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TAGS: KMDR JO
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT 
 
Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The other thing that is dead" 
 
Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of independent, 
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (07/18):  "Amr Mousa needed many years 
to conclude that Israel's denial of all the signed agreements, its 
nullification of the Palestinian partner, and its re-occupation of 
Palestinian territories, all mean that the peace process has long 
been dead and buried.  There is another thing that lying dead before 
the very eyes of Amr Mousa.  We wonder how long it is going to take 
him to acknowledge that the Arab League that he represents is also 
dead....  There are only two options before the Arab League.  The 
first is launching an effective move led by the three countries that 
have international and regional influence in the Arab Israeli 
conflict, namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan ... that translates 
into concrete action for ending Israel's aggression and re-arranges 
the situation in the region within the context of conditions that 
fulfill the minimum of Arab rights....  The second option is for Amr 
Mousa to declare the demise of the Arab League and its claim of the 
presence of an official Arab regime, just as clearly as he had 
declared the demise of the peace process.  May be this 
acknowledgement will lead to a new birth, either from steps and 
programs undertaken by the Arabs or from the depth of the vacuum and 
desperation that have become the markings of the region." 
 
-- "To whom do the people complain!" 
 
Chief Editor Taher Odwan writes on the back-page of independent, 
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/18):  "Insisting on the 
method of complaining to the United Nations and disavowing 
responsibilities required from the Arab regime is disastrous and 
irresponsible, because it is happening at a time when the Arab land 
is turning into an arena of destruction and devastation as well as 
massacres and bloodshed of people who have surrendered their lives 
and their homelands to governments whose duty it is to protect the 
land, the people and the sovereignty and not hand these people to 
slaughter and destruction.  It is funny that the [Arab] regimes are 
just now finding out about Iran's influence in the region and that 
this discovery is used as a justification to abandon Lebanon.  If 
there is a 'Shiite crescent' extending from Tehran to Beirut, then 
who had paved the way for its existence?  Was it not the Arab summit 
meetings that allowed the American occupation to destroy Iraq and 
turn it into an arena for sectarian and civil war?  Who allowed Iran 
to own Iraq?  Was it not America, the 'friend' of the Arabs, and 
with support of decisions issued by Arab summits, that gave the 
green light for this dangerous strategic penetration?  We are at the 
threshold of decisive strategic changes in the region.  If the peace 
process is dead, then where is the Arab stand that should be 
prepared and ready to deal with Israel's attempts at imposing 
surrender on the Arabs?  It is not an issue of preferring Siniora 
over Hassan Nasrallah or Mahmoud Abbas over Haniyeh.  The fact is 
that it is a battleground, where regional and international players 
have turned the tables upside down on the heads of all the Arabs.... 
 Avoiding the war or regional wars ... is done by the Arabs taking 
control of their own issues and causes from the hands of the 
Americans and the Israelis and by adopting a stern position 
vis-`-vis the American, British and Iranian occupations in Iraq and 
a strong position vis-`-vis the continued Israeli occupation of 
Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese lands." 
 
-- "Jordan's options vis-`-vis the Israeli aggression against 
Lebanon" 
 
Columnist Batir Wardam writes on the inside page of center-left, 
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/18):  "The feelings of the 
Jordanian people vis-`-vis the Israeli aggression against Lebanon 
are defined by two contradicting waves.  The first is that of anger, 
hatred and sadness at the loss of Lebanese civilian lives and the 
destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon.  The second is joy and 
gloating at the fact that Israel is being subjected to Hizbollah's 
bombings....  It seems that the majority of the Jordanians are now 
rallying behind the feelings of joy and gloating at the bombing of 
Israel and they want to see more scene of this bombing....  Jordan 
finds itself in a difficult situation.  Jordanians are calling for a 
stand against Israel ... and demand in the way of political pressure 
that Jordan make the 'symbolic' gesture of at freezing or canceling 
the peace treaty with Israel.  The Jordanians street is always 
right, for Jordan must play a more effective role in the ongoing 
events, but it cannot do that alone.  There must be an organized 
Arab alliance for that.  The core of the new Arab alliance has 
started to appear.  Unfortunately for the Jordanian street, it is 
not being formed by Jordan, Syria and Hizbollah, as people would 
have liked out of their sympathy for Lebanon and hatred for Israel, 
but rather by Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  This alliance is not 
calling for supporting the resistance and Hizbollah as the people 
had wanted, but rather is demanding Hizbollah to stop the 
uncalculated adventures and is calling for supporting the Lebanese 
government only, which, people forget, is the only legitimate party 
responsible for managing the affairs of the Lebanese state.  The 
problem with the Jordanian-Saudi-Egyptian stand is not a moral one. 
The leaders of these countries are correct to understand the 
seriousness of the situation that is forming in the region and they 
are right to want to protect the political interests of their 
countries and refuse to be held hostage to the scheme of Hizbollah 
and Iran.  The problem with this alliance is that it cannot protect 
the Lebanese people from the Israeli brutality, thus rendering it 
politically ineffective and giving Hizbollah more opportunity to 
gain popularity in the Arab world, a popularity that will increase 
in proportion with the increase of Israel's crimes in Lebanon.... 
The option of exercising political pressure on Israel must be 
available and present in the Jordanian decision-making process. 
There is also a need to involve the Jordanian people in such a 
decision, as the people have the right to know the political and 
economic repercussions of a unilateral decision to sever political 
relations with Israel and the sacrifices that the Jordanian people 
will have to make." 
HALE