al-Arish

Location in Egypt

Historical view of Al-Arish (between 1914 and 1917)

Al-Arish ( Arabic العريش, DMG al-ʿArīš ), also el-Arisch (or in the English spelling Arish ), is the capital and with 144,900 inhabitants (2002) also the largest settlement in the Egyptian governorate of Shimal Sina .

The city is located on the Mediterranean coast on the Sinai Peninsula , 334 kilometers northeast of Cairo and 70 kilometers west of the Gaza Strip . The bathing resort, which is characterized by clear water, sandy beaches, palm groves, a marina and luxury hotels, is located on the wadi of the same name , which drains large parts of the northern and central Sinai during flash floods . The place has an airfield .

history

The place grew around a Bedouin settlement near the Ptolemaic outpost Rhinocorura (Rhinocolura). Located halfway between Alexandria and Jerusalem , it should be of greater archaeological interest; So far, however, no excavations have been carried out here or in the vicinity. In the Middle Ages , pilgrims mistakenly equated the city with the biblical place Sukkot - Aryan means "palm hut" in Arabic , similar to Sukkot (" leaf hut") in Hebrew .

Baudouin I , the first crusader king of Jerusalem , died here on April 2, 1118, while marching back from a campaign against Egypt.

The Ottoman Empire had new fortifications built at this point in 1560. During his Egyptian expedition (1798–1801) Napoleon Bonaparte had the place besieged - Arish then fell after eleven days on February 19, 1799.

Al-Arish was an important Ottoman base in World War I from January 1915 and a flight base for the Asia Corps in 1916 . In December 1916, the city was captured by the Allies as part of the British Palestine Campaign, with the old fortress being destroyed by British and Australian bombings.

In 1956 and again from 1967 to 1979 al-Arish was under Israeli administration and was returned to Egypt after the peace treaty . After that, the city became a hub of trade between the two countries.

economy

An Egyptian natural gas pipeline runs near the site and is intended to supply customers in Syria, Israel (since 2008) and Jordan. The ambitious El Arish National Museum, which opened in 2006, is currently closed.

Organ trafficking

Al-Arish is considered the center of the illegal organ trafficking in Sinai. In the hospital morgue, the deceased were found whose bodies had been stitched shut in the middle or on the sides with large stitches. The kidneys, liver, heart, and lenses of the eyes had all been removed. Around a thousand victims have been anonymously buried in the city's Al-Sadaka mass grave in recent years .

The victims are often refugees from Africa destined for Israel. They are kidnapped and tortured by Bedouins in order to extort ransom from their families . If the blackmail attempt is unsuccessful, they are killed and the organs that can be used are cut out. The orderer and recipient are doctors from Cairo . This practice became publicly known when a Cairo doctor had an accident in a car on Sinai with a cool box full of human organs.

In response to a small inquiry from the left-wing parliamentary group , the German government replied that there were indications that a Bedouin tribe abducted African refugees from 2010 to 2011 and removed organs from them for resale to Egyptian hospitals. Around 200 to 250 people are said to have fallen victim to this practice, and not a few died as a result of the interventions. According to estimates by Doctors for Human Rights (PHR) in Tel Aviv , between 5,000 and 7,000 African refugees have been in Bedouin torture chambers since 2007 .

According to CNN , doctors and organ dealers operate on the Sinai Peninsula even with mobile clinics. Extensive documentation from the EU from September 2012 paints the picture of a systematic organ trafficking industry.

Climate table

al-Arish
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     16   19th 8th     17th   20th 9     13   21st 11     5   24 13     3   27 16     0   29 19th     0   31 21st     0   31 22nd     0   30th 20th     4th   29 18th     17th   25th 14th     20th   21st 10 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: wetterkontor.de

Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Al Arish Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 19.3 20.1 21.2 23.6 27.0 28.8 30.6 31.0 29.8 28.6 25.2 21.4 O 25.6 Min. Temperature (° C) 8.3 9.0 10.7 13.2 16.1 18.7 21.1 21.8 20.3 17.9 14.3 10.1 O 15.2 Precipitation ( mm ) 16 17th 13 5 3 0 0 0 0 4th 17th 20th Σ 95 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 5.9 6.9 8.1 9.3 11.0 12.1 11.9 11.7 10.1 9.1 7.6 6.0 O 9.2 Rainy days ( d ) 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 Σ 14th Humidity ( % ) 67 67 65 66 66 68 71 70 67 67 69 69 O 67.7 Source: wetterkontor.de

Web links

Commons : El Arish  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ FM Cutlack: The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theaters of War, 1914-1918 (11th edition, 1941)
2. ↑ On the explosion on Feb. 5, 2011 In: FAZ gl. Date. The explosion occurred at a gas terminal near the town of El Arisch. Pipelines to Jordan and Israel run from the station. Gas is exported to Israel via the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), in which Hussein Salem has a stake. Salem is considered a close confidante of President Husni Mubarak. Egypt has been supplying Israel with natural gas since February 2008. The treaty was severely criticized in Egypt. The governor of the region, Abdel Wahab Mabruk , spoke of sabotage but gave no details. Apparently there were no injuries. The fire that followed was extinguished the same morning.
3. ↑ https://www.academia.edu/8243514/Aus_den_Museen_Auf_den_Wegen_des_Horus_Ein_Besuch_im_Museum_von_El-Arish
4. ^ In the realm of death at sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de, accessed on November 10, 2017
5. ^ Organ trafficking on the Sinai - crime scene Egypt (Der Tagesspiegel on January 15, 2013) accessed on January 15, 2013

Coordinates: 31 ° 4 ′  N , 33 ° 50 ′  E