What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East
By THE MEDIA LINEIDF soldiers man a checkpoint in Hebron on June 17(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)International double standards Donia Al Watan, Gaza, June 25 [Editor’s note: As this piece appeared before the bodies of the three Israeli Yeshiva students were discovered, it still categorizes them as “kidnapped;” yet it is important to highlight how events are being perceived in different cultures and languages.]Israel still insists that the Palestinians were behind the abduction of the three Israelis without evidence, says writer Abdullah Hamamra. It has carried out a mass punishment of the Palestinian population of the West Bank, especially in the city of Hebron. Israel urges the world to get involved in search operations as if the world was created in order to service and maintain the Israeli security.The United Nations has recognized the Palestinians as a state, but apparently they didn’t recognize them as human beings yet. Five innocent Palestinians were killed as the whole international society is doing everything possible to find three Israelis. We should bear in mind that we don’t know the real story about them yet. Any Palestinian party responsible for the abduction would have acclaimed responsibility. The lack of evidence makes us all believe the kidnapping is an Israeli story. The world should be aware that while Palestinians factions denied responsibility, all Palestinians are being punished.Israel’s strategy and the desired response Al Ayyam, Ramallah, July 1 After the halt to negotiations and being held responsible for the failure, it was logical that the Palestinian leadership would switch to another direction and reconsider the negotiations track. The exit strategy from this track that led to failure wasn’t an easy step, says writer Muhanned Abdel Hamid. Breaking free from the restrictions and building new policies will be met with serious Israeli responses. However, the 47 years of occupation and 67 years of Nakba didn’t leave the Palestinians with any other options. There’s a real danger in resuming the current conditions while Israel is continuing to create facts on the ground accompanied by the US’s strategy in managing the crisis and not ending it. The US administration has exercised all possible pressures to prevent the Palestinian Authority from going to the UN’s organization.In the current state of loss it seems that the Palestinians can’t expect anything from the US. The only thing Palestinians are doing is waiting for the unknown.Israel’s crackdown on the Palestinians AL Masa, Rabat, Morocco, July 1 After the bodies of the missing Israeli teenagers were found in Hebron, political leaders and citizens called for swift retaliation against Hamas. Without any evidence of Hamas’s involvement in the act it seems that Israel has made an easy political decision to terminate the newborn unity government. Nobody noticed that while Israel collectively grieved the loss of its youths, Palestinians mourned the deaths of at least five people of their own killed during Israeli raids of Palestinian cities. Nobody mentioned that the mothers of these five innocent people paid the price for one crime – being Palestinians and living in their towns. Noting the tensions and calls for escalation, Israel is likely to continue weighing its options before targeting Hamas. Yet, the international focus on the World Cup might drive Israel to seize the emotional moment and hit Gaza killing innocent civilians in another act of power which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu can exploit for his own benefit.Children of the world AL Ghad, Amman, July 1 Children are children no matter where you are in the world, says writer Hasna Shihabi. She says that the war on children is inhuman and the world should stand against anyone, or any nation that puts children in danger. I could be referring to the child soldiers in Africa or the child trafficking in Asia but that is not what I am referring to. Three innocent Israeli “settlers” were kidnapped and later found dead in the West Bank town of Hebron. Immediately after the three settlers went missing a massive military raid in the entire West Bank by Israel began arresting 400 people and killing 5. These Palestinian youth terrorized in the middle of the night, arrested and killed, have no direct link to the horrendous kidnapping and killing of the innocent Israeli teens. Yet, Israel and the world turns its back on these youth why? If Israel was a truly democratic state that follows any form of justice it would make sense to search in Hebron, interrogate every single family in Hebron but why in towns and villages across the entire West Bank? Let’s stop and think for a moment are we as a human race permitting such collective punishment of one race of children for the sake of other children?Iraq after Malki, chances for success Dar Al Khaleej, Abu Dhabi, June 30 Iraq didn’t need ISIS to prove to the region that the regime of Nori Al-Malki’s was indulged in ugly sectarianism.Al-Malki’s strategies of hegemony and predominance of power were detested by even members of his own sect. Talking about ISIS as a force is an exaggeration.It was the weakness of a strong central government in Iraq that allowed for a force like that to take over major cities there. If the army had a sense of loyalty, tens of thousands of troops wouldn’t have withdrawn within hours. Al-Malki’s system went too far in alienating a large proportion of its people. It was obvious that the policy of marginalization cost the regime its popular legitimacy. Whatever was built on falsehood is false.However, the latest crisis can also be a chance for a new start. Iraqis need a moment of sincerity and maturity to end bloodshed and potentials of divisions. Iraq’s agenda should be towards a flourishing future state built on unity and equality. Otherwise, it becomes a blunt abduction of a country’s history, civilization and wealth.
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