Press Review [Archives:2001/21/Press Review]
Local press this week has given prominence to certain domestic and Arab news and reports but local events have mainly dominated the newspapers front pages.
Main Headlines:
President Ali Abdullah Saleh Arrives in Aden For Unity Anniversary Celebrations
Chaired by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, National Defense Council Suspends Compulsory Military Service
President Ali Abdullah Saleh , Yemeni Senior Officials Take Part in Funeral of late General Mohammed Abdullah Saleh
President Saleh Receives Condolences from Arab Heads of State and Senior Yemeni Officials
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Abdullah Heads a Big High-Ranking Delegation to Take Part in Yemen’s Unity Celebrations
Jordanian Monarch to Yemen’s Celebrations on the Unity
PGC & Islah Leadership United in Opinion Concerning Unifying Education Systems
Prime Minister Receives International Monetary Fund Delegation
New Developments in Issue of Smuggling Fish in Mukalla
Palestinian embassy In Sanaa Holds Rally on Palestine Catastrophe 53rd Anniversary
Israel Steps Up Aggression, Shells West Bank & Gaza Strip Cities With Gunship Helicopters and Missiles
Mosques, Houses Burglary Incidents Worry Citizens
Torrents In Qadas Sweep Two Women
Mechanized Brigade 25 Launches Week-long Shelling on Sarwah Area
Sheikh Bin Shajie Threatens Saudi-Yemeni Border Demarcation Companies
Bajammal Intends Transferring His Government Headquarters
Islah Party Retracts From Staging Demonstrations
Journalists Syndicate Fails to Ensure Homecoming of 17 Yemeni Journalists
Three Persons Killed in Tribal Confrontations in Hajja
PGC’s Permanent Committee Concludes 2nd Session
President Saleh to Visit Saudi Arabia May 29
Yemen Welcomes Islamic Foreign Ministers Meeting in Qatar
Council of Ministers Discusses Central Bank Mayor on Economic, Monetary Situation.
As-Sahwa weekly, May 17, 2001.
Columnist Zaid Bin Ali Ash-Shami has written an article criticizing the decision of unifying the educational system in Yemen and merging the religious institutes with the public education institutions.
The writer says that the reasons brought forth by those calling for abolishing the religious institutes are very weak. They talk about unifying the education administration at a time they established three ministries for education and there are many educational institutions affiliate of other ministries and that the religious institutes are not independent from supervision of the minister of education. The author has refuted the claim that the institutes are part of the Islah party, saying it is an allegation belied by the reality because the institutes are open to all sons and daughters of Yemen.
The writer maintains that insistence on abolishing the religious institutes under he guise of unification makes Yemen to be an exception to the rest of Arab and Islamic countries. To prove that it is enough to mention the continued existence of Al-Azhar institutes in Egypt despite international pressures that try to efface the Islamic identity of the Egyptian people.
26 September weekly, organ of Yemen Armed Forces, May 17, 2001.
The weekly has devoted its editorial to the 11th anniversary of the Yemeni unity on May 22, 1990, considering it a great historic accomplishment and a victory of the unitary will of the Yemeni people and Arab hopes for he comprehensive unity.
The editorial maintains that the past years have been full with political, development and democratic achievements that would not have been realized had it not been for that glorious day. The political leadership led by president Ali Abdullah Saleh was capable of dealing with and overcoming all the challenges that faced the march of the unified Yemeni Republic and then moved to spacious horizons of development that included all political, social, economic and cultural walks of life. The Yemeni republic foreign policy has been characterized by its dealing with sisterly and friendly neighboring countries particularly with regard to border disputes. It has managed to solve those disputes by peaceful ways and through brotherly understanding a matter that enhanced Yemen’s status regionally and internationally.
The newspaper editorial concluded by congratulating the people and armed forces of Yemen on this great occasion in the life of Yemen.
Ar-Raie Al-A’am weekly, May 15, 2001.
Mr Abduaziz As-Samawi has this week wrote an article tackling the Shoura Council and the issue of vengeance. The writer says that he has learned that the Shoura council was entrusted with finding solutions to the issues of revenge. He says that though the council’s special domain has nothing to do with this question , ” I propose on the council to study the issues of vengeance and to know their causes and then to suggest the solutions.
Extension of the size of this phenomenon has reached to an extent where it is observed there is a shortage in the government attention towards it and it has no longer under control of government apparatuses.
The Shoura council would have a good space of time to study the phenomenon and therefore before embarking on dealing with the issues as a whole or individually it has to get enough information and thorough knowledge on whether the ebb of the government role in tackling security situations in certain areas is ascribed to the goal of weakening some tribes by tribal confrontation. Or is the reason lies in absence of justice or the over strength of the tribe.
Ath-Thawra daily May 17, 2001.
The daily editorial has devoted its theme to the steps taken for achievement of construction, modernization, change and renewal through the decisions and measures taken in this respect. All these measures are aimed at restructuring the various sectors of the state to upgrade the standard of performance, the editorial affirmed.
Since development is required at all political, economic, social and cultural levels, then all have the duty of fulfilling the tasks entrusted to them through working in the spirit of one team in order to create the quantitative transfer.
It is very important to emphasize here that the daring steps taken recently towards effecting the change and renewal do represent a clear indicator that the coming period would be that of attack line for the comprehensive and radical reform. It would be the stage for modernization of the state institutions and activation of mechanisms of their work. The goal of that would be achieving of integration of construction and laying the bases of balanced development where every citizen would find what would meet his needs of services, development and economic projects.
An-Nass weekly May 14, 2001.
On the currently controversial subject Mr Abdul Fattah Al-Batoul wrote an article saying the government decision of merging religious institutes with the ministry of education has aroused many questions on the actual causes leading to take that step. In the author’s opinion the existence of the institutes does not represent an education duality and the merging on the hand is not an attack on Islam and does not efface the identity of the Yemeni society. The writer sees that unifying education systems may be required within the framework of comprehensive reform of the situations and according to an educational visualization, but we all seem to mingling between politics and strategic cultural action. We also force political and partisan disputes into national and comprehensive issues.
Religious institutes have curricula on studies pertaining to Islamic law , Arabic language and history which are deeper and better than those in public schools. Would the people in charge of education benefit from previous mistakes by working out an educational mechanism to treat the question of merging and put the public interest above all political and partisan considerations?
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