This is with reference to the article “Israel’s disappearance from Arab media scene” (Feb. 25) by Abdulateef Al-Mulhim. He is one of my favorite writers and I never miss the chance of reading his articles. He always comes up with novel ideas and makes his readers understand complex issues in a very light manner. This time around, however, I am a bit confused. Israel’s disappearance from the Arab media is very natural. Since the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring, most of the Arab world is busy quelling internal unrest. In such a situation, it is difficult for any media outlet to shift its focus to any other issue. Despite all the domestic issues, the Arab media has given due coverage to Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.
If a certain section of the Arab population has started to believe that it is useless to continuously slam Israel and the Arabs should instead focus on their development, they are wrong in their thinking. Yes, the Arabs should spare no efforts to resolve their social and economic problems but they should never even think about abandoning their just stance against Israel.
I may have misunderstood the article but somehow I got the impression that the underlying message of the write-up was a bit flawed. The reason we did not see large-scale destruction of Arab heritage sites was because the wars with Israel remained limited. Otherwise, it is not a secret that Israel is hell bent on destroying Arab heritage in the lands it is occupying.
Having said that I would like to say that I do agree with the writer that we should first strengthen ourselves so as to gain a position to effectively counter the Zionist state, which does not mean “wiping out” Israel off the map but to be in a strong position to force it to abide by international laws.
Israel in the Arab media
