Egyptian papers wasted no ink this week in showing their displeasure with the luke-warm response to the "Egyptian-Jordanian initiative" that was supposed to have put a stop to the seven-month old Rosh HaShanah Arab Assault. "The indifferent Israeli response to the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative was neither strange nor surprising," Al-Aharam declared in an editorial this week. "It reflects the Israeli desire to continue the policy of deliberate mixing of cards and distorting of facts. Moreover, it embodies an anti-peace political orientation that is based on the brutality of force, which Sharon?s government practices against the Palestinian people." Al-Aharam did not see fit to mention the backdrop of the Israeli position: Hamas suicide bombings, the mowing down of eight Israelis by an Arab terrorist bus driver in February, the dozens of drive-by shootings both within "Green Line" Israel and in Yesha over the past seven months.



Soundly rejecting Israel's refusal to conduct diplomatic negotiations under fire, the paper writes: "The negative Israeli response is meant to put more hurdles before the concerted efforts Egypt and Jordan exert. It also signifies that Israel demands the Palestinians to return to the negotiations table only on according to the conditions and terms of reference that Israel approves. In short, the Israeli negative response to the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative clearly means that Sharon?s government is not ready to deal with any peaceful initiative. Therefore, the question at hand is on the means to face the Israeli intransigence that is backed by absolute US bias, international community silence and Arab weakness."