urgent?”

Zeid also said the article’s blaming of Egypt for the collapse of Gaza’s economy and continuous power shortages are “nothing short of absurd,” and added that an “underground, illicit economy” is not the way to aid Palestinians.

The Times is bent on “discrediting Egypt’s image in any possible way, for any possible reason,” Zeid said.

  Ahmed Abu Zeid, Egypt slams New York Times for article sympathetic to Gaza smugglers