AMMAN, Jordan, March 19 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for March 19:
The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi commented Monday that four years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq should have been one of the most stable and secure countries in the Arab region as President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had promised. Instead, it said, more than 665,000 Iraqis have been killed, three million injured and four million have become refugees. In addition, recent surveys show that one in every four Iraqis has lost a family member, one in five has been killed and one in three has fled outside the country, it said. "Iraq today, after four years of occupation, should have been one of the most prosperous," the independent Palestinian-owned daily remarked. It complained that not a single Iraqi who had "cried for democracy and human rights, writing books on the killing and torture during the pre-occupation regime, is now protesting and defending his country, condemning the crimes of the new regime...Do the Americans and those who came with them have the right to kill and torture without accountability?" It said in its front-page commentary that Bush amends his military and security strategy to end the violence in Baghdad, sending additional troops, but the result is the same: More car bombs and unidentified corpses keep turning up every day. It predicted even darker days lie ahead for Iraq, where democracy is non-existent and the middle class is vanishing.
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Another London-based Arab daily, ash-Sharq al-Awsat, said the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has launched a campaign against the new Palestinian national unity government of Hamas and Fatah, but it has "fortunately not received any substantial response." Even the Americans said they will resume ties with the government, but boycott the Hamas ministers, it said. The Saudi-owned daily added in a commentary that Israel has discovered that Hamas alone in power was a good thing, as it had lived without international criticism for the past year, while the Palestinians lived in their own strife. Today, it argued, there's a new government headed by Hamas and includes Fatah; but if Hamas wanted war, it should "open fire to see where it will lead its people. But if it believes in a peaceful solution, it should lead the line" without reluctance. It said Hamas, as an elected government by the majority of its people, could go back to the people and ask them what they think of negotiations. If the people agree, Hamas should negotiate, if they refuse, no one has the right to force it. The paper expected the new Palestinian government to face the same problems it had faced before in terms of Hamas-Fatah clashes. It insisted there is a need to determine a clear and specific path: Either war or peace. "But Hamas will not fight and it has refused to negotiate," it said.
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The Palestinian al-Hayat al-Jadeeda said in a commentary the reason behind Olmert's rejection to deal with the new Palestinian government is due to his and his government's inability to negotiate peace with the Palestinians. It argued that Olmert fears he might fail in the negotiations, just as he failed in his war with Lebanon last summer, resulting in "failure in war and failure in achieving peace." The daily, close to Fatah, added that Israel's refusal to deal with the new government is due to "our government's commitment to the Arab peace initiative that recognizes Israel and a Palestinian state." The Arab, Muslim and European support for the new government, it said, will consolidate the conviction of the whole world that the Palestinian people are committed to the peace process. It said the Israeli decision to continue boycotting the Palestinians is an embarrassment to the U.S. administration and is aimed at the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh later this month. "The international community cannot continue to accept the blockade against our people because of the whims of the occupation's government in maintaining its occupation of the Palestinian territories," it said.
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Qatar's al-Rayah blasted as unjustified and unacceptable the American and Israeli decision to maintain the sanctions on the Palestinians and boycott the Hamas ministers in the new Palestinian government. This decision, it said in its editorial, indicates hidden intentions by the two to foil the government's program and obstruct peace efforts. The pro-government daily said that with such a decision, the U.S. administration has lost all credibility as an honest peace broker in the Middle East and confirmed its total and blind bias for Israel. It said it had hoped the international community would lift the sanctions on the Palestinians after the formation of the new government, not add more pressure, saying the American position is not in harmony with the rest of the world. "It is truly regrettable that Washington declares this unacceptable position and its secretary of state is planning to visit the region to discuss the resumption of the peace process," the paper stressed. "It is now certain the American support for the Israeli rejection in dealing with the Palestinian option has aborted the scheduled visit for (Condoleezza) Rice to the region," it said.
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Jordan's independent al-Ghad published a cartoon criticizing the changing conditions and principles the U.S. and West keeps imposing on the Palestinians and Arabs in the Middle East process. Titled "On the shore of principles," the cartoon shows a big dark-haired Arab-looking woman, standing with her hands on her waist on the beach. She is wearing a classic black bikini talking to a blond-haired, muscular man wearing a t-shirt of the U.S. flag, identified as "international community" on his shorts. On the top of the woman's bikini is written: "Land for," and her bottom reads, "peace." The man is holding up a hanger with a skimpy bikini he is trying to sell the woman. On one side of the top reads, "renouncing terror;" the other side says, "recognizing Oslo," in reference to the Palestinian-Israeli interim peace accords. The bottom of the bikini reads, "recognizing Israel." The man, pointing at the skimpy bikini in his hand, tells the woman, as she glares at him: "It is forbidden, miss. Please. Your bikini is out of style. You now must wear the g-string."
