No more room for Arab silence on land grab

• Last Updated: November 20. 2009 12:18AM UAE / November 19. 2009 8:18PM GMT

After the Israeli minister of interior signed the construction licence for 900 new settlement units in east Jerusalem and the release in Israeli papers of bids for an extra 6,000 units in the West Bank, Arab nations have no more reasons for inaction, wrote Mazen Hammad in the Qatari news daily Al Watan.

The Israeli state colonisation plans are now flagrantly clear and defy all United Nations calls and warnings, as well as any US criticism.

With this new settlement push, Arabs can no longer stand still and watch the remainder of Palestinian land, which is supposed to harbor the promised Palestinian state, being stolen bit by bit in sheer daylight robbery.

Now is the time for Arab countries to hold an emergency summit in order to interrogate the White House and draw up a new strategy for dealing with Israel.

Such a summit should also seek coordination with the Islamic world, equally angered by the Israeli Judaisation process in the old city of Jerusalem, particularly in the area surrounding the al Aqsa mosque.

There is no more room for Arab and Islamic silence in the context of this fierce settlement campaign. Urgent action is needed to save the al Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem and the Palestinian state.

Options for a road to the Security Council

It might be too early to talk about a “new Palestinian strategy”, after the deadlock in the peace negotiations and the postponment of elections, wrote Arib al Rantawi in an opinion column published by the Jordanian daily Addustour. 

“We are still in a nail-biting exploration period, where test balloons are being launched, before engaging in the road leading to the United Nations.”

However the contours of a number of scenarios are already clear. One of them would be a unilateral proclamation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 territories, with Jerusalem as the capital. The Palestinian Authority can go to the UN Security Council with such a project, encouraged by the long experience it has acquired in building its security and economic institutions. 

The scenario is close to the the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority Salam Fayyad’s “vision of building a state under or despite the occupation.”

The second scenario would be a new resolution by the UN Security Council reconfirming the two-state solution. Such an option would undoubtedly be a political victory for the Palestinian cause and an alternative to the unilateral proclamation of the state, which might call for unilateral retaliation from Israel.   

The third scenario would be a broad-term resolution from the Security Council, similar in essence to all the previous ones, or a US veto.

Implications of the Saudi-French concord

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, described the Saudi king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, as a wise man, a man of peace and moderation who plays an unmatched role in dealing with the region’s multiple crises, wrote the editorialist of the Saudi Arabic daily Al Yaum.  

The French president’s statement is a tribute from an important European leader to an exceptional man who has managed his way through exceptionally troubled times in the Arab region. It is no surprise to hear a European leader hail the king’s wisdom and his influence on the region’s policies and on international peace and stability, given his role in spreading a culture of moderation and peace in a region thrust into turmoil.  

Saudi Arabia is fully aware of France’s influence on the international arena, particularly under the current president, and values highly the role played by the latter in the region’s peace process.   The French president said his country and Saudi Aabia had a privileged partnership and were strategic allies, while the Saudis welcomed France’s readiness to work together on international issues.   

The editorial expressed the hope that Saudi development projects would also benefit from French technological, scientific and educational cooperation and that the two countries would share the same vision of the Arab region and threats to its stability.

Don’t be fooled about football violence

The events that occurred or were said or denied to have occurred in Cairo – a “sport” encounter turning into stone-throwing that almost triggered a war between two countries – were regrettable, wrote Samir Attalah in the London-based news daily Al Quds.

What is happening in the Arab world? In the past, Egypt was the sponsor of the Algerian revolution. In Lebanon, students were asked to go door to door to collect funds for the Algerian revolution, as part of their homework.

This ambience has changed. The slogans used by some Algerian media were worse that the stones thrown by Egyptian fans against the Algerian team.  

Of course there’s worse: all the events that do not find their way into police reports. Arabs fighting in Afghanistan with Mullah Omar; others fighting each other in their home countries and a third category travelling to Iraq to fight the Americans and when they do not find them at bus stations, they blow up women and children. There’s yet another group of fighters who cross the abrupt terrain from Saada to Jazan, just because they found no enemies on their way.  

Let’s not fool ourselves, this divisive spirit which propelled the stones of the Egyptian fans has tightened its grip over all Arab nations.

* Digest compiled by Mohamed Naji

mnaji@thenational.ae