Local press, columnists and
writers yesterday launched a scathing attack on U.S. President George W. Bush
for his "provocative" speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Jewish
state at the Israeli Knesset.
The weekly Akhbar Al-Yom
featured a front-page article that accused Bush of blind support and partiality
toward Israel and causing an uproar throughout Arab and Muslim communities. Moreover,
the paper stressed accusations by Middle East political observers who insisted
that Bush's speech undermined his country's credibility as the central
peace-broker in the region.
Worried about the outlook for
stability and peace in the Middle East, Akhbar Al-Yom said observers are
unanimous that Bush's speech brimmed with racism and prejudice. The paper
charged, "Bush's outrageous comments in the Knesset will backfire on his
alleged war on terror, providing added ammunition to terrorists and extremists
who will now hit back and intensify their activities.”
ACT OF LUNACY
In the meantime,
Editor-in-Chief of Al-Gomhuria, Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, made a striking
comparison between Bush's speech to the Knesset and a speech given in 1977 by
late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who at the time was celebrated in the same
building as the hero of peace and war. Ibrahim pointed out that in the audience
of Sadat's speech consisted of hawks like Golda Mayer, Moshe Dayan and Shimon
Peres, “who instigated the Israeli aggression and occupation of Arab land.
Conversely, Bush's speech was addressed to the weakest generation of Israeli
leaders yet, all of whom occupied the first rows in the Knesset. Moreover, the
speaker [Bush] is the lamest duck and worst President in American history,”
writes Ibrahim. He added that Sadat had confronted his foes courageously and
called for peace in the Middle East and a halt to hostilities and bloodshed
between Israelis and Arabs.
“Sadat defiantly confirmed to
the Israelis that peace alone would guarantee the safety and security of the
Jewish state, end their wars against Arabs and the suffering and casualties of
its people.” According to Ibrahim, Sadat had valiantly urged the Knesset to
rally around his campaign and help create lasting peace in the region and
peaceful co-existence between Israelis and the Palestinians. "But while
Sadat beamed with pride and confidence during his speech in the Knesset, Bush
was meekly begging for support from the influential Knesset, which steers American
policy," Ibrahim observed. He proposed that Bush's speech at the Knesset
casts doubt on his mental capacities. "This lunatic American president
[Bush] took pride in the fact that his country was the first to recognize the
independence of Israel and give U.S. cities Jewish names," he wrote.
Ibrahim concluded that Bush had solicited support for Republican John McCain in
the U.S. presidential race without considering whether such a act would
increase hostilities toward American troops and the number of U.S. casualties.
QUOTES FROM THE TORAH
Bush's controversial remarks
prompted Chairman of the Board of Al-Ahram, veteran journalist Morsi
Attallah, to suggest in a front page article that the U.S. President's comments
appeared to have been lifted almost word-for-word from the Torah. Attallah
continued that Bush had disappointed the Arab world by deliberately ignoring
the abject suffering of the Palestinian people. "President Bush laid out
his vision of the illegitimate occupation and settlement of Palestinian land,”
argued Attallah. "It was all the more intimidating when Bush boastfully
declared that his country was the first to recognize Israel and that the
security of Israel and the U.S. is so inseparable that the 7 million people of
Israel will not be alone if its safety is in jeopardy," he noted. Bush
pledged that "Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you
confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States
of America stands with you." According to the writer, the biggest shock
was when Bush quoted the Torah to legitimize the Israeli occupation and
settlements on Palestinian land. "In his speech Bush indicated that Israel
had a divine right to reject Arab negotiators, implying that they were
murderers," he added.
PARODY OF BUSH AT
ANNAPOLIS CONFERENCE
PRIME PERPETRATORS
Columnist for Al-Wafd,
Saeed Abdel-Khalak accused the Lebanese Government of Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora of being primarily responsible for recent disastrous developments in
that Arab country. Abdel-Khalak said that the Lebanese Cabinet made a
catastrophic mistake when it decided to dismantle Hezbollah's communication
system. "The Lebanese government made an unwise assessment reacted
improperly. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora should have realized that Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah would deploy his forces to protect his communication
system," Abdel-Khaleq wrote. And he speculated that decades of
catastrophic chaos in Lebanon would soon resume until eventually causing Lebanon
to disintegrate. "Like Lebanon, the Arab nation of Sudan is also
experiencing chaos, and plans are afoot to divide it into a number of tiny
states," the columnist concluded.
Tarek Hassan from Al-Ahram
addressed the Lebanese crisis a bit differently. He urged Palestinian
adversaries Hamas and Fatah to learn from the Lebanese experience, now that its
numerous pugilistic factions have decided to lay down their arms and contain
their deadly feuding. He praised the Lebanese people's decision to go back to
the negotiating table [in Doha, Qatar], and suggested that the Palestinians
should do the same and rally behind the Egyptian initiative to broker a truce
between them and the Israelis, as well as lift the crippling siege imposed on
Palestinians in Gaza. "The Palestinians should abandon their feuding ways
and help create an atmosphere suitable for solid political agreement with the
Israelis and finally celebrate an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and the
West Bank," he concluded.
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