they even long for the good old days of the occupation. oh well, you get what you ask for.

Gaza is part of the land of Israel. Egypt is generally not. They should stay in their arab country.

Israel would nab those HAMAS PILGRIMS from that boat- and exchange them (back to Gaza) for their captured soldier! But pussyfooting - UN appeasing -OLMERT + "TIPSY" LIVNI don´t care a rats ass for G. SHALIT! -What a shame!

Hamas is threatening to torch the ship with all passengers onboard if they are not allowed to land.

these are not Arabs that when on holiday they are devout Muslims that want to bring sharia to the world. by a top Arab academic .. http://hudna.notlong.com Mike

What have hajjis done to deserve spending days at sea with no hope on the horizon? Many of them are cancer patients awaiting treatment . One day you will be orifice-searched and humiliated before your very children. Occupation and hegemony over the fate of 5 million Palestinians cannot go on forever. Status quo will be broken soon, prepare ahead!

We don't want them... they are nothing but criminals and trouble makers. You can deal with them.

I very much doubt you're Egyptian, since Egypt is a friend to the Palestinian people. Unless, of course, you're a servant at Mubarak's house. You polish that traiterous dictator's shoe for a living.

Let them starve. Or declare it an international warcrime and prattle on about it for 3 years. Either way, no one really cares.

Egypt owes nothing to the Palestinians... and niether Egypt nor Israel should care about the Palestinians more than the Palestinians care about themselves. The Palestinians themselves are responsible for their own suffering, and nothing will change for them unless they change.

as for those arab "pilgrims", why didnt they stay in their "holy land" suadi arabia? you know, since its such a paradise....

In the normal world, when we cross a border, we must present documents, sign declarations of what we are bringing in, that we are not involved in criminal activity, etc. Palestinians don't want to be treated like the rest of the world, they want to be cry babies and blame others. If you have nothing to hide, whats the problem?

...why haven't they - or ANY arab country helped you with your "state"? Because you are, as N says, criminals and troublemakers. And even if he does polish shoes for Mubarak, at least he has a job, and heads of state pay well. How well does Hamas pay you, "Wissam"?

"Many of them are cancer-patients awaiting treatment?" And you know this how? Also, they have the option to go through the border...rather, they're trying to avoid it and go through Egypt instead. There wouldn't be 'embarrassment' or 'humiliation' if the Palestinians would stop their attacks.

it's fairly obvious that hamas is trying to milk this situation for propaganda value. in an islamic context, they are blaming israel and egypt for interfering with the hajj. this will earn them brownie points with their fundamentalist audience. and another instance of "poor palestinians suffering at the hands of the israelis" will play well in the anti-israeli press. and allah be praised, one of the pilgrims has died - even better! but why is there no response from the israeli government information department? why don't they point out that hamas can smuggle 10 tons of weapons into gaza, but has no room in the tunnels for these poor pilgrims? or that the peace-loving pilgrims are welcome to travel via israel, if and only if, they submit to israeli security checks? yes, this is all understood, but it still needs to be pointed out in the press, and that's what a "government information office" is supposed to be doing!