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Coach JewelryEl-Aseel restaurant - which translates as Original or Pure in Arabic -- is tucked away on the third floor of a run-down building in the Egyptian border-town of Rafah, minutes from Gaza.

Moustafa, 22, wearing an Adidas jumpsuit, stands in the smoldering kitchen preparing chicken. He explains: "We are a border city, divided by two sides, so in a way we're both Palestinian and Egyptian. If you go up on the roof, you'll see Gaza. It's very close, but very far."

I spent four days in Rafah and nearby cities to see how places far from the revolutionary Tahrir Square are grappling with life in Egypt now that former President Hosni Mubarak is gone.

Rafah -- an isolated town right on the border with Gaza -- now finds itself in the eye of the change sweeping the region, socially and economically if not geographically.

Discount Coach HandbagsEgypt to open Gaza border crossing at Rafah

As old autocracies crumble, how will lives change on the streets and how will new rulers handle one of the biggest questions in the Middle East -- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Rafah is one of only two official entry and exit points -- the other is in Israel -- for human traffic into Hamas-ruled Gaza, but since a 2007 blockade supported by Mubarak, the impoverished town has thrived on tunnel-onomics -- an extensive underground system of smuggling goods into Gaza.

With talk of Egyptian plans to open the border with Gaza permanently, that trade is now compromised, leaving smugglers with mixed feelings of hope for Palestinians, but anxiety over losing money.

cheap hermes birkinGaza, home to an estimated 1.5 million people, has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007, when Hamas -- which sweeped Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 but are also deemed a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union -- militarily forced supporters of the rival Fatah group from the strip.

Rafah's closed border crossing is a strikingly tangible symbol of former Mubarak's Israel-allied regime, but after revolutionary protests toppled him, recent events have led some to forecast a possible sea change in Egypt's foreign policy.

Earlier this month, Egypt successfully brokered a reconciliation deal between the Islamist group Hamas and Fatah, who are considered more mainstream, or moderate, by the West.

cheap nike shoes storeAnd in April, the Egyptian government temporarily reopened the Rafah terminal, with foreign minister Nabil al-Araby saying the decision to seal it off was "shameful."

He said then the opening would soon be permanent. Alla Iraqi, an Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman, told CNN on Wednesday the border will open permanently on May 28.

Two weeks ago, the Arab world commemorated Nakba, what Arabs call "the catastrophe" when thousands of Palestinians were dispelled from their lands or fled as a result of the creation of Israel in 1948.

Coach ScarvesIn Al-Arish, a town near Rafah which is also home to many Palestinians, hundreds rallied, chanting: "To Jerusalem we go, millions and martyrs."