Several Arab newspapers have commented on what they allege is an ongoing deterioration of Israeli society, much of which they attribute to the cumulative effect of the PLO war on Israel.
The Egyptian newspaper al-Goumhoureya cited the ?officers? letter? published in Israel, wherein the signatories indicated their refusal to serve in Judea, Samaria or Gaza. The article quotes a ?Neiv Itsovic? as saying, on behalf of ?60 Israeli officers? that ?The occupation? has spoilt our society for us. We have to admit that Palestinian territories are not ours. We will not continue to fight for control over an entire people, exposing them to insults and to starvation.? Also cited by the Egyptian paper is ?a number of Israeli university professors? who ?sent a message to the Prime Minister? stressing that ?Israel should respect human rights; the fact is also underlined that the oppression and humiliation of the Palestinian people can no longer be justified.?
An Egyptian magazine, Sabah al-Kheir, states confidently ?No longer are Sharon's slogans believed, not even in Israel itself.? The statement is prompted by the effect of what the magazine calls ?The death of the Palestinian young woman Wafaa Idris, who mounted the recent suicide attack in West Jerusalem?? For the suicide attack proves, according to the Sabah al-Kheir article, ?that the concept of a motherland never dies, however forceful the attempts of the likes of Sharon to assassinate it, and however hard the US may try to use deceit and cunningness to cover up for madness and thirst for blood.?
On the other hand, the al-Goumhoureya article is optimistic that the alleged ?anti-Sharon changes? in Israeli society that its cites ?offer the groundwork for the Bush Administration to table its peace project as envisioned in Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations? premised on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and further provides for the return of a number of refugees to their homes in Israel and for the others to be repatriated in a number of European countries.?
The Egyptian newspaper al-Goumhoureya cited the ?officers? letter? published in Israel, wherein the signatories indicated their refusal to serve in Judea, Samaria or Gaza. The article quotes a ?Neiv Itsovic? as saying, on behalf of ?60 Israeli officers? that ?The occupation? has spoilt our society for us. We have to admit that Palestinian territories are not ours. We will not continue to fight for control over an entire people, exposing them to insults and to starvation.? Also cited by the Egyptian paper is ?a number of Israeli university professors? who ?sent a message to the Prime Minister? stressing that ?Israel should respect human rights; the fact is also underlined that the oppression and humiliation of the Palestinian people can no longer be justified.?
An Egyptian magazine, Sabah al-Kheir, states confidently ?No longer are Sharon's slogans believed, not even in Israel itself.? The statement is prompted by the effect of what the magazine calls ?The death of the Palestinian young woman Wafaa Idris, who mounted the recent suicide attack in West Jerusalem?? For the suicide attack proves, according to the Sabah al-Kheir article, ?that the concept of a motherland never dies, however forceful the attempts of the likes of Sharon to assassinate it, and however hard the US may try to use deceit and cunningness to cover up for madness and thirst for blood.?
On the other hand, the al-Goumhoureya article is optimistic that the alleged ?anti-Sharon changes? in Israeli society that its cites ?offer the groundwork for the Bush Administration to table its peace project as envisioned in Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations? premised on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and further provides for the return of a number of refugees to their homes in Israel and for the others to be repatriated in a number of European countries.?