The Arab press consistently lays all blame for the Arab-Israeli conflict, and all failed peace accords, on the Israelis. The US-backed “roadmap” is no exception.
According to the August 11 edition of the leading Egyptian newspaper al-Akhbar, “Since the US announced its roadmap for peace in the Middle East early this year, Israel has been seen by the whole world to be working against it.” Furthermore, according to the newspaper, “people around the globe distrust Israel to implement this plan”, because “since its creation in 1948, [Israel] has been in an endless state of war.”
In the meantime, al-Akhbar editors declare, the Israelis are constructing a fence in Samaria and Judea because Israel “seeks to swallow up Palestinian land so that by 2005, the year when the Palestinian state is scheduled to be declared, the Palestinians will have no land on which to declare it.” This construction, along with what the Egyptian paper calls “Israel's violation of the cease-fire” is taking place “as the world stands watching, unable, or shall we say unwilling, to do anything to rescue either the people or the land of Palestine.”
Another Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram al-Messai, is more generous with the hope it places in foreign powers. “It is hoped,” the editorial states, “at this point, that the US will act to prove its credibility; indeed to put an end to the extremist measures adopted by the Sharon government at the expense of peace and stability in the region.” The Egyptian editors feel that “[i]t has become unacceptable to continue to bring pressure to bear on the Palestinians, given that they are the weaker element of the Middle East equation in order to have them honor their commitments and have them implement their roadmap obligation, while Israel remains above all kinds of pressure.” This is particularly true, because, according to al-Ahram al-Messai, “[t]he Israelis stand defying all peace efforts, adopting measures and creating facts on the ground that run counter to all attempts made to ensure a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
According to the August 11 edition of the leading Egyptian newspaper al-Akhbar, “Since the US announced its roadmap for peace in the Middle East early this year, Israel has been seen by the whole world to be working against it.” Furthermore, according to the newspaper, “people around the globe distrust Israel to implement this plan”, because “since its creation in 1948, [Israel] has been in an endless state of war.”
In the meantime, al-Akhbar editors declare, the Israelis are constructing a fence in Samaria and Judea because Israel “seeks to swallow up Palestinian land so that by 2005, the year when the Palestinian state is scheduled to be declared, the Palestinians will have no land on which to declare it.” This construction, along with what the Egyptian paper calls “Israel's violation of the cease-fire” is taking place “as the world stands watching, unable, or shall we say unwilling, to do anything to rescue either the people or the land of Palestine.”
Another Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram al-Messai, is more generous with the hope it places in foreign powers. “It is hoped,” the editorial states, “at this point, that the US will act to prove its credibility; indeed to put an end to the extremist measures adopted by the Sharon government at the expense of peace and stability in the region.” The Egyptian editors feel that “[i]t has become unacceptable to continue to bring pressure to bear on the Palestinians, given that they are the weaker element of the Middle East equation in order to have them honor their commitments and have them implement their roadmap obligation, while Israel remains above all kinds of pressure.” This is particularly true, because, according to al-Ahram al-Messai, “[t]he Israelis stand defying all peace efforts, adopting measures and creating facts on the ground that run counter to all attempts made to ensure a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”