Press Review [Archives:2001/46/Press Review]
Al-Wahda weekly, 7 Nov. 2001 Editor in chief of the newspaper front-paged an article criticizing and commenting on the American response to the calls of Arab and Muslim leaders for halting the U.S. war on Afghanistan.
Although all Arab and Muslim leaders have drawn the attention of the American administration to the necessity of halting its war against Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadhan, the American president Bush replied in a statement full of arrogance. He claimed that the American army commanders would alone decide that.
American warplanes are pounding residential quarters of the defenseless Afghans tearing the bodies of children, women and elderly people. They are destroying and burning food warehouses and relief organizations headquarters, whereas Bush responds to Arab and Muslim leaders call by alleging that halting the war during Ramadhan is a question needs consideration. After all this stance of arrogance and indifference, Bush wants to convince the Arab and Muslim community that his present war is not against Islam and moreover wants the Arabs and Muslims to side with him in his war against ”terror”.
Ath-Thawri weekly, organ of YSP, 8 Nov. 2001
Dr Nasser Mohammed Nasser raises many queries regarding whether the Americans are thinking strategically especially with regard to dealing with violence by religious groups. He says that any active strategy for dealing with this problem should be based on reconsidering effectiveness of institutions concerned with collecting and crystallizing information inside the American official institution, and putting an end to the state violence and hegemony as well as establishing a network of international and regional alliances to besiege and strike at these forces. The writer proposes that the Americans should:
1- Intensify pressure on regimes harboring trends of violence on the necessity of reconsidering structure of their educational institutions.
2- Help these states financially and technically to build modern educational and cultural institutes inspiring their philosophy from the spirit of the age and scientific facts.
3- Support scientific, educational and cultural institutions to create growing social segments in those countries capable of removing forces, segments and elements of violence that is metaphysically instigated.
4- Create pioneering scientific institutions in these countries able to constitute examples to be followed.
5-Support sectarian political forces and activities with the aim of creating a balance inside the mechanism of decision-making in these countries.
Al-Ihya’a Al-Arabi, organ of the Nationalist Arab Baath Socialist Party, 6 Nov. 2001
The newspaper’s editorial mentions that since the beginning of the new imperialist alliance against the Afghan people, Bush said attacking Afghanistan was the first phase of the long struggle against terror. A few days ago the U.S. army chief of staff declared that the war on terror would not end until the destruction of al-Qaeda organization and defeat of Afghanistan, mentioning that there were 60 ”terrorist” organizations in the Arab and Muslim world.
The editorial rejects and disdains the Americans allegations of scoring victories on the Afghan people, describing them as stemming from pride, rancor and psychological war. It describes the American victories in Afghanistan as unreal. The editorial also confirms that the war is targeted against the Arab nation and Muslim peoples.
RAY weekly, organ of the Sons of Yemen League party, 6 Nov. 2001.
Columnist Abdulwasie al-Nakhlani says in an article that however sharp the American statements for differentiating between striking at terrorism and dealing blows to Islam, what is happening against the Palestinian people at the hands of Israel and the apparent American sympathy with the Zionist entity crimes contradict credibility of what the Americans say.
The events of 11 September may have taken place according to a planned plot so that to draw up the final chapters of a scenario worked out by official and popular western decisions for showing the Muslims and Islam in a deformed image. Western official circles have speedily grasped the events as an opportunity and quickly attributed them to Osama bin Laden, as he has previous hostile attitudes to the American interests. The war was soon declared on Islamic extremism and America has enforced itself on the world public opinion that denounced the bloody chapter and the American justifications put forward.
The growing anger among ranks of Muslims has embarrassed the western stand and led them to a fact that this anger began threatening fragility of ethnic and religious fabric inside America. Thus the American media channels have begun their attempt to raise slogans of apology to the Islamic world and to rectify their statements that depicted hostile attitudes towards Islam and Muslims.
Al-Wahdawi weekly, organ of Nasserite People’s Unionist Organization, 6 Nov. 2001.
Columnist Ahmed al-Faqieh writes that it is our right as people to express with all ways our rejection of the open terror perpetrated by America against the Muslim people of Afghanistan and the continued terror by the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people.
Many acts of violence and extremism have taken place in some Arab and Islamic countries. Some of them targeted the life of some heads of state and their perpetrators escaped to America and Britain. Those have been given protection and care in America and Britain. The two countries refused to hand them over to justice under pretext of human rights and laws of asylum.
When some acts of terror and violence happened in these countries they raised hell with whoever responsible for them and declared the war against every Arab and Muslim even before giving one convincing evidence.
The author further says that it is our right as Arab and Muslim Yemeni people to support our Arab and Muslim brethren in Palestine and Afghanistan. We have to take to the streets in surging demonstrations telling America to stop killing the innocent from Muslims and to reject the terror of the super power against the poor countries.
Al-Ayyam newspaper, 8 Nov. 2001
Mr Mohammed Ali Muhsin says in an article that establishment of local councils can be considered as a fourth revolution to be added to Yemen’s revolutions in its contemporary history.
Elections that took place in the year 2000 resulted in the emergence of local councils meant to be representing satisfaction of the authority, opposition and people. Local councils are requested to work for straightening administrative, financial, economic and social imbalances. But these councils are now at a crossroads between meeting the voters essential needs and the insistence of the some in authority on monopoly and emptying them of their essence. The local councils institution is a successful experiment and able to remove all corruption provided that it is given ample and necessary care.
Al-Jamaheer weekly, organ of the Arab Baath Socialist party 4 Nov. 2001.
American orientations in the Middle East confirm that the wanted is head of the Palestinian intifadha that managed to achieve what the Arab rulers failed to do in half a century. It has shaken American security and interests in the region and has been able to gain the world public opinion politically and among the masses. That has made it one of the wanted by the so-called American ”justice”. The U.S. statement considering Hamas, Jihad and Hisbullah among the terrorist movements confirms this assumption. In addition to that there is the pressure put on the Palestinian authority with the aim of creating a split inside the Palestinian homeland through the authority’s statements banning field leaderships against resisting the occupation and its carrying out of arrests among its ranks.
This situation puts the Palestinian authority face to face with difficult options. The first and important one is engagement in confrontation with the Palestinian street and consequently the authority or the intifadha would be the targeted objective. Both options work in favor of the Zionist entity.
The Afghan issue -the Trojan Horse- could be rendered the issue of all Arabs and Muslims, a matter calling for thinking of all the events and analyze them scientifically.
Saut-Ashoura weekly, organ of Yemeni People’s Forces Union, 4 Nov. 2001
Columnist Abdulghafour Al-Buraq says in his article this week it does not seem, however optimist one may be, that the peace process between the Palestinians and the Zionists would be culminated in success. It does not seem so for whatever Arab and international efforts are exerted. Ceasefire and its effect in putting an end to the political deterioration, violence of the Zionist domination and marching towards peace, has not been realized despite the repeated calls. It has always faced the Zionist violations, building new settlements, and acts of Israeli extremists in Jerusalem. All of these provoke national, Arab and Islamic sentiments and lead to formation of new spots of tension and conflict. The outstanding development was Sharon’s assumption of power in Israel and his visit to Jerusalem that broke out the aggression against the Palestinian people. The aggression took an upward spiral and included the Palestinian authority with all its areas.
The state of the Zionist gangs does not deal realistically with the events and circumstances of the Palestinian people who are fighting for their national and historical right. The Zionist state does not recognize the Palestinian people right to run affairs of their country despite the very many meetings and conferences and its recognition that they have a right that it must be attained, added to that recognition of the entire world.
An-Nahar weekly, 5 Nov. 2001.
The political analyst of the newspaper says since last September the United States has been able to impose the slogan of ” war against terror” as a title for the coming stage, not only for America but also for all countries of the world. In a decade or more the war against terror can be the main content of the world development movement and would extend to the fronts of economy, politics and international relations as much as the fields of culture, education and ideology. The military side of the war is so far confined to the role of the United States with limited British participation.
The essential question raising reservations of majority of world countries is the U.S.’s exclusion of the international legitimacy in the military operations against Afghanistan, not making the war against terror to take place according to a comprehensive and definite understanding based on the UN resolutions. This gives rise to great fears that in future the U.S. would individually shape the new world order and to get itself replace the international organizations. The other cause of reservations is not taking into consideration the concept of a unified idea about terror for it would be difficult to accept the American version of the concept of terror, because it could exceed the idea of terror to the process of enlisting foes of the United States under category of targeted terror.
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