Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hizbollah, recently delivered a speech in reaction to Israel's interception of the Gaza-bound aid fleet and called for "a second Freedom Flotilla" to break the blockade on Gaza and to "embrace the new Turkish position" towards Israel and "a bigger Lebanese involvement", Tariq al Homayed, the editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat, quoted Mr Nasrallah as saying.
Mr Nasrallah reportedly said that "Israel reckons with Turkey and its red flag as much as it reckons with the yellow flag," in reference to Hizbollah's flag. "It's clear then," the editor commented, "that Nasrallah feels that the Turkish attitude is pulling the rug from underneath him, and from underneath Iran by association. So now both want to keep abreast of developments and perhaps beat Turkey to the punch."
Mr Nasrallah, who described Ankara's challenge to Israel as "a strategic earthquake" in the region, showing Turkey's strength, did not react to the Turkish position, which has been rather inconsistent so far. Some officials in Ankara called for escalation, others for restraint, and there was Turkey's deputy premier saying: "We may downgrade our relations with Israel to the minimum, but the probability of us immediately ending all ties with a country and saying we have scratched out your name is not our custom."
At the conclusion of a large meeting on Saturday, tribal leaders in Afghanistan agreed to charge the Afghan president Hamid Karzai with the responsibility of starting formal negotiations with the Taliban, which is still conducting fierce attacks against Nato forces and the government in Kabul, the London-based newspaper Al Quds al Arabi stated in its editorial.
The meeting, with more than 1,600 participants, was the first of its kind on such a high level and it reveals a new political orientation by the Afghan president. "It was especially noteworthy that President Karzai used unusually soft language when talking about the Taliban, bespeaking his strong desire to reach a peaceful settlement with the movement. He even addressed the Taliban leaders as 'brothers' and offered them a comprehensive pardon, money, safe havens abroad and positions within government institutions if a reconciliation were to be reached."
"The US administration is facing a stalemate in Afghanistan where more than 100,000 US troops are stationed. The war is costing the US treasury over $7 billion a month in tax-payer money, besides the casualties." So, of course, Mr Karzai would not have taken that step without the pre-approval of the US, especially since he was in Washington just two weeks ago. But the Taliban, as they are gaining ground anyway, may not be inclined to take Mr Karzai's offer.
"Whenever Israel commits a serious offence or an outright crime, the Arabs call a meeting during which they rehearse the same analyses and issue the same statements," commented Abdullah Iskandar, the managing editor of the pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat. It seems that even the attendees no longer believe that anything will change in the struggle against Israel.
Of course, there are debates about whether or not the Arab Peace Initiative (API) should be withdrawn. Some state representatives argue that the main setback to Arab efforts is this initiative itself. The Kuwaitis were, for instance, more outspoken against it and their MPs have issued an explicit recommendation to withdraw from the API. But all this hubbub turns in the same cycle, while no Arab state presents a practical initiative. It becomes even more contradictory: some of those who call for the annulment of the API are the same ones who assert that peace with Israel is a strategic target. In view of this lack of alternatives, the Arabs find themselves caving in under the weight of two regional poles, Iran and Turkey, each pulling them the other way. "With the new impetus that Turkey's involvement in the Middle East conflict has generated, the promotion of the API is actually more timely than ever, regardless of whether Israel will heed it or not."
Two important developments for Lebanon have been overshadowed by the fallout of the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla, wrote Rosana Boumounsef in the opinion pages of the Lebanese newspaper Annahar.
The first interesting development is the new Iranian ambassador to Beirut, Qazanfar Roknabadi, telling the Lebanese premier Saad Hariri during a formal meeting that Tehran is "fully ready to open a new page" with Lebanon.
"This, of course, leads one to believe that relations between the two countries weren't that great," the columnist commented. The Iranian rapprochement may well be concealing Tehran's need for Lebanon's non-permanent seat in the Security Council to brace against sanctions, which the UN body is ramping up momentum to pass any time soon. The other news that has gone unnoticed concerns the US congressional delegations who are visiting Syria despite the fact that Congress stood firmly against the US administration's proposal to open a US embassy in Damascus and reset diplomatic exchanges with the country.
So these two developments must come as a relief for Lebanon, which is gradually gaining a better diplomatic status in the region as it slowly grows out of its petty domestic sectarian issues. * Digest compiled by Achraf A El Bahi @Email:aelbahi@thenatioinal.ae