AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 20:
Jordan's al-Arab al-Yawm urged Arab Islamic movements, especially the Palestinian Hamas, to review its positions and calculations regarding Iran. The daily said in a commentary that if Tehran sent thousands of rockets to Lebanon's Hezbollah and $120 million to support the Palestinian Hamas government, it should not be an excuse to continue its (Iranian) policy in Iraq and involvement in the sectarian war there. The paper, which describes itself as independent, noted Arab Islamists and sentiments define their positions towards others' stances on Palestine and Jerusalem, adding that Tehran seems to have exploited this fact. However, it stressed, Iraq today is just as important as Palestine and Jerusalem in terms of foreign threats, divisions and repressing the Arab identity. "It is harmful to Palestine, our national cause and shrines, to remain silent over what Iran is doing in Iraq as it uses the pretext of supporting the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon," it said. The paper called on the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah to pressure Iran to "remove its hands from Iraq and to change its policy there," saying they should send a clear message to Iran's leadership that it is wrong to ignite religious and ethnic jingoism in Iraq. "We cannot understand the Iranian position based on encouraging and supporting those undergoing sectarian killings and seeking to destroy the Iraqi resistance," it said. Nevertheless, the paper added, it is wrong to call for an Arab-Persian war, just as it crazy to ignite sectarian sedition between Sunnis and Shiites.
Iraq's as-Sabah welcomed the first visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Muallem to Iraq, saying his visit to Baghdad is a Syrian and Iraqi necessity. The pro-government daily, which says it has the largest circulation in the country, said Iraq is going through a quasi-civil war and only three solutions can stop the strife. The first, it argued, is for the warring leaders to reach a political settlement to resolve the disputes based on equality. The second is for the warring sides to exhaust themselves and reach a conviction they cannot achieve their objectives through fighting. The third way to stop the fighting, it said, is for a third outside, neutral and influential party to force the disputing parties to sit down and reach a peaceful settlement. "The first method is not available so far; neither is the second because the warring militias are still strong and the battle is still in its beginning stages. What remains is the third way, which is the outside intervention," it said. The daily insisted the third party must be outside the disputes, saying the United States can no longer stop the strife. "But there are Arab and friendly parties that can assume this role, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran, because their word is heard by the various Iraqi sides," it stressed.
The London-based al-Hayat said the West has lost many years in following the "American big brother" without taking any opportunities to rectify its frivolous path. The Saudi-financed daily added in a commentary that if many years have been lost in bringing the Muslim East and Christian West closer together due to "extremist strikes and counterstrikes, security is not the first victim, but the dialogue of interests, which alone restores the balance in the world order." If the "American big brother" has restored its correctness after the defeat of the Republicans in the midterm elections, the paper insisted the influential parties in the U.N. Security Council should reconsider their priorities in the world order. The daily, distributed in many Arab capitals, called on the powerful nations to free themselves from the American unilateralism and to form a new international partnership. "Without this, Washington alone will continue to define the enemy, will create it and bloat it and then recruit the rest of the world to chase it," it said. The paper warned without such a new world order, the "democratic West will all slip into a dangerous confrontation with the Muslims, whose characteristics will be mixed with religious wars ignited by eastern and western fundamentalism."
Syria's Tishreen daily said when 156 nations, including 25 European ones, vote in favor of a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Israel for "its massacres of the Palestinian people" and calls for an international investigation, only the United States stands alone in rejecting such a plan, along with a few other small loyal countries. The state-run daily said this again shows the U.S. administration and its "blind alliance" with Israel are on a different level than the rest of the international community. Washington, it insisted, could have saved face if it had voted in favor of this resolution, especially that it is not binding, instead of continuing to make more mistakes that lead towards hostile sentiments. "This unobjective American position is being interpreted by Israel as encouragement for its occupation policy ... and to commit more killing and destruction, as if the Palestinian blood has become so cheap it does not move the feelings of the American administration," it opined. The U.S. veto, the daily said, can only mean American hostility towards other people's causes ... "And then they ask: 'why do they hate us?'"
