Gulf newspapers on Thursday urged Washington to adopt a neutral position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pleaded for Europe, and notably Russia, to play a larger role in the peace process.
"It is in the US interests to return to neutrality and play an efficient role to put an end to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people," the Saudi paper Al-Nadwa said.
Washington will thus "safeguard its strategic interests in the Arab world and lend some credibility to its role as the main sponsor of the peace process" in the Middle East, the paper said.
"The Arabs do not need any more proof of US bias towards Israel nor the fact that Israel has become an internal American issue," the Riyadh-based Al-Medina paper said.
"Each time they deal with the Middle East, the Congress and the White House give priority to the security needs of Israel according to the wishes of the Jewish state," it said.
The paper urged Arab leaders to work to establish and finance an Arab lobby in the United States and proposed the creation of an Arab institute there to defend Arab causes.
Al-Riyad newspaper, meanwhile, said "the popular Arab front that has come out in support of the Intifada is vexing Washington, especially as the Intifada has proved that a political ruling cannot change many years of animosity between Israel and the Arabs."
"The United States is no longer capable of being the sponsor of the peace process because of its flagrant bias towards Israel," the Qatari paper Al-Watan charged, placing its hopes on "Russia and the European Union to re-establish justice and international law after years of it slipping away."
The Doha-based daily also called for the United Nations to make a comeback in the Middle East, notably after the Arab call for an international force to protect the Palestinians.
"If the Arabs succeed in having this demand adopted (by the United Nations), Washington will be forced to review its attitude from the moment it feels not only its role, but also its interests in the Arab world are threatened, and the peace process will once again be on track," it said.
The Gulf monarchies have continued to express their political and popular support for the Palestinians' violent clashes with Israeli forces that have left some 170 dead and more than 4,000 injured – DUBAI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
