Pope Benedict XVI's remarks about Islam sparked a frenzy of opinion, writes Doaa El-Bey Most newspapers provided ample space on their front and inside pages for reaction to Pope Benedict' XVI's remarks concerning Islam. Some newspapers talked about whether somebody should review the pope's speeches before he delivers them and whether the pope should consider the reaction of any issue he tackles in his speeches. Mohamed Gaber Al-Ansari wrote in the London- based daily Al-Hayat on Tuesday that the pope's speech was aimed at reviving the culture of conflict by referring to anti-Islamic historical texts that can only spark the ancient fights between Europe and the Ottoman sultanate. "The most dangerous thing the speech reflects is the papal mentality that deliberately opens old and worn-out files that both the modern Christian and Islamic worlds have closed," he wrote. Al-Ansari considered the pope's policy the greatest threat to the new united Europe which is working on adopting a new policy of openness with the Muslim world. He concluded by sincerely hoping that the remarks were a mere slip of the tongue. However, Al-Ansari did not sound optimistic given that the pope officially declared in 2004 that he is against Turkey joining the EU. Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed said in the London- based daily Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the pope's recent remarks did not conform with the Vatican's usual support for Arabs and Muslims. He wrote that the pope probably sought to criticise the fake concept of Jihad that is currently sweeping the Islamic world. However, he added, the pope ignored the fact that fake Jihad killed more Muslims in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Yemen, etc, than Christians. "The tape sent by Ayman El-Zawahri, the Al-Qaeda leader, conformed with the pope's speech. The former is advocating an extremist concept of Jihad and the latter confirming that concept as part of Islam," he added. Youssef Ghishan regarded the pope's position as being international, controlled by the US and the CIA. Ghishan warned in the Jordanian daily Al-Dostour against accepting the pope's apology and, given that he is under US influence, Ghishan expected that he will repeat the remarks again. "If the Vatican does not get rid of American influence, it will change into a small parish isolated from the Christian world or will become a new secret prison affiliated to the CIA," Ghishan wrote. Ahmed Al-Fahd called for a clear apology by the pope for his remarks about the Prophet Mohamed. He wrote in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan on Monday that regardless of an apology, his remarks showed that whatever inter-religious dialogues we open with the West or conferences we participate in, the pope will not change his views and will still regard Islam as the religion that is spread by the sword. Hassan Youssef wrote that instead of a clear-cut apology, the pope apologised for the outrage triggered as a result of misunderstanding his remarks. By so doing, he is accusing Muslims of misunderstanding after offending them. In the Syrian daily Tishreen on Monday, Youssef called for a quick apology. He regarded the pope's remarks as a sharp U-turn from former Pope John Paul II, who exerted every effort to build bridges of understanding and coexistence among different religions. Wessam Saada regarded the fact that the pope quoted an obscure 14th century Byzantine emperor as proof that he believes that Islam as a religion did not bring anything new ever since. "The pope is telling the Christians in Europe and the West to confront the religion or the way of life that dated back to the seventh century (since the coming of Islam) and to avoid adopting the present way of life. As a compromise, Saada advocated that they espouse the 14th century way of life in order to be saved from all evils," she wrote in the Lebanese daily As-Safir on Monday. Hussein Hafez in the United Arab Emirates daily Al-Khaleej wrote that Christianity produced two generations. The first was led by Pope John Paul who showed a moral and forgiving approach and more understanding of human issues like Palestine and Iraq. The second generation, being led by Benedict, shows a less forgiving approach. He started his papacy by apologising to the Jews for the Nazi practices in Germany and other European states. "The pope failed to realise that the continuous injustice against Muslims will deepen the feelings of hatred for the West and boost terrorism," Hafez said. He added that the pope should have conferred with Muslim leaders in order to reach common visions about religions. Zuhair Kuseibati regarded associating Muslims with violence and terrorism as the real danger. In Monday's Al-Hayat, he called on the Western world's leaders to open a "front for dialogue" that will contain all the repercussions of 9/11 and drop the language of generalisation that associates Muslims with terrorism and treats every Muslim as if he were an Al-Qaeda member.
