JERUSALEM -- Last week, an amazingly colorful array of Arab princes and Muslim clerics came together with representatives of the world's major faiths in the Spanish Royal El Prado Palace in Madrid. While the Western media generally failed to appreciate the magnitude of the event, the Arab media understood how important it really was. Not only was this the first international multi-faith conference ever initiated by an Arab Muslim leader, it was inaugurated by the king of the Muslim world's heartland, Saudi Arabia, where the most conservative Muslim outlook prevails.

Once upon a time the Palestinian cause was considered sacred by most Arab countries. From Mauritania to Saudi Arabia and from Iraq to Somalia, governments and people offered their full support to the Palestinian resistance, who at the time were fighting from bases, first in Jordan, and subsequently in Lebanon.

MADRID -- One of the by-products of the three-day interfaith dialogue conference held in Madrid earlier this week at the initiative of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is what some observers describe as four conflicting schools of thought: the optimists, who believe that eventually everything will fall in order; the pessimists, who like the cartoon character Chicken Little, believe that the sky is falling; and wishful thinkers – among this category one can include Saudi Arabia – who believe that if they wish for something strong enough to happen, it happens. At least in their mindset. And finally, there are the critics of the Saudi initiative, who regardless of what this conference may have achieved, or will achieve, will only look at the dark side of Arabia.

"I never expected anything like it" was the comment of one Pakistani Muslim attending the World Conference on Dialogue organized by the Muslim World League and hosted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

MADRID -- An inter-faith conference opened in Madrid Wednesday hoping to find a solution that would end disputes between the world's major religions. The conference, organized by the World Muslim League at the behest of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, comes at a time when inter-religious strife has increased the environment of distrust among religions.

What the Arab papers said on July 9:

AMMAN -- The Iraqi government has, for the first time since the occupation of Iraq in 2003, publicly admitted it wants a U.S. withdrawal timetable and is seeking such a commitment in a pact it is negotiating with Washington over the future status of American troops in the country.

A new chapter in interfaith relations will be written next week when, at the behest of the Saudi king, Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics will be joined by representatives of Eastern faiths in an attempt to break down the psychological barriers that sprung up after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

What the Arab papers said on July 8:

The international community had shunned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad completely since 2005 when he was forced to "officially" remove his troops from occupied Lebanon. But he is not a pariah anymore. He has now become a hot ticket courted from Jerusalem to Ankara and Paris, to name a few. How did Assad realize this tour de force?