MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: DISASTERS, DISTRUST, AND

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DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI (TROBERTS),NEA/PPD (CWHITTLESEY),NEA/P
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TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU
SUBJECT: MUSCAT MEDIA REACTION: DISASTERS, DISTRUST, AND
DEMOCRACY


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The Pain of Disasters
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1. The privately-owned Arabic daily "Al-Watan" published an
editorial on January 23 entitled, "Disasters Get Smaller Except
in Iraq and Palestine":

"It is said that disasters seem smaller with the passage of time,
but it is more likely that our hopes grow larger to erase the
pain caused by disasters. However, in places like Iraq and
Palestine, the opposite seems to occur ... pain grows stronger
instead of diminishing. Palestinians stopped launching missiles
against Israel to facilitate negotiations between the two sides.
In response, Israel threatened more attacks. Election Day in
Iraq is fast approaching with its promise of self-determination,
but the unstable political situation suggests that violence and
pain will continue to prevail there even after the election."


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Peace Ball in Israel's Court
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2. On January 24, privately-owned Arabic daily "Al-Watan" carried
an editorial entitled, "Do Not Help Israel Get What It Wants":

"At a time when Mahmood Abbas is working to ensure that there is
real progress in the Palestinian dialogue and the Palestinians
are close to a ceasefire agreement, Israeli officials are sending
confusing, contradictory, and mysterious messages that suggest
bad news is in the offing. Sharon made new threats to attack the
Palestinian territories in response to a possible attack, and his
senior advisor (Zalman Shoufal) openly expressed skepticism about
Abbas' ability to stop attacks against Israel. Only Peres has
made positive statements about Abu Mazen, indicating that his
party is the only one that really wants peace. The fact that
Peres is the only one that has spoken about peace with optimism
shows that Israel is embarrassed that the ball is in its court."

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Will Reform End Terror?
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3. On January 24, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman"
carried an editorial under the heading, "Will Calls for Change
Lead to Destruction?":

"According to America, terror attacks in the Middle East indicate
that the region is a spawning ground for terrorists and an
exporter of evildoers. For this reason, America has developed a
two-pronged strategy for dealing with the issue. First, it
declared war against anyone who represents a real or imaginary
threat. Then it introduced reform projects such as the Middle
East Partnership Initiative to address many of the region's
problems. The Bush Administration was aware that its war against
terror, particularly Arab and Islamic terror, would further
alienate it from the people of this region. To make things more
palatable to Arabs, Bush opted to focus his reform efforts on
issues dear to the Arab heart like democracy, the empowerment of
women, and political participation."

STEWART