The establishment of Syrian-Lebanese diplomatic relations, the global financial crisis and the Acre violence dominated the news The most controversial news item was the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon. "The move [Damascus initiating the establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon] was, since its inception, ridiculed for topping the Lebanese-Syrian political agenda," Editor-in-Chief of the Lebanese daily As-Safir Satie Noureddin noted in his column. "This is the minimum Syria can do to acknowledge the independence of Lebanon." Indeed, most Lebanese commentators concurred with Noureddin's magnum opus that Syria's public acknowledgment of Lebanese sovereignty is no big deal. Rather, it is the least that the Lebanese could expect from Damascus. The editorial of another Lebanese daily, Al-Mustaqbal , known for its anti-Syrian position and owned by the heirs of the late Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri whose supporters accuse the Syrian regime of assassinating Al-Hariri, was surprisingly abstentious, describing the Syrian move as "historic and positive". Meanwhile, Syrian papers were predictably self- congratulatory. "Syria was presented as the enemy of Lebanon. It was maligned as opposed to Lebanese independence. There was never any question of Syria disputing Lebanese national sovereignty. Syria has long respected Lebanese independence," protested Syria's official daily Al-Thawra. The paper, however, was critical of "those outside forces who interfere in Lebanese domestic affairs," as Editor-in-Chief of Al-Thawra Asaad Aboud angrily admonished. "It is not Syria, but other regional powers with hidden agendas, that interfere in Lebanese domestic politics," he stressed. "Syria opposes such infringements on Lebanese sovereignty," he added. On an entirely different note, the international financial crisis continued to hit the headlines of Arab papers. The London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat was awash with headlines about the current global financial crisis. Arab papers warned that the United States was the main culprit and that the solution to the international financial crisis is in Washington's hands. "The US and Europe take measures to save the global economy from collapse" read one headline. "A German 470 billion euro plan to help its financial sector out of the current crisis" read another headline. Writing in his weekly column, Dawoud Al-Shorian reflected on the financial crisis. "Much ado about nothing. This is what people think about amid deteriorating economic conditions. Assurances, speeches and statements issued by central bank officials did not succeed in alleviating the fears of the people in the Arab Gulf countries, if not augmenting their worries," he opines. "Such statements further aggravated the lack of confidence in banks and financial systems... few statements open the door to rumours and speculation, and the excessive use thereof raises suspicions, especially when they are not accompanied by solutions, for unfounded assurances become political propaganda." Al-Shorian added that, "reclining on economists" opinions, putting banks' interests ahead of the people's and ignoring the social and political consequences of the current crisis is a wrong approach." He urged the US government "to intervene in one way or another and prevent banks and speculators from becoming rich at the expense of people, as happened before." The official Syrian Tishreen focussed on the misplaced faith in gold by those, Arab and foreigners, who hope to escape the worse ravages of the international financial crisis. "Hoarding gold is no panacea to the problem," Tishreen insisted. "Why are people converting cash into gold? In the long-run, that may cause far more damage to the global financial crisis." The bloody events that pitted the Arab citizens of Israel against the country's Jews received considerable attention in the Arab press. The pan-Arab daily London-based Asharq Al-Awsat reported on the recent clashes between the Jews and Arabs living in Israel in the northern seaside city of Acre. "Israeli President Shimon Peres forms an ad hoc committee comprised of men of religion and public figures to contain the conflicts in Acre" ran a headline in the newspaper. The paper quoted Peres as saying that peaceful coexistence in a bi-national state was the only way forward. "There is no alternative to coexistence between the Jews and the Arabs," the Israeli president was quoted as saying. Social concerns also received much attention in the Arab press. Writing in Al-Hayat, Gamil Al-Dhaiabi reflected on the Arab middle class. "There is an urgent need to maintain the eroding Arab middle class in light of the global wave of skyrocketing prices," he argued. "Middle classes in any country are the safety valve of societies, which makes it imperative that Arab governments continue adopting reform and development ideas centred on the middle class and aiming at improving the living standards of the poor classes so that social security and stability could be achieved." He added that, "indications point to the fact that the [Arab] middle classes are threatened and face overwhelming difficulties," and observed that the omens bode ill for the Arab middle classes. "And as speculation points to the persistence of global inflation in the years to come, the middle classes will continue to collapse," he warned. Al-Dhaiabi added that, "Arab institutions should provide practical plans coping with the current circumstances to stop the erosion in the middle classes." He concluded that, "Arab governments should busy themselves with lifting the standards of living of their people and that such a goal should be the top national priority of Arab states." The tedious theme of Islam and the West cropped up once again. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, head of the Australian Foundation for Islamic Culture, argued that, "the Muslims failed to capitalise on the atmosphere of freedom in the West to introduce Islam." He added that, "Islamophobia in the West is attributed to the wrong interpretation of the history of relationship between Islam and the West and focuses on the negative aspects in this relationship, especially the period of the Crusades." Islamophobia, obviously, is still very much in vogue.
