What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East.
By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINEThe mask of King Tutankhamun.(photo credit: REUTERS)
APOLOGIES TO KING TUT’S BEARD Al- Watan, Egypt, March 7Last month, the Egyptian museum admitted that part of one of its greatest treasures, the sculpture of King Tutankhamun, had broken off and was hastily glued back to place by the museum’s workers. The damaged piece – the king’s beard – was attached back to the sculpture using cheap epoxy glue. What happened to the king’s beard is the epitome of what occurred to us, the Egyptian people: A deterioration of our level of education, a lack of appreciation of our culture and a complete disregard of public order. What happened to King Tut’s sculpture is a wake-up call that urges us to critically look at ourselves and start mending our society – without postponing or relying on old political excuses. Our education system has long abandoned the notions of thinking, questioning and learning. Instead, it focuses on indoctrination and ignorance. Our hope of standing at the forefront of research – whether scientific or cultural – has been replaced with institutions that create graduates in mass production. We owe King Tut an apology for his beard.But we should also remind him: Oh king, you are no more the victim than we, the Egyptian people, are. – Sami Abd al-AzizBETWEEN NETANYAHU AND IRAN Almustakbal, Lebanon, March 6Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in front of the US Congress last week, in one of the most blatant acts of arrogance in modern history, and preached about terrorism, the targeting of civilians and the use of force. He claimed that Iran is “occupying” four capitals in the Arab world. Ironically, it is his regime that occupies others, using force, oppression, tyranny and terrorism. He blamed Iran for working to develop nuclear weapons, but it is his nation that introduced weapons of mass destruction to the Middle East and brought about instability. Netanyahu was not welcomed in the US, and President Barack Obama’s counterparts in Europe are not big fans of him either. Just like Ahmadinejad’s anti-Semitic rhetoric helped serve Israel’s case against Iran, Netanyahu’s arrogant rhetoric helped serve Iran against Israel. – Ali NunIMMISERIZING GROWTH Al- Hayat, London, February 28 “Immiserizing growth” is a term first coined in the 1960s, referring to a situation in which a country can lose its entire economic stability if it is reliant on the export of one specific commodity whose prices are plummeting. Sounds familiar? This is the exact concern of several Gulf countries – primarily Saudi Arabia. In recent months, oil prices worldwide have decreased by almost 50 percent, carrying very negative effects on the Kingdom’s economy.Saudi Arabia, which relies almost exclusively on oil to fund its operations, was forced to cut its government budget by half. The Kingdom is in dire need of new exports. It needs to diversify its economy and develop other work sectors, such as services and private industry. However, the prices of its nonoil exports, mainly petrochemicals, have also been falling worldwide, leaving the country with two strong blows to its economic wellbeing. There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia managed to develop a lot throughout the years thanks to its oil exports. The current fall in terms of trade, however, is so significant, that the Kingdom might end up in a much worse economic situation than the one it started with. It is going to have to work hard to prevent that. – Abdallah Bin RabianUN ENVOY TO SYRIA FAILEDAsharq Alawsat, London, February 28The UN envoy to Syria is the most unnecessary diplomatic establishment we have seen to date.Each and every person filling this post failed more than his predecessor in bringing about an end the bloodshed in Syria. The most recent envoy, appointed just four months ago, sadly joins this notorious list: The Syrians, including the opposition, just want him out. Nearly half-a-million Syrian citizens have been killed so far by President Bashar Assad, who hopes to deflect attention from his regime by wreaking more havoc on his people. In the midst of all of this, the UN envoy recently pushed for a new cease-fire proposal in the city of Aleppo – in areas already controlled by the regime. He later stated that Syria’s well being is dependent on the well being of Assad himself – in complete contradiction to the stance taken by most world leaders. The country is burning, and the UN is concerned with two neighborhoods under the control of Assad. The UN lost its credibility as an honest broker that can actually alleviate peoples’ suffering. Perhaps it’s time that the current envoy packs his bags and heads back home. – Abd al-Rahman al- Rashed CAN TURKEY'S ERDOGAN CHANGE?Al-Rai, Kuwait, March 7Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the Saudi Kingdom last week, in order to conduct bilateral talks with the new king, Salman Bin Abdulaziz.This visit symbolizes Ergodan’s attempt to recover the faltering relations between the two countries, and perhaps to test if Saudi’s policy towards the Muslim Brotherhood has changed under the rule of its new king. The fact remains, however, that it hasn’t.Saudi Arabia and Egypt are close partners and allies in the battle against the Muslim Brotherhood. However, Erdogan still refuses to accept the legitimacy of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime in Egypt.On Sunday, just a day after Erdogan’s arrived to the Kingdom, Sisi also made a quick visit to meet the king in Riyadh. Erdogan refused to meet the Egyptian leader while both of them were there. Turkey, eventually, will have to decide: How positive of a role does it want to play in the region? How serious are its intentions to the fight terrorism and radicalism? If Erdogan is serious in opening a new page, then he must acknowledge Egypt’s role in the Arab coalition against the Islamic State. He must respect the fact that Hamas poses a threat to Egypt, and that Egypt cannot accept the Muslim Brotherhood. Erdogan must recognize that Islamist radicalism, throughout the Arab world, only brought destruction. Look at Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Gaza. Can Turkey’s Erdogan change now that he understands that Saudi Arabia will not give up its strategic partner, Egypt? – Kheir Allah Kheir AllahThemedialine.org is an American nonprofit news agency covering the Middle East.
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