Arabs have fallen into an Israeli trap

Arab newspapers commented Tuesday on the escalating political and sectarian divisions, tensions and fighting in several Arab countries where chaos prevails. Oman's al-Watan said the bomb attack against U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon that killed six Spanish troops can only be linked to the crises in the region, especially the Palestinian and Lebanese ones. The attack, it said, was a "bloody message to whoever is concerned" that there are those using the tension and "proper atmosphere" to accelerate violence and chaos. The pro-government daily added in a commentary what is happening in the Arab and Muslim worlds are counter-wars to wars that were intended to be aimed at Israel. But Israel's awareness, with U.S. and Western support, allowed it to succeed in turning the weapons inwards, it argued, shifting the threats away from itself. "The idea of finding an internal enemy in every Arab society has succeeded," it said, "and scenarios were placed to enflame these enemies against each other to ease the threat against Israel." It complained the Arabs have fallen in a trap, insisting that Israel could not live in peace unless it was surrounded by turbulent countries on the verge of collapse. "However, will Israel be safe from this fire in the long term while it is so close to this turbulence?" it asked.

The United Arab Emirates' al-Khaleej accused Arab countries of allowing the outbreak of bloodshed from Iraq to Palestine and Lebanon as well as Somalia and Sudan. If Arabs had been aware of the threats surrounding their national security, they would not have allowed such internal fighting to happen, it argued in its editorial. The pro-government daily said the Arabs did not seem to realize that their negligence has left a strategic vacuum in the entire region, which allowed external forces to tamper with their national security and order. It complained they should have been aware that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States was shifting its confrontation with the Arabs, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and its "war on terror." But the Arabs failed to deal with the new changes and U.S. strategy, preferring to stick to their old political ideas that no longer worked. The threat to Arab national security is no longer a theory, it insisted, as it has become a reality in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, in addition to some Arab countries in Africa. "The objective is clear: To tear apart the Arab countries and redraw the map based on sectarianism and tribalism that would secure U.S. and Israeli interests," it said. It's time for the Arabs to realize that their weakness will lead to a pan-Arab national disaster, the paper warned.

"Orchestrated sedition" in Lebanon

Saudi Arabia's al-Jazirah daily said it is now clear that there is an "orchestrated sedition" taking place in Lebanon amid assassinations, bombings, clashes with Islamic militants in the north and attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in the south. And amid this violence, it said, the political crisis is escalating between the government and the opposition. This means there are those exploiting these conditions to escalate the crisis in the country, maintained the semi-official daily in its editorial. "The intentional sedition happening in Lebanon is perhaps aimed at pushing this country towards the Iraqi model," it warned, without naming what party is orchestrating such a plan. However, said the paper, the crisis can be contained if the Lebanese learn from the Iraqi lessons that total chaos can spiral out of control. With Lebanon's democratic experience, though, they can save their own country by supporting legitimacy and independence, and thus averting any chance for external exploitation of the conditions to ignite a civil war.

Jordan's al-Arab al-Yawm blasted a video showing BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, who was abducted by an extremist militant group in March, wearing an explosives belt. "These pictures aired by the so-called Army of Islam are the ugliest and most horrible to be seen by the world this year," the daily blasted in a commentary. The paper, which describes itself as independent, stressed that Johnston was not a spy, but an objective journalist who was doing his job by relaying the reality and suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "This picture aired on television channels has greatly harmed Islam, as well as the Palestinian people who were disturbed by the pictures as much as the British and international community," it said. The paper called on Hamas and all the factions in Gaza to hunt down the "terrorists who intentionally harmed the just Palestinian cause and Islam" and to free the journalist without meeting their demands or submitting to their blackmail. It described his kidnapping as a "disgusting act" and insisted that Johnston must be freed and returned to his family unharmed because "we as Arabs are ashamed of his kidnapping ... and parading him on TV channels wearing an explosives belt."

The Palestinian al-Quds daily, based in east Jerusalem, published a cartoon criticizing Iran's alleged role in supporting Hamas in taking over the Gaza Strip to serve Tehran's interests. The cartoon in the mainstream daily, titled "Enrichment of Gaza," shows a group of armed men carrying the map of the Gaza Strip as if it is a coffin, and walking towards a gate of a large guarded nuclear plant. A sign on top of the plant reads, "Iranian nuclear reactor."