11 September is seen from differing perspectives, writes Aziza Sami The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza made the headlines in the Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat which wrote in its banner on 12 September, "the occupation lowers its flags and retreats, and Gaza wakes up today free". However, the topic was conspicuously absent from the opinion columns and editorials which focussed on other ongoing issues. Commemoration of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington featured in several comments. The newspaper's Deputy Chief Editor Abdul-Wahab Badrakhan wrote: "We almost forgot about 11 September, not because we want to or because we don't honour the victims (who fell that day) but because the bitterness and the tragedies have grown even more... we have not forgotten what happened in those four years, and what will still happen (under the rule) of George Bush." Badrakhan alludes to the failure of US intelligence to prevent the attacks, and the disintegrating and violent situation in Iraq. "Bush might have taken the US to war in order to avert another 11 September -- he might have succeeded in that specific objective but he ignored what happened to the world in the process." Writing on the same subject Jamil Al-Ziyabi commented: "I remember my first trip to the US soon after the 11 September attacks, how I sat glued to my seat on the plane without looking at anyone for fear that they might see my Arab-Asian face and become terrorised." Mistrust of every Arab and Muslim was soon overcome, however, writes Al-Ziyabi, and positive changes on the Arab scene soon took place, manifest in the wave of reform "even in Libya, in Egypt [with its new democratic experiment], in the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. Palestine is edging towards peace, with Arafat gone and Sharon dismantling the settlements." Similar changes are taking place in Mauritania, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the writer asserts. "All this happened after the attacks on New York and Washington. Can we deign to say: 'we have 11 September to thank?"' The purported visit by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to New York to attend the World Summit and later to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly, despite Washington's explicit lack of welcome of his presence, was catalyst for commentary on the Lebanese scene. As the international investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri took its course, and top Lebanese security officials were arrested, press attacks inside Lebanon intensified against the president who is perceived to embody Syrian hegemony over the country. Joseph Samaha in the daily Lebanese As-Safir presented an analysis of what he saw as Lahoud's tenacity in insisting on attending the New York events. "Lahoud says he is doing this to serve the national good. But any impartial assessment would lead one to conclude that his doing so would be precisely against this national good. Also, we do not know exactly what Lahoud's definition of the national good is nor the substance of what he is going to say in its defence. "Lahoud wants to go to New York out of a personal motive: to make the Lebanese people see and hear him in the General Assembly in order to make up for the absence of domestic legitimacy of his rule. He also thinks he can persuade the whole world of his right to remain in power. But he will return to New York even weaker. Lahoud's awareness being as limited as it is, will exacerbate his own crisis." On the same day, in Lebanon's An-Nahar, columnist and MP Jubran Tuwaini wrote, "if it is natural for us today to call for the departure of President Lahoud, then what is not natural is that such a demand should be cause for national disagreement and division. Those who want Lahoud to remain in power in order to ensure the continuation of Syrian influence... might try to distort the real objectives of the battle for change, portraying it as one aimed at the president's faction or the presidency itself. But the world, and we, are convinced that Lebanon's opening up to the world is imperative. It is important that Lebanon opens up to the Arab world on the basis of mutual respect and preserving the singularity of each country in the region. There must be a coordination of roles and actions for the good of all and in order to consolidate the Arab world's position in the international arena."
