Iran: this not 1979 all over again

At first glance events in Iran might seem similar to the 12-month revolution that brought back Ayatollah Khomeini to Tehran 30 years ago from his Paris exile and forced the Shah to flee the country, wrote Mazen Hammad in the Qatari Arabic daily al Watan. The comparison is further made plausible by the demonstrators' quest for martyrdom, so typical of Iranian revolutions.

"Yet there is a major difference between the 1979 and the 2009 events; the Iranian government has no intention at all of allowing history to repeat itself," considered the columnist, and the "Iranian revolution" was successful because it was backed at the time by the whole political spectrum from right to left, including religious conservatives and Marxist leftists. When the Shah left for Cairo in January 1979 he was supported by no one, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enjoys great popularity and was re-elected with 62.6 per cent of the vote. It's true that the figure is contested by his opponents, who claim the poll was rigged, but it is close to the 2005 presidential election outcome that brought him to power.

Mr Ahmadinejad, who can also count on the full support of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Guide, will not be forced to step down, but the West, especially France, Britain and Germany, are trying to take advantage of the protest to convince the world that a new revolution is in the making in Iran, concluded the author. Kuwait human rights no business of US The release by the US administration of its annual report on human trafficking, which accuses the Kuwaiti government of failing in its commitments in this field, is a clear and unacceptable interference in Kuwait's internal affairs, wrote Sami Khalifa in the daily al Rai.

Regardless of whether the report is true, Kuwait is a sovereign state and "we do not accept that any other government, no matter how important our mutual interests are, undermines this sovereignty", the columnist said. "Yes, we would accept facts published by any independent, neutral and objective human rights organisation, such as Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Committee, Article 19 or any other NGO, but that the US state department interferes with Kuwait's internal affairs is unacceptable," he added. "Yes there are major problems that ruin Kuwait's reputation abroad and we do not claim that Kuwait makes no mistakes, and there are numerous internal reports on the situation of human rights, but those cannot be used as a pretext by the US to undermine our image." The Speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament was right in rejecting the report and pointing out that the US administration was not the "tutor of the world", a statement, added the author that shows the high degree of wisdom of the man and his profound commitment to the sovereignty of Kuwait.

While the Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad is preparing a response to Benjamin Netanyahu's latest address, the Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman walked out of the UN secretary-general's office to announce that the "settlements were a fabricated pretext used by those who seek to avoid peace talks", wrote Sharif Qindil in the Saudi daily al Watan.

So both men, Netanyahu and Lieberman, agree that the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank are not an obstacle to peace, noted the author. As they announced earlier that Jerusalem was not an issue on the agenda of any peace negotiations, and nor is the right of return of refugees, it seems now that the talks are circling around and burying peace efforts, he added. On the Syrian front, the Israeli prime minister's prerequisite for the resumption of indirect talks is that the issue of the Golan Heights be left aside.

This is the peace Netanyahu and Lieberman are contemplating; no Jerusalem, no return and no Golan. This is their arrogant response to UN efforts and to Barack Obama's recent speech. At this critical moment and in the face of such Israeli extremism, the only option for Palestinians is to seek unity and begin serious dialogue: not to obtain the release of Hamas and Fatah supporters detained in the West Bank and Gaza, nor to reorganise security forces in the two parts of the territory or form a national consensus government, but for the sake of Palestine.

On June 20 the world celebrated International Refugees Day, an opportunity to remember the plight of refugees around the world, particularly the millions of Palestinians chased out of their land at gunpoint 61 years ago, wrote Rashid Hassan in the Jordanian daily al Dustour. This year the day is celebrated amid a conspiracy to deny the right of return of Palestinian refugees, illustrated in Benjamin Netanyahu's latest speech.

The ordeal of the Palestinian refugee population is the oldest, the harshest and the one that promises to last the longest in the light of Israeli refusal to abide by international laws and resolutions. But the right of return remains inalienable and not negotiable. It is an individual right, yet a collective claim made by a whole population that extends to future generations, and the Palestinian people have empowered none to negotiate in their name it or drop it.

The only possible and acceptable settlement to the Palestinian refugee issue is their return from exile to their land, cities and towns from which they were expelled, as they refuse any compromise based on naturalisation or migration. According to the author, the refugees question is at the core of the Palestinian issue and can be solved only through the full application of UN resolution 194, which recognises and confirms the right of return.

* Digest compiled by Mohamed Naji [e-mail]