A roundup of commentary from Arab newspapers October 9
Prompt decision needed
The Palestinian Al Quds said that the Palestinian people are desperate for a clear decision from their leadership for an agreement between the Hamas government and President Mahmoud Abbas.
The mainstream daily added in its editorial that the Palestinians want an agreement between these two parties, Hamas and Fatah, to end the daily suffering of the people. It warned that time was not in favor of the Palestinians politically, adding that "it can no longer handle going round in circles regarding a new government or the media campaigns, which only worsen the situation."
The Jerusalem-based daily, which describes itself as independent, said that what is needed now is an end to stalling in taking a Palestinian decision over the "right path that should be taken." It insisted that the political leaders must either accelerate forming a new government, or to declare an inability to do so and "to give the people a voice through new general elections."
The paper said that it makes no sense for Palestinian suffering to continue amid slogans without providing practical solutions to the real problems facing the people.
Israel root of Mideast problems
Syria's official Al Thawra daily commented that the causes of the Middle East crisis are very clear as they all point to Israel and its "aggressive role, as well as the American and Western support" at the expense of Arab rights and stability.
The state-run paper said that the US plans for a "new Middle East" that includes pressure on Syria, Iran and, the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance are now involving attempts to drive a wedge among the Arabs by dividing them between "moderates" and "extremists."
It added that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not hide these objectives during her most recent visit to the region, complaining that Israel and America lost an opportunity for achieving peace by closing the doors on all the negotiating tracks.
This happened, it argued, because their interests lie in the continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "America and Israel want a solution to the crisis according to their own interests and ambitions - a solution based on spreading chaos and sedition, away from returning to the real causes of the crisis."
The daily insisted that this requires Arab solidarity and common vision for a solution, as well as more caution toward "what America and Israel are seeking in terms of weakening the Arabs to pave the way for imposing their domination over the region."
Lebanon litmus of regional crises
Lebanon's Al Safir warned in a commentary that if Lebanon is left to the Lebanese alone as it is today, they might once again turn the country toward chaos and ruin.
The mass-circulation daily said that when Security Council Resolution 1701 was issued two months ago, there was an impression that the international community that stopped the last Israeli war on Lebanon was interested in seeing through a comprehensive Lebanese plan that starts with ending the military hostilities and ends with a political process.
It was believed that the resolution provides an international commitment for reconstruction, it said, but it appears so far that the international community does not take Lebanon seriously.
The paper, with Arab nationalist trends, argued that a possible cause of Arab neglect of Lebanon is "losing hope in the possibility of solving the Lebanese question, and preparing to again turn it into a lab to measure any changes in the regional balance of power."
Time to save Iraqis
Egypt's Al Gumhuriya complained that the UN Security Council stands as a mere spectator to the "slaughter" of the Iraqi people at the hands of the American occupation forces while the international body meets every day for Darfur (in Sudan), Somalia, Iran, and any other Arab and Muslim country involving American interests.
The semi-official daily said in its editorial that 18,000 troops now surround the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk under the protection of American warplanes in yet another campaign similar to ones that have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians that "did not move the conscience of the international community."
The paper opined that the United States believes that the Security Council is one of its armed forces' weapons, using it to "repress the peoples and impose its hegemony on other nations."
It is high time, the paper insisted, for the international conscience to awaken and a responsible Arab effort to move so that the Iraqi people will not feel alone in their ordeal.
Review of Arab Editorials
TOOLBAR
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