Since the start of the parliamentary election campaign several weeks ago, the streets of Bahrain have been peppered with pictures of candidates. While perfectly legitimate, this trend has brought about a less positive phenomenon: the vandalising of certain pictures of candidates by way of tearing, graffiti or outright replacement.
As Abeedli al Abeedli, a columnist with the Bahraini newspaper Al Wasat says, this has led to an exchange of accusations between various parties, some involving state-related stakeholders. The writer argued that these claims, irrespective of their veracity, must remind us of a sacrosanct rule that must be observed by Bahrain's government: if the state has every right to regulate electoral advertisements, it is also expected to do so based on legitimate concerns, clear legislation and with indiscriminate application.
The vandalism of candidates' posters of candidates "disfigures the beautiful public image of Bahrain," the writer said. It only stokes confusion among a population that is otherwise expected to rally behind its government in its reform and developmental ventures. "We hope that state agencies will restore confidence among the citizens, first, and the parliamentary candidates, next, and stand up to those who mess with the country's internal stability, which is vital to its ongoing process of democratization."
Arab League summit offered old solutions
Of all the issues on the agenda at Saturday's Arab League's extraordinary summit that was held in Sirte, Libya, two are particularly amusing, wrote Abdelbari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the London-based newspaper Al Quds al Arabi. The first one is about renaming the Arab institution "The Union of the League of Arab States"; and the second has to do with a proposal to create "a regional bloc" that includes all Arab states plus their neighbours, Turkey and Iran. Some members are thought to also have proposed Israel, according to the editor.
"Yet the problem of the Arab League, since its establishment about 70 years ago, has never had anything to do with its name. I have worked in the media for 30 years, in various publications before Al Quds al Arabi, and I can say that I have never received a single Arab League study that is worthy of mention from any of the League's lavishly funded bureaus abroad." So, all this talk about adopting a new name that favours reforms inspired by the European Union model is utterly unrealistic.
The Arab League needs none of these quixotic proposals. It has only to draw from its own past experience; it has only to remember the time, a few decades back, when its members used to stand brave and united against all Western intimidation. They were reckoned with back then.
Israel's attempt to counter Hizbollah
In the commentary of Lebanese daily Annahar, Randa Haidar wrote that since 3006, Tel Aviv has waged a psychological war that targets both the Lebanese people and the government. Yet as the Iranian president Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon approaches, Israel is stepping up its rhetoric against Beirut.
Israel fears Lebanon for two reasons: Hizbollah's weaponry and the risk of Lebanon becoming a failed state. From this perspective, Tel Aviv thinks that external military and political influence, especially of an Iranian nature, is a direct "strategic" threat to its very existence. As a solution, Israel wants to counter the threat of Hizbollah. It has devised a number of plans to weaken the party's military power with a view to changing the political map in Lebanon. It has also drawn the international community to its side to exert more pressure on Lebanon in order to disarm the party. But all these efforts were of no avail.
This prompted the US to suggest negotiations between Israel and Syria. That has found support among Israeli army leaders, who believe that openness with Syria can lead to containment of Hizbollah, or at least persuade Damascus to stop its support. Peaceful settlement would inevitably lead to Syrian distance from Iran, and indirectly weaken Iranian influence in the region.
Dubai's education zone under new remit
In an opinion piece for the UAE daily Al Bayan, Maysa Ghadeer hailed the step taken by the federal Ministry of Education to reassign the education zone in Dubai to their supervision in the Emirate. She said that in the last years such powers had been reduced, and caused the Ministry to face many challenges resulting mainly from localised decision-making policies. It was a trend, she said, that education was dealt with by disregarding the fact that is is a federal matter. "This should not be accepted for any reason," the writer said.
The decision of the Ministry to re-empower the Dubai education zone is a welcome step, which is likely to put an end to the irregularities that occurred in the past years. "There is no space to ponder these mistakes here…but in order to develop any education system. accumulated experiences should not be replaced by imported systems that are implemented before they are even tested." Overall, "we hope this decision will contribute to rehabilitating the education sector, which has been affected by localised decision-making policies and some unsuccessful initiatives."
* Digest compiled by Translation Desk
translation@thenational.ae
