Arab press commentaries on events of the past week have conveyed and promoted a sense of cynical, impotent helplessness among the Arabs. Editors and columnists have focused on the inability of Arab leaders to prevent Israel from acting against the PLO or to take control of events in Iraq.
In an editorial late last week, the pan-Arab Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper last week charged the Arab states with weakness in the face of Israel and the United States. The editors called it "painful that not a single Arab leader has said a brave word to confront this blatant US hostility toward Iraq, Palestine and Syria." In fact, the editorial stated, some Arab leaders "pressure the Palestinian resistance and call for alternative leaderships that would bow at the feet of Bush and Ariel Sharon, give up the right of return, Jerusalem, dignity and sovereignty, yet they don't utter a single word to Sharon and Bush." Singled out for particularly scathing criticism was Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian President "expresses sadness over the remains of Israeli soldiers," the newspaper noted, "and sends his envoys to Gaza to retrieve them so that their families can bury them with respect, [but] he does not move to save those living in Rafah and the West Bank towns."
Al-Quds Al-Arabi also editorialized, ahead of this weekend's Arab League Summit: "Arab leaders will go to the summit heads down, showing their impotence in the face of events in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.... The summit will be the final true test for Arab governments and we really doubt they will pass it."
Another pan-Arab, Saudi-backed newspaper, Al-Hayat, out of London, carried an article Thursday that declared, "An Arab world incapable of pushing for the freeing of an elected Palestinian leader like Arafat from Israeli captivity is definitely going to fail to regain its lost territories and secure a just peace...." The columnist, Ghassan Charbel, asked, "How can Arabs influence events in their own region? Is it through knocking on the doors of the United Nations or resigning themselves again to the White House?"
Giving voice to the ultimate sense of powerlessness, London's Al-Sharq Al-Awsat declared: "The truth is that no Arab government can do anything to end Israeli occupation or the occupation by US troops in Iraq, because the balance of power is against them. Whatever they did or will try to do, it will be impossible for them to win."
Syria's Tishrin newspaper provided the perfect victim scenario for all Arab states, when it declared that "all the Arab countries live under a permanent blockade, daily receiving threats and 'orders' and being subjected to strong pressure with the aim of redrawing a new Middle East, in conformity with the objectives of the new colonialism and Israel."
In an editorial late last week, the pan-Arab Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper last week charged the Arab states with weakness in the face of Israel and the United States. The editors called it "painful that not a single Arab leader has said a brave word to confront this blatant US hostility toward Iraq, Palestine and Syria." In fact, the editorial stated, some Arab leaders "pressure the Palestinian resistance and call for alternative leaderships that would bow at the feet of Bush and Ariel Sharon, give up the right of return, Jerusalem, dignity and sovereignty, yet they don't utter a single word to Sharon and Bush." Singled out for particularly scathing criticism was Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian President "expresses sadness over the remains of Israeli soldiers," the newspaper noted, "and sends his envoys to Gaza to retrieve them so that their families can bury them with respect, [but] he does not move to save those living in Rafah and the West Bank towns."
Al-Quds Al-Arabi also editorialized, ahead of this weekend's Arab League Summit: "Arab leaders will go to the summit heads down, showing their impotence in the face of events in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.... The summit will be the final true test for Arab governments and we really doubt they will pass it."
Another pan-Arab, Saudi-backed newspaper, Al-Hayat, out of London, carried an article Thursday that declared, "An Arab world incapable of pushing for the freeing of an elected Palestinian leader like Arafat from Israeli captivity is definitely going to fail to regain its lost territories and secure a just peace...." The columnist, Ghassan Charbel, asked, "How can Arabs influence events in their own region? Is it through knocking on the doors of the United Nations or resigning themselves again to the White House?"
Giving voice to the ultimate sense of powerlessness, London's Al-Sharq Al-Awsat declared: "The truth is that no Arab government can do anything to end Israeli occupation or the occupation by US troops in Iraq, because the balance of power is against them. Whatever they did or will try to do, it will be impossible for them to win."
Syria's Tishrin newspaper provided the perfect victim scenario for all Arab states, when it declared that "all the Arab countries live under a permanent blockade, daily receiving threats and 'orders' and being subjected to strong pressure with the aim of redrawing a new Middle East, in conformity with the objectives of the new colonialism and Israel."