Thou Dost Protest Too Much - Over Iraq
The Arab Press continues to devote much attention to the impending US attack against Iraq. The Saudi daily Okaz sees Europe and the Arabs increasingly making common cause against the US over Iraq, remarking that European opposition to war is based on solid economic, strategic and moral grounds.
The paper suggests in its leader that the two sides? interests converge more broadly in the Middle East, not least in promoting a just Arab-Israeli peace settlement that America?s alliance with Israel has been blocking.
The 15-member EU is, ?despite all the reservations about Britain?s position,? a ?force for peace? in the region, Okaz says. And the EU ?can establish partnership and cooperation relations with the Arab world based on mutual respect and constructive interaction.?
Washington?s attitude, in contrast, ?regrettably lacks many of the moral underpinnings. And the worst thing about its policy is that it pays no heed to the human dimension in its day-to-day behavior,? and gives its own narrowly defined interests precedence over any other considerations.
?The Crusades are history. Today?s Europe reveals a different face, characterized by flexibility and tolerance, and it has shown time and again that it knows how to read history,? the Saudi paper says. ?On the other side of the Atlantic, it is a different story.?
The ?hawks? there are hatching schemes which are increasingly alienating the Europeans, ?and if they persist they will find out belatedly that they are alone in the battle, and that the bridges they have been trying to destroy between the Arabs and Europeans are becoming stronger by the day.?
Okaz
The UAE daily Al-Khaleej faults on two counts British PM Tony Blair?s declaration at the weekend that the world wouldn?t stand by while Iraq violated UN resolutions and developed weapons of mass destruction.
For one thing, he purported to speak on behalf of the world ?a world which rejects all the excuses and accusations the US has been touting to justify aggression against Iraq.?
The world has been demanding proof and evidence against Iraq, and international sanctions for any measures that are taken against it, Al-Khaleej writes. That can only come from the UN Security Council, which alone is entitled to say if Iraq is violating UN resolutions. No individual power is entitled to put its own interpretation on what those resolutions mean and enforce them single-handedly. ?Over this, Blair speaks for himself, and has no right to speak for the world.?
Moreover, the UN resolutions Blair referred to also link arms inspections in Iraq to the lifting of the economic sanctions against the country, and steps to rid the entire Middle East of weapons of mass destruction. To pick and choose only those sections of the resolutions that can be used to ?contrive spurious excuses for attacking Iraq? is to use the same double standard that applies to the Bush administration?s policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. When London and Washington contrive excuses to wage war on Iraq despite broad international opposition and in violation of international law, they themselves behave as ?rogue states.?
Al-Khaleej
If applied in earnest, the very reasons given by the US for mounting a military attack against Baghdad also fit the US. Like Iraq, it possesses weapons of mass destruction, with stockpiles of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons enough to destroy the world many times over. The US is the one country now posing a threat to international peace and security. Over the past decade, it has invaded Serbia under NATO mandate and Afghanistan under the umbrella of an anti-terror campaign. In Afghanistan, the Americans have killed thousands of innocent people and levelled whole villages to the ground with their inhabitants buried under the debris. Previously, the US has also struck a pharmaceuticals plan in Sudan which it claimed was producing chemical substances. By the same criteria it uses in judging others, the US could thus make war against itself. Will it?!
Al Akhbar
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged Arab and Muslim countries on Sunday to unite in the face of U.S. threats and "foreign conspiracies" as Washington prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said Assad reiterated Syria's objection to any U.S. military attack on Baghdad and called for "deeper unity and solidarity among Arab and Muslim countries in the face of American threats against the region."
Assad was speaking after a meeting in Damascus with Mohammed Sader, a top Iranian foreign ministry official.
IRNA added Assad had called on the region to "challenge the conspiracies woven in foreign circles against the countries of the region."
Albawaba.com
Arafat Decries Israeli Conspiracy Against Peace
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told reporters on Sunday there is an Israeli conspiracy to undermine and end the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Arafat did not elaborate on the issue and specify who is behind the Israeli conspiracy. However, he said the Israeli forces are committing massacres against Palestinian civilians under the instructions of high-level leaders in the Israeli government and the Israeli army.
He added those leaders and officers are attempting to end and destroy the peace process between the two sides.
He had addressed letters to the international community, to inform them that there is a conspiracy against the peace process. "This conspiracy aims at hitting the peace of the braves I have reached with my late Israeli partner Yitzhak Rabin, who was killed by Israeli extremist," said Arafat.
Commenting on Israel's decision to let him leave the Palestinian territories but never let him back, Arafat said "[Sharon] knows better than anybody else that I can come back and no one can prevent me from returning home."
Albawaba.com
Parting Shot
At the time when charges of anti-Semitism are being levelled at all who dare criticise Israeli policies, Israeli papers are rife with anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism. Recently, a caricature, in the international supplement of Israel's widely read Jerusalem Post depicts the Islamic Jihad as a huge snake sitting on the world map, its tongue dripping poison all over the map! The question is has any Arab writer ever attacked the principals of Judaism as did the Post in attacking Islam?
By: Mohammad Salmawi
Al Ahram
The Arab Press continues to devote much attention to the impending US attack against Iraq. The Saudi daily Okaz sees Europe and the Arabs increasingly making common cause against the US over Iraq, remarking that European opposition to war is based on solid economic, strategic and moral grounds.
The paper suggests in its leader that the two sides? interests converge more broadly in the Middle East, not least in promoting a just Arab-Israeli peace settlement that America?s alliance with Israel has been blocking.
The 15-member EU is, ?despite all the reservations about Britain?s position,? a ?force for peace? in the region, Okaz says. And the EU ?can establish partnership and cooperation relations with the Arab world based on mutual respect and constructive interaction.?
Washington?s attitude, in contrast, ?regrettably lacks many of the moral underpinnings. And the worst thing about its policy is that it pays no heed to the human dimension in its day-to-day behavior,? and gives its own narrowly defined interests precedence over any other considerations.
?The Crusades are history. Today?s Europe reveals a different face, characterized by flexibility and tolerance, and it has shown time and again that it knows how to read history,? the Saudi paper says. ?On the other side of the Atlantic, it is a different story.?
The ?hawks? there are hatching schemes which are increasingly alienating the Europeans, ?and if they persist they will find out belatedly that they are alone in the battle, and that the bridges they have been trying to destroy between the Arabs and Europeans are becoming stronger by the day.?
Okaz
The UAE daily Al-Khaleej faults on two counts British PM Tony Blair?s declaration at the weekend that the world wouldn?t stand by while Iraq violated UN resolutions and developed weapons of mass destruction.
For one thing, he purported to speak on behalf of the world ?a world which rejects all the excuses and accusations the US has been touting to justify aggression against Iraq.?
The world has been demanding proof and evidence against Iraq, and international sanctions for any measures that are taken against it, Al-Khaleej writes. That can only come from the UN Security Council, which alone is entitled to say if Iraq is violating UN resolutions. No individual power is entitled to put its own interpretation on what those resolutions mean and enforce them single-handedly. ?Over this, Blair speaks for himself, and has no right to speak for the world.?
Moreover, the UN resolutions Blair referred to also link arms inspections in Iraq to the lifting of the economic sanctions against the country, and steps to rid the entire Middle East of weapons of mass destruction. To pick and choose only those sections of the resolutions that can be used to ?contrive spurious excuses for attacking Iraq? is to use the same double standard that applies to the Bush administration?s policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. When London and Washington contrive excuses to wage war on Iraq despite broad international opposition and in violation of international law, they themselves behave as ?rogue states.?
Al-Khaleej
If applied in earnest, the very reasons given by the US for mounting a military attack against Baghdad also fit the US. Like Iraq, it possesses weapons of mass destruction, with stockpiles of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons enough to destroy the world many times over. The US is the one country now posing a threat to international peace and security. Over the past decade, it has invaded Serbia under NATO mandate and Afghanistan under the umbrella of an anti-terror campaign. In Afghanistan, the Americans have killed thousands of innocent people and levelled whole villages to the ground with their inhabitants buried under the debris. Previously, the US has also struck a pharmaceuticals plan in Sudan which it claimed was producing chemical substances. By the same criteria it uses in judging others, the US could thus make war against itself. Will it?!
Al Akhbar
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged Arab and Muslim countries on Sunday to unite in the face of U.S. threats and "foreign conspiracies" as Washington prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said Assad reiterated Syria's objection to any U.S. military attack on Baghdad and called for "deeper unity and solidarity among Arab and Muslim countries in the face of American threats against the region."
Assad was speaking after a meeting in Damascus with Mohammed Sader, a top Iranian foreign ministry official.
IRNA added Assad had called on the region to "challenge the conspiracies woven in foreign circles against the countries of the region."
Albawaba.com
Arafat Decries Israeli Conspiracy Against Peace
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told reporters on Sunday there is an Israeli conspiracy to undermine and end the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Arafat did not elaborate on the issue and specify who is behind the Israeli conspiracy. However, he said the Israeli forces are committing massacres against Palestinian civilians under the instructions of high-level leaders in the Israeli government and the Israeli army.
He added those leaders and officers are attempting to end and destroy the peace process between the two sides.
He had addressed letters to the international community, to inform them that there is a conspiracy against the peace process. "This conspiracy aims at hitting the peace of the braves I have reached with my late Israeli partner Yitzhak Rabin, who was killed by Israeli extremist," said Arafat.
Commenting on Israel's decision to let him leave the Palestinian territories but never let him back, Arafat said "[Sharon] knows better than anybody else that I can come back and no one can prevent me from returning home."
Albawaba.com
Parting Shot
At the time when charges of anti-Semitism are being levelled at all who dare criticise Israeli policies, Israeli papers are rife with anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism. Recently, a caricature, in the international supplement of Israel's widely read Jerusalem Post depicts the Islamic Jihad as a huge snake sitting on the world map, its tongue dripping poison all over the map! The question is has any Arab writer ever attacked the principals of Judaism as did the Post in attacking Islam?
By: Mohammad Salmawi
Al Ahram