The as-Safir newspaper, out of Beirut, recently featured two articles a few days apart, both of which indicate the discomfort significant swaths of the Arab world feel when ethnic minorities take their rightful place in their midst. In one piece, a former Lebanese prime minister calls for a stealth approach to eliminating the Jewish character of the Jewish state, and in the other, a columnist bemoaned the weakening of the Arab character of the Arab state of Iraq.
In the September 12, 2003, edition of as-Safir, former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss wrote that the original Arab goal regarding Israel was taking the land, “expelling the Zionist invaders”, and establishing an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital. “However,” Hoss explained, “the goal of the Palestinian struggle has changed since the 1967 catastrophe. Arab leaders have raised the slogan of ‘removing traces of aggression’, which means returning to the situation that existed before the occupations of 1967, to the state that existed in 1948...” along with the “right of return” for Arab refugees to Israeli territory.
“In my opinion, Palestine has to remain one whole entity and Palestinians have to return back to their home land,” the former Lebanese leader wrote, “But in contrast to what Arab extremists say about the necessity to expel Jews from Palestine, I say we need to assimilate them in a unified Palestinian entity where Arabs and Jews live next to each other in peace and safety.” Hoss continued, “The intifada and resistance need to continue until we reach our final goal which is the establishment of a unified Palestinian entity, with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return implemented. But what we desperately need to do is to re-evaluate our tactics of resistance.”
The problem with the current tactics, in Salim Hoss’ view, is that “we are one way or another legitimizing Israel’s ruthless deeds....” The solution, then, is to “change the rules of the game and stop attacking innocent civilian Jews. ...We need to go back to the traditions of demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, civil disobedience, media campaigns, leafleting, etc. Replacing suicide bombings with those progressive means will have a positive reaction with international public opinion, which we desperately need if we seriously consider winning at all.”
Meanwhile, in Iraq, according to as-Safir columnist Sateh Nouriddine, the US is planning a state “devoid of its traditional Arab character.” In a September 10th column, the writer explained that the appointment of a provisional Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, who is of Kurdish origin is a clear hint of this intention. “The presence of this Kurdish delegate [at the Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo earlier in the week], representing such an important Arab country as Iraq, was aimed at unfairly provoking Arab chauvinism.” However, Nouriddine explained, there was nothing the Arab League could have done to prevent the Kurd from attending and representing Iraq.
In the September 12, 2003, edition of as-Safir, former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss wrote that the original Arab goal regarding Israel was taking the land, “expelling the Zionist invaders”, and establishing an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital. “However,” Hoss explained, “the goal of the Palestinian struggle has changed since the 1967 catastrophe. Arab leaders have raised the slogan of ‘removing traces of aggression’, which means returning to the situation that existed before the occupations of 1967, to the state that existed in 1948...” along with the “right of return” for Arab refugees to Israeli territory.
“In my opinion, Palestine has to remain one whole entity and Palestinians have to return back to their home land,” the former Lebanese leader wrote, “But in contrast to what Arab extremists say about the necessity to expel Jews from Palestine, I say we need to assimilate them in a unified Palestinian entity where Arabs and Jews live next to each other in peace and safety.” Hoss continued, “The intifada and resistance need to continue until we reach our final goal which is the establishment of a unified Palestinian entity, with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return implemented. But what we desperately need to do is to re-evaluate our tactics of resistance.”
The problem with the current tactics, in Salim Hoss’ view, is that “we are one way or another legitimizing Israel’s ruthless deeds....” The solution, then, is to “change the rules of the game and stop attacking innocent civilian Jews. ...We need to go back to the traditions of demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, civil disobedience, media campaigns, leafleting, etc. Replacing suicide bombings with those progressive means will have a positive reaction with international public opinion, which we desperately need if we seriously consider winning at all.”
Meanwhile, in Iraq, according to as-Safir columnist Sateh Nouriddine, the US is planning a state “devoid of its traditional Arab character.” In a September 10th column, the writer explained that the appointment of a provisional Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, who is of Kurdish origin is a clear hint of this intention. “The presence of this Kurdish delegate [at the Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo earlier in the week], representing such an important Arab country as Iraq, was aimed at unfairly provoking Arab chauvinism.” However, Nouriddine explained, there was nothing the Arab League could have done to prevent the Kurd from attending and representing Iraq.