The latest Israeli escalation -- confrontation with Palestinians in Jerusalem and its encroachment on Islamic sites -- pointed to one important fact: Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger. Ahmed El-Sawi predicted that patriotic songs and statements of denunciation would be produced in Arab states in the coming days in reaction to the Israeli provocation and aggression on the holy sites in Jerusalem. They would call on the international community and the US to press on Israel to stop these assaults. However, El-Sawi did not expect that the Arabs in their present state would be able to exert any pressure on the international community. The Arabs differ on whether the Palestinian Authority should engage in direct or indirect negotiations with Israel and whether the negotiations should have a time frame or not. They place conditions on Israel without being sure that it will accept the principle of negotiating; they try to gather together Abu Mazen and Netanyahu but have failed to group Abu Mazen with Khaled Meshaal. Thus Israel has found in Arab weakness a golden opportunity to impose facts on the ground, by entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, seize other holy sites and change their nature in any way it pleases. "The Israeli government knows what it wants, and moves towards its goals efficiently with intelligent use of all the surrounding circumstances. It does not posses the wealth, tools, geography or human resources as the Arabs. However, it finds its way efficiently in an Arab environment that is ravaged by oppression and tyranny, and among Arab leaders whose thrones are the most important cause worth defending," El-Sawi wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom . The editorial of the official daily Al-Gomhuriya read that it was not enough that the UN Security Council expressed concern about what is happening to the Palestinians in Al-Aqsa Mosque, but should take a more practical stance to deter the Israeli authorities from repeating its aggression on Islamic holy sites and stop its current judaising and expansion policies before talking about direct or indirect negotiations with those who do not respect religions. Mohamed El-Zorqani wondered what kind of peace Israel is talking about when it imposes a siege on the Palestinians and starves them, demolishes their houses to build settlements and carries out its evil plan to judaise Jerusalem and wipe out its Islamic and Christian historic sites. The writer found the world's silence on these practices even more perplexing. A few years ago, the world reacted fiercely to the destruction of some statues in Afghanistan. Today, it is turning a deaf ear to the attempts to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque. "Israel is trying to stop worshippers from praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque and it stole the Ibrahimi and Bilal Ibn Rabah mosques claiming that they are Israeli heritage sites. But all this is a mere rehearsal to demolishing Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Qiyama church while the world is watching in silence," El-Zorqani wrote in the official weekly Akhbar Al-Yom. Ahmed Hassan El-Sharqawi wrote that the recent Israeli escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque in addition to the entry by force of several extremist Israeli groups into the mosque under the protection of Israeli forces raised a few important questions: would Israel demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque? Is listing Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque in Bethlehem as Israeli heritage sights the first step towards a catastrophic scenario? What are the repercussions of such a step on the Middle East and the world? El-Sharqawi believed that, under the present situation, it is expected that Israel would carry out a plan to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build Solomon's Temple in its place. He regarded the fact that many extremist groups and organisations are placed in venues close to Al-Aqsa area as evidence of the plan. There are also signs, as El-Sharqawi wrote in the independent daily Nahdet Masr that Israel has started the actual procedures needed to build the temple, including preparing the bricks to be used in building and digging underground tunnels that threaten the foundation of the mosque. El-Sharqawi said the collapse of the mosque or its deliberate demolishing would be a turning point in history because of the repercussions in the region and the world. "Palestinians will need to look for another capital for their state that has no set boundaries up till now. They would have only two options, either Gaza or the West Bank, which would open new channels of conflict between Fatah and Hamas," he wrote. On the Arab level, El-Sharqawi expected that the official reaction would not exceed denunciation and probably holding an emergency Arab summit that would come out with threats rather that action. He expected popular reaction to be stronger which could lead to the emergence of jihadist groups that call for vengeance and the rise in suicide operations against Israel throughout the world. He said both the US and EU would denounce the move but that the latter would impose more effective sanctions against Israel. The State Council's decision to reject the appointment of women in judicial positions is still widely being criticised. Nehal Shukri wrote that it was not strange to see women struggle in political parties and non-governmental organisations in defence of one of their basic rights whether that be their participation in political life or their right to assume all state positions. But the decision by a number of state counsellors to usurp women's rights to assume judicial positions has come to seriously threaten a woman's position and raise controversy among the public over the value of women's participation in public work. The decision will have an impact on the march of women and efforts to build society. Thus "Egyptian women should rise to defend the rights provided to them by the constitution and supported by the political leadership. These are rights which allowed women to assume high positions and helped them to participate in developing their society and hold a pioneering place in the Arab world," Shukri wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram.
