Egyptian journalist Farouk Gowida used his column in Al Alam Al Yom this past week to attack the US decision not to invite PLO chieftain Yasser Arafat to Washington. "Is it not odd that Israeli PM Sharon should be received by President Bush more than once, while Arafat is denied even a single audience?" Gowida asked his readers. "This means one of two things: Either that Bush does not wish to meet Arafat or that he holds some reservations over that meeting? Given the US Administration's position, why then should CIA Director George Tenet be sent to broker a deal between Sharon and Arafat? And how, if neither Sharon nor Bush is willing to negotiate with Arafat, could there be any talk of peace and stability in the Middle East?"
The Egyptian Gazette also harped on the issue. "The only explanation for the Bush administration's failure to invite Palestinian President Yasser Arafat ... is that it is careful not to offend Its pampered ally Israel....What adds to this absurd situation is the fact that in less than four months, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was invited to make his second visit to the US since the Bush administration was inaugurated in late January. The two trips were manipulated by Sharon to cast Arafat in an unfavorable light before the American decision-makers. In an address to the American-Israeli Friendship League in New York, Sharon shamelessly castigated Arafat and branded him 'the head of a terrorist gang.'"
Arutz-7's Ron Meir offered the following observation: "Many people are likely baffled by the surprise of the Egyptian papers at Arafat's having become a 'personna non grata' in Washington. However, for anyone who has followed the events of the last year, the situation should come as no surprise at all: The United States, led last summer by then-President Clinton, invited Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for a lengthy summit at Camp David. When it concluded, Arafat had refused 97% of Judea and Samaria, a division of Jerusalem, and Barak's request for a pledge to end the Israel-PLO conflict. In September, when he saw that he was losing support internationally, Arafat started his bloody mini-war against Israel, with the clear goal of paradoxically painting the Palestinians as 'poor, defenseless victims' of the Israeli army. Many objective observers understandably have no problem appreciating why President Bush has not been quick to invite Arafat to the White House."
The Egyptian Gazette also harped on the issue. "The only explanation for the Bush administration's failure to invite Palestinian President Yasser Arafat ... is that it is careful not to offend Its pampered ally Israel....What adds to this absurd situation is the fact that in less than four months, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was invited to make his second visit to the US since the Bush administration was inaugurated in late January. The two trips were manipulated by Sharon to cast Arafat in an unfavorable light before the American decision-makers. In an address to the American-Israeli Friendship League in New York, Sharon shamelessly castigated Arafat and branded him 'the head of a terrorist gang.'"
Arutz-7's Ron Meir offered the following observation: "Many people are likely baffled by the surprise of the Egyptian papers at Arafat's having become a 'personna non grata' in Washington. However, for anyone who has followed the events of the last year, the situation should come as no surprise at all: The United States, led last summer by then-President Clinton, invited Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for a lengthy summit at Camp David. When it concluded, Arafat had refused 97% of Judea and Samaria, a division of Jerusalem, and Barak's request for a pledge to end the Israel-PLO conflict. In September, when he saw that he was losing support internationally, Arafat started his bloody mini-war against Israel, with the clear goal of paradoxically painting the Palestinians as 'poor, defenseless victims' of the Israeli army. Many objective observers understandably have no problem appreciating why President Bush has not been quick to invite Arafat to the White House."