Gamal Nkrumah pursues the polemics from the parliamentary forums to the satellite screen via the print media The parliamentary fracas over the inappropriate behaviour of several opposition MPs hit the headlines and provided a certain respite from the overwhelming hegemony of the Herculean humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour was indignant at what he deemed the mischievous behaviour of Muslim Brotherhood MPs who mimicked Montadhar Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush at a press conference in Baghdad last month. "Sorour sharply attacks Brotherhood MPs after they raised their shoes in anger", ran the headline of the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. "Are they Muslims?" he asked quizzically. Several opposition MPs have resorted to taking off their shoes and waving them about when protesting against government policies in the People's Assembly. The furious Sorour singled out MP and Brotherhood member Sobhi Saleh for retribution. "Had I seen him raising his shoe," the speaker declared, "I would have promptly referred him to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee." The speaker was also indignant because opposition MPs have resorted to expressing their dissident views on pan- Arab satellite television stations. "The proper forum for debate is the People's Assembly, not television chat shows," Sorour was quoted as saying. In a flurry of diplomatic activity, President Hosni Mubarak met former British premier Tony Blair, now a Quartet representative, to discuss ways of resolving the Gaza crisis. The meeting was the top story in several official papers. And, so was Mubarak's meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. "Mubarak intensifies efforts to rescue the people of Gaza", read the front-page banner of the official daily Al-Akhbar. This week's heroic diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas were warmly welcomed by the print media. The opposition press was sceptical, however, stressing that this week's diplomatic manoeuvres did not mark a fresh start. Indeed, it spelt disaster. Belittling the waves of rocket attacks by Hamas militants was a pet subject of certain pundits. They reminded their readers of the complex ceasefire brokered by Egypt that was based on both sides making compromises. The Egyptian goal, official papers suggested, had been based on both Israel and Hamas taking seriously the peace road. Egypt's diplomatic efforts, the papers concluded, also entailed reconciliation between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. "Israel prepares for the third phase of its aggression against Gaza", trumpeted the headline of the opposition daily Al-Wafd. The paper also noted that the highly respected and distinguished American paper, The Christian Science Monitor, disclosed that Israel has plans to re-occupy Rafah on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to stop the supposed flow of weapons and infiltration of arms and ammunition into Gaza. "There is no disagreement over the fact that the incompetence of Arabs in facing the might of Israel is buttressed by the very weakness of Arabs, not because of Israel's presumed invincibility," columnist Wahid Abdel-Meguid wrote in Al-Wafd. Much hope is pinned on the so-called Principals of the Middle East Diplomatic Quartet comprising the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States to remedy the situation in Gaza. There is little or no agreement on a common agenda to resolve the Gaza crisis, an impossibly difficult conundrum that threatens to spoil all mediating efforts, curtail the credibility of the Quartet, and exacerbate the already forbidding task of Blair. The papers stressed that Mubarak is stepping up efforts in relentless fashion to end the Gaza crisis. "Mubarak discusses with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Blair the speeding up of efforts to stem the flow of the blood of innocent Palestinian civilian victims", read the lead article in the official daily Al-Ahram. "The priority is to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and to reconstruct Gaza." The paper was persistent in its criticism of the Israeli atrocities in Gaza, however, it also pointed out that the lack of Arab solidarity was one reason for the impudent ferocity of the Israeli aggression. Columnists provided profound insight on the reasons for Arab disunity and what is generally believed by the public to be a state of acute impotence. Pundits concurred that whatever their political motives might be, Israeli politicians are heading in the wrong direction. There is the need to recognise the perspective of the victims in order for peace to gain real momentum. "There is no media concerning realities; there is only media that reflects positions," pontificated columnist Hamdi Abul-Einein in Al-Ahram. "And, the difference between reality and opposing positions are great and unbridgeable." The eternal optimist Mursi Saadeddin tackled the same topic from an entirely different perspective. "Smile at the world, and forget its troubles. What will you gain by recounting its predicaments?" he paraphrased a popular song of yesteryear. He did not make it entirely clear that this applies to the Palestinians of Gaza as well. What seemed certain, as far as the veteran columnist was concerned, was that he assured his readers that optimists have a better chance of securing longevity. The hope must be that the reader, in spite of the grim news we are bombarded with on a daily basis, will be more open and less cynical about Saadeddin's optimism -- even as far as Gaza is concerned.
