Mideast crisis--Blog from Jerusalem
Arab and Muslim leaders often try to maintain a single stance in regards to Israel. But Hezbollah's act last Wednesday created a crack. Saudi Arabia, for one, lashed out at Hezbollah last Thursday, calling its attack inside the Israeli border "irresponsible adventurism ... that risk[s] putting in danger all the Arab countries and their achievements before these countries have said a word." Egypt and Jordan also expressed implicit criticism of Hezbollah, which gets its backing from Iran and Syria.
But the crack soon revealed itself to be a gorge. Instead of agreeing on a joint statement against Israel, the representatives of unlikely countries such as Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, joined the Egyptians, Jordanians and Saudis against the Lebanese and Syrian foreign ministers in criticizing Hezbollah's actions at an emergency session of the Arab League on Saturday. According to the Lebanese daily An-Nahar, the Kuwaiti foreign minister suggested throwing a glass of water on the Syrian foreign minister "to wake him up."
A few Arab newspaper editors have also dared to blame Hezbollah. "I do not see any reason why the Israeli soldiers have been abducted, in Gaza or in Lebanon," Mohammed Galadari, editor-in-chief of The Khaleej Times, an English-language daily published in Dubai, wrote in his Saturday column.
But as the Israeli military operation continues and the number of killed Lebanese civilians rises complete with ghastly pictures on Arab TV, even those who fault Hezbollah for starting the dangerous back-and-forth lobbying of missiles and rockets are turning their criticism towards their usual foe, Israel.
Yesterday, my Jordanian friend changed his MSN Messenger name again. Now it reads: "F*** Hezbollah and Israel. Long Live Lebanon."
Halpern is a freelance journalist in Jerusalem.
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