Arab World and Arab Media Comments
Arab's Justification of Acts of Violence
ISRAEL'S SECURITY WALL
Several commentaries and articles appeared in AL AHRAM stated that it is the Qassam missiles, though, that have thrown into relief Israel's threadbare justifications for the construction of the security wall and unilateral disengagement. The wall cannot hold even against such a primitive weapon. Israel is perfectly aware that after the redeployment of the Israeli troops the occupants of Gaza will never accept their fate as prisoners, will not accept an occupation at arm's length from the other side of a wall, certainly not in the absence of even the promise of a just settlement and a resolution to the question of Palestinian national sovereignty. "Conducting a survey among so-called moderate Arab scholars and political leaders, the common Arab belief is that Israel is not taken in by its hollow demagoguery about the culture of "terrorism". It is perfectly aware of the causes and knows exactly what to expect. It will make every attempt to minimize the possibility of Palestinian reaction, by using all its military capacities to produce a climate of fear.
THE TWO FACES OF ARAB MEDIA AND POLITICAL LEADERS
While, publicly, and in speeches in English given by President Mubarak and members of his cabinet urging the United States to enhance the peace process in the Middle East and welcoming Israeli's "sincere" initiatives, contradictory statements in Arabic are regularly printed in the Arab press. For instance, one of the commentaries of AL AHRAM stated: "The brutal assault against Gaza is, then, an attempt to provide an answer to a knot of intertwined problems. There are, for example, domestic political issues, raised by those who question the feasibility of suppressing Palestinian resistance by brute force. The Israeli government's answer is to move from one kind of violence to another, from one phase of escalation to the next, hence the military incursions into poor residential areas and targeted assassinations in Damascus. There are also strategic questions over how to inhibit the development of the Palestinians' capacity to resist following unilateral withdrawal. " Another chocking statement was recently published in the AL AHRAM newspaper: "Israeli efforts in this regard have been greatly facilitated by the Sinai bombings, the first operation that has allowed a link to be made between international terrorist networks and the Palestinians, and the first time international terrorist operations have been mounted around the borders of Palestine.
DENIAL AND HYPOCRISY
Quite often, Arab leaders and especially the Egyptians publicly wash their hands from violent measures taken by the Palestinians. Even, the Palestinians upon meeting with high level aides at The White House, denounce terrorism acts. But their public statements as published in the Arab media are quite different. Some messages and commentaries are regularly reinforced and elaborated upon by editors in the Arab media. For instance, political analysts at AL JAZERRA, AL AKBAAR, AL SAFIR and AL AHRAM stated that regardless of their positions vis-�-vis the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Palestinian factions maintain good relations with Egypt and want to keep it that way. If asked, the factions would all reply that only harm could come from attempting to rock the economic or political stability of Egypt. More importantly, Palestinian political organizations have made it clear that they will not target Israeli citizens abroad. Disengaging from violence of any sort against civilians in nations outside Palestine was a wise decision, in spite of the fact that the Israelis have not responded in kind.
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