The 25th anniversary of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel, which led to the signing of a hotly-contested peace treaty with Egypt and Israel's total withdrawal from the Sinai, came and went last week - and the resulting peace treaty seems as lifeless as ever. Over the past several days, at least three Egyptian government newspapers have justified and praised last week's terrorist bus attack in Jerusalem in which 11 Jews were murdered.
On Nov. 22, the daily Al-Akhbar published a column whose title said it all: "The Jerusalem Operation: The Only Response to Israeli Terrorism." The article stated that 11 "Israeli terrorists" were killed in the attack, and continued,
"In reaction to all of the inhuman acts of the Zionist entity intended to subdue the Palestinian people, a martyrdom operation took place yesterday in occupied Jerusalem in order to prove conclusively that Israel deludes itself in its belief that its uncontrollable appetite to kill, destroy, and terrorize will bring security and peace... In essence, everybody knows that the resistance is the only way for liberation, and there is no alternative. This weapon, the weapon of legitimate force, is the only weapon that Israel fears. Only the resistance can smash the Israeli arrogance and idiocy of its leaders."
On the same day, Al-Gumhuriyya editor Sameer Ragab wrote enthusiastically that "a 23 year-old Palestinian martyr blew himself up in a bus in Jerusalem and consequently eleven Israelis were killed, forty-seven wounded, of whom nine are in critical condition!!! Of course this operation is not the first one, and shall not be the last one, as long as the Israelis continue the policy of oppression, stubbornness, and treachery... The Israelis will wake up in the morning, put their victims in plastic bags, and a few hours later the Palestinians will embrace each other, having pronounced the Shahada (the Islamic declaration of faith) and be on the way to carry out the most noble, precious, and honorable mission."
The editorial of the leading Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram was relatively restrained. Under the title, "When will the Leaders of Israel Learn their Lesson," the paper called the attack a "martyrdom operation in West Jerusalem." It did not condemn the terrorism, and said only that it proves that "violence breeds nothing but violence." The articles were compiled and translated by .
On Nov. 22, the daily Al-Akhbar published a column whose title said it all: "The Jerusalem Operation: The Only Response to Israeli Terrorism." The article stated that 11 "Israeli terrorists" were killed in the attack, and continued,
"In reaction to all of the inhuman acts of the Zionist entity intended to subdue the Palestinian people, a martyrdom operation took place yesterday in occupied Jerusalem in order to prove conclusively that Israel deludes itself in its belief that its uncontrollable appetite to kill, destroy, and terrorize will bring security and peace... In essence, everybody knows that the resistance is the only way for liberation, and there is no alternative. This weapon, the weapon of legitimate force, is the only weapon that Israel fears. Only the resistance can smash the Israeli arrogance and idiocy of its leaders."
On the same day, Al-Gumhuriyya editor Sameer Ragab wrote enthusiastically that "a 23 year-old Palestinian martyr blew himself up in a bus in Jerusalem and consequently eleven Israelis were killed, forty-seven wounded, of whom nine are in critical condition!!! Of course this operation is not the first one, and shall not be the last one, as long as the Israelis continue the policy of oppression, stubbornness, and treachery... The Israelis will wake up in the morning, put their victims in plastic bags, and a few hours later the Palestinians will embrace each other, having pronounced the Shahada (the Islamic declaration of faith) and be on the way to carry out the most noble, precious, and honorable mission."
The editorial of the leading Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram was relatively restrained. Under the title, "When will the Leaders of Israel Learn their Lesson," the paper called the attack a "martyrdom operation in West Jerusalem." It did not condemn the terrorism, and said only that it proves that "violence breeds nothing but violence." The articles were compiled and translated by .