Hot off the Arab press

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

By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINE
Arab man (Saudi) reading a newspaper 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Susan Baaghil )
Arab man (Saudi) reading a newspaper 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Susan Baaghil )
ISRAEL WILL CONTROL THE ETHIOPIAN DAM Al Wafd, Cairo, June 1
“The Ethiopian dam crisis is the latest nail in Africa’s coffin,” one Egyptian commented on his Facebook page. The Ethiopian government decided to change the course of the Blue Nile, one of the main tributaries of the Nile River, to build the Renaissance Dam. Analysts shared the public’s concerns of Israeli involvement in the dam crisis.
Egyptian water resources professor Maghawri Shehata said that Israel will control the Ethiopian dam, as Israeli citizens are employed by the company that seeks to generate electricity from the dam.
Maghawri added that the new dam is part of an international plan for Israel to control water and energy in Africa through Ethiopia. The expert warned that the new dam will not be immune to military strikes or a natural disasters, adding that Sudan will be affected if the dam collapses as it will submerge all the islands at the entrance of the Sudanese capital.A PALESTINIAN DEBATE ON NORMALIZATION WITH ISRAEL Al Jazeera, Doha, May 31
The participation of Israeli and Palestinian businessmen in a session during the World Economic Forum sparked angry remarks from Palestinians who criticized what they called “economic normalization” with Israel.
“Breaking the Impasse” sessions were held at the Dead Sea between Palestinian and Israeli businessmen at a time when the US administration is trying to restart the peace process. The chief of the Writers Syndicate, Murad Sudani, threatened to publish a “blacklist” of the names of individuals and companies that normalize with Israel.
Meanwhile Sudan condemned Palestinian and Emirati participation in a food exhibition that will be held in Tel Aviv on June 11. Agriculture Minister Waleed Assaf denied his ministry’s involvement in this exhibition.
Assaf explained that there is a formal decision to boycott “settlement” products but not Israeli products.
Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi attacked the participants at the “Breaking the Impasse” meeting, saying that these companies are trying to seek an “economic” peace separate from the political peace that will save Palestinian dignity.
S-300: A TERROR FOR ISRAEL Al Hayat, London, June 4
When Israeli Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan was asked if Israeli aircraft in Lebanese airspace are provocative and could drag the region toward escalation, he arrogantly responded, like other leading Israeli military figures and politicians, that it’s the Israeli army’s right to do everything to ensure the security and protection of Israel.
Erdan’s statements reflect the position of the Israeli government and its ministers, led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who threatens Syria and Lebanon on a daily basis. The escalation is linked to the news that Syria has been supplied with Russian S- 300 missiles and MiG-29 aircraft.
Since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Lebanon has been preparing for this next war. With the beginning of the Arab Spring the threats against Israel grew and set a record with the escalation of the Syrian crisis and the Iranian-Russian position that supported President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
MILITARY EXPERT: THREE SCENARIOS FOR ISRAELI MANEUVERS Falastin Al Youm, Gaza, May 31
A Palestinian military expert said that the Israeli military training exercises conducted in several areas in Israel are a clear indication of the weakness of the Israeli army. Wassif Erekat said that the aim of the training is to bring back the prestige of the Zionist army, which was defeated in the eight-day war in Lebanon in 2006.
Military experts pointed out that these military exercises’ aim is to send a message to the region and the resistance parties in Palestine and Lebanon to get ready for war. Erekat called on the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to further prepare well for the next war, because Israel is serious about waging war to restore its prestige, broken by the recent “resistance” strikes.
INCREASED KILLINGS WORRY GAZANS AND SPARK CRITICISM ON FACEBOOK Al Hayat, London, June 3
Murders and suicides are concerning the Palestinian street over the past few months, as well as cases of citizens drowning or getting killed in the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. Although security officials of the Hamas-led government have managed to arrest most of those accused of criminal offenses, the criticism of the government has raged on, especially on social networks, such as Facebook.
A human rights organization claimed eight civilians were killed in Gaza during May because of family feuds, robbery and the collapse of tunnels, and suicide.
Observers noted an increase in the rates of violence in West Bank and Gaza since the beginning of the year as compared with previous years. Some 61 people were killed in brawls, misuse of weapons, in tunnels, falls, and due the lack of safety measures in industrial workshops among other causes.