Who is Condemning the Violence?
Reader comment on item: Hope for the Middle East

Submitted by David Gerstman (United States), May 21, 2002 at 22:07

While Dr. Pipes is correct in the first part of his article, I didn't see the new tone in Arab rhetoric. While the New York Times reported a conciliatory tone to the Egyptian, Syrian and Saudi summit a week and a half ago, evidence suggests the opposite. For example, the Egyptian State Information Service reported that, "The leaders saluted the Palestinian people's stamina, hailed the heroic Intifada in face of the Israeli occupation forces and war machine and condemned the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against children, women and elders, condemning specifically what Israel did in Jenin without any humanitarian or legal deterrents." ( See the quote at http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110001702 . The link to the Egyptian SIS website seems to be down right now.) This hardly matches the tone that the Times tried to convey. In general, check out just about any Arab website and note the absence of any change in tone. Go to arabnews.com, http://www.sana-syria.com or even the Jordan Times, and there is no end to the hostile anti-Israel propaganda.
Unfortunately, I don't see the same change that Dr. Pipes does.

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