Comment Pages Tough on Annapolis

The government-backed Al-Thawra ran opinion pieces that were harshly critical of the US-sponsored Annapolis peace conference.



In an opinion piece published shortly after the talks ended, writer Khalid al-Ashhab said the Annapolis meeting was “no more than a carnival.” He accused the United States and Israel of not working in the interests of peace.



Ashhab wrote that the conference would be considered a failure “because Israel wants the Arab countries to recognise it as a religious state, as if we are living in the medieval ages where religion was the power.”



Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has demanded that the Palestinian Authority accept Israel as a Jewish state.



Mohammed Khair al-Jamali also wrote an opinion piece for Al-Thawra saying Israel could not force Syria and other Arab countries to engage with it as a religious state. He argued that recognising Israel as a religious state could help Israel justify its control of Jerusalem and Arab lands. He complained that Israel ignores demands that it should withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it captured during the Six-Day War of 1967.