Hot off the Arab press 331746

What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East.

By THE MEDIA LINE
m.east 521 (photo credit: Reuters)
m.east 521
(photo credit: Reuters)
ARAFAT DIED OF POISON, AND ISRAEL DID IT.Al-Rai, London, November 9 Three countries possess the radioactive element polonium that was used in assassinating late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, writes prominent Palestinian writer Abdel Bari Atwan: the US, Russia and Israel.
The first two don’t have a direct interest in executing a war crime like this one. Israel, meanwhile, specialized in assassinating Arabs and Palestinians in the last 60 years. Prime minister Ariel Sharon publicly threatened to kill Arafat more than once, because he refused to give up the right of full sovereignty over east Jerusalem at Camp David in 2000. When he lit the fuse of an armed intifada, Arafat was aware that he might become a martyr. With the available resources, he tried to make his siege more secure and take defense measures. However, the last thing he expected was to die from polonium. Now, the question is: What is the Palestinian Authority’s next step? Its silence and decision to continue negotiations is strange. The most important step is to join the International Criminal Court and prosecute Israel, which it is doubtful the PA will do.
ISRAEL INCITEMENT INCREASED AFTER NEGOTIATIONSAs-Safir, Beirut, November 11 The Israeli incitement against the Palestinians drastically increased after the start of peace talks between the two sides in July. The internal situation in Israel shows the impossibility of reaching a peace agreement, since the Right continues to prevent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from granting any concessions to the Palestinians, as stated in a report by the Palestinian Government Media Center. It states that Israeli incitement against the Palestinians takes different forms, and is directly proportional to the peace talks. The report lists the main practices of this incitement, highlighting the “one country and one people” conference with the participation of thousands of right-wing activists. During the conference, participants rejected any negotiations that might lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. The conference included talks about plans to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank, by exploiting all of the empty land for settlements.
GOOD JEWS, BAD JEWSAl-Hayat, London, November 11 “I told Martin Indyk once that I wanted to tell him something about Jews,” writes Jihad el-Khazen, a famous Arab writer. “Indyk thought I would say something anti-Semitic, but I said: ‘A good Jew is the best person in the world, and a bad Jew is the worst person in the world.’” Israeli and Jewish peace groups have some of the most active peace advocates in the world.
Yet there are the worst types of terrorists in the Israeli government, who have supporters in the White House and the media. I recently finished reading a book by Jewish writer Max Blumenthal. Goliath illustrates and condemns Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. On the other hand, there is Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino owner who wants the US to strike Iran. I am a student of history and I know that the Torah’s prophets were a lie, and there is no trace of them or their kingdoms at all. However, there were certainly Jews.
The extremists are a mix of liars and criminals, but there are also many Jews who want peace.
ISRAELI TRANSITION: ONE STATE OR TWO?Al-Bayan, Dubai, November 12 Observers of the internal political situation in Israel know the two-state solution is no longer practical, according to writer Ali Badwan. One of the main figures of right-wing Zionism, former minister Moshe Arens, talked about a Jewish state comprising the entire land of historical Palestine, except the Gaza Strip, by absorbing the West Bank Palestinians into Israel. In contrast, some limited voices call for a democratic state in the land of Palestine. They see that the one-state solution will impose itself automatically on the ground as a status quo. There is growing support for this idea as a basis for a lasting peace, even if it would jeopardize the Jewish identity of the state. The idea of the two-state solution, which the Arabs and the US support, stands at a crossroads. It’s almost impossible in the current situation, particularly the continuous Jewish settlement building.
THE COMPLAINT AGAINST ISRAEL IS NECESSARY, BUT NOT ENOUGHAn-Nahar, Beirut, November 11 Writer Khalil Fleihan thinks the parliamentary Telecommunication Committee is delusional if it believes that filing a complaint with the UN’s Security Council will stop Israel from spying on Lebanese communications. The proof is the 21 electronic device towers that were planted along Lebanese borders in 2010. This increased to 39 before Israel was pressured to remove them. Because of the American willingness to veto any decision against Israel at the UN, I asked diplomatic circles in Beirut about the slowdown in monitoring those towers and technically disrupting them. They said the Lebanese experience proves that Israeli attacks never stopped without a military attack. Israel refrained from implementing the UN Security Council resolutions issued since 1978 – since the first occupation of Lebanese territory. Then, the Lebanese resistance freed lands and stood fast in the face of Israeli attacks. A complaint to the Security Council is necessary, but at the same time, Lebanon is required to create towers that sabotage the Israeli spying devices.