MEDIA Hot off the Arab press

What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East

By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINE
Rally in Ramallah before prisoner release 521 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Rally in Ramallah before prisoner release 521
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The road to the Renaissance Dam starts In Eilat
Al-Ahram, Cairo, June 24
Ethiopia, at Israel’s urging, has exploited Egypt’s difficult internal situation and brought up the water problem again, also embarking on the construction of the Renaissance Dam. Apparently the Ethiopians think that Egypt will just stand by when faced with a national security threat regarding water. Raising Israeli involvement is not a slur but a reality, as the two countries have a historic joint ambition in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea coast. The idea of Zionism is based on allegations that the borders of “Greater Israel” are from the Nile to the Euphrates, while Ethiopia believes in Abyssinian control over the Nile Basin countries.
Israel also provides technical and financial support to Ethiopia in the form of grants and loans in the field of water resources management and electricity. Israel would be the first beneficiary of the Renaissance Dam project, which seeks to subjugate Egypt and deprive it of a large amount of its water from the Nile. Additionally, there is the possibility of the collapse of the dam as it is located in an area prone to earthquakes, which might flood a large part of Sudan and Egypt.
Netanyahu government approves gas export project – Jordan first beneficiary
As-Safir, Beirut, June 24
The Israeli government this week approved the draft resolution of its gas export policy by an 18-3 vote, after intense debate. It seems that the first country which will benefit from Israel’s decision to export is Jordan, which will gain immediately from Israel’s Tamar field and could receive up to 20 billion cubic meters. This does not mean, however, that Israel will give Jordan the entire amount. Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz demanded that local market share be increased from 540 billion to 600 billion cubic meters. He stressed that the amounts sold to Jordan and the Palestinian Authority should be allocated from the export portion rather than the local market share.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu admitted that the Israeli government failed to discover oil and gas for decades, but now the private sector has succeeded in doing the job. The gas will add about $250 million to the Israeli economy each month and is expected to increase when the export quantities double.
The world against Israel
Al-Hayat, London, June 23
The entire world hates Israel, except for the US congressmen who were bribed by the Israeli lobby.
However, this move can be called a business deal rather than hostility toward Israel. The American lobby usually attacks writers who criticize the occupation, the killings, the destruction and the displacement. Former US ambassador to Riyadh Chas Freeman, however, recently commented in a different tone on American Jewish writer Jacob Heilbrunn’s article, “Israel’s Fraying Image,” on the National Interest website. In his commentary, Freeman said there are two dark questions about Israel: How long can it survive as a democracy while it is practicing a rule of force over the non-Jewish people and hindering the peace process? And how will Israel’s increasing international isolation affect Americans in general – and not only Jewish Americans? What do the opponents of the criminal Israeli entity do? They attack US President Barack Obama. The real disaster is when radical people hijack the American foreign policies and use them to serve Israel’s interests alone, at the expense of a country that was once a pioneer of civil freedoms in the world.
Assaf bombards Gaza with joy missiles
Al-Ayyam, Ramallah, June 24
As the MBC channel announced Saturday night that Palestinian singer Muhammad Assaf won the Arab Idol title, tens of thousands of Gaza residents took to the streets. They came from their homes, hotels, banquet halls, coffee shops and the squares where large display TVs were set up, all to celebrate Assafs victory. Gazans celebrated the Palestinian star’s triumph until early the next morning. Assaf, who was nicknamed “The Rocket,” was launched from the alleyways of the Khan Yunis refugee camp in south Gaza, to assume the position of “Arab Idol” after he received tens of millions of votes from fans around the world – including celebrities such as famous Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab. She asked for Assaf’s hand in marriage on the air, while she complimented his voice and said his performance was unprecedented. Fans of Assaf described the win as a unique case that made the hearts of Gazans joyful and restored hope to the youth, after they were nearly overwhelmed by feelings of frustration because of the blockade and difficult living conditions.