The signing of the truce between Mahmud Abbas and Ariel Sharon, which sanctions the end of violence between Palestinians and Israelis is on the front page of the main Spanish dailies of 9/2. In its editorial with the title “Tough decisions” the daily El Paìs recalls that “Israel has a need for security and the Palestine of Abbas for a future that no longer consists of blood, misery and tears”. The editorialist hopes that the gestures of the two leaders “be supported by good faith and represent a ray of light after the death of Arafat. But even if all this is initially starting out well, the immediate future is full of pitfalls. There have been so many false dawns in this irreparable conflict that has lasted for 60 years. There’s a need for a miracle to control so many variables in so degraded a scenario”. “Caution about the Middle East question” is also urged by the editorial of the Catalan daily La Vanguardia, while La Razon considers this event “an historic pact” even if “ the risk of the pact being broken depends on the extremists of both sides, hostile to any kind of negotiation”. The ceasefire between Israel and Palestine is also on the front pages of the French dailies of 9/2, together with news of the visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Paris. Le Monde dedicates two pages of reports to the summit at Sharm-el-Sheik, and reactions on the West Bank, Paris and New York, while the Catholic daily La Croix carries the headline “Israelis and Palestinians renew dialogue” with a photo of Condoleezza Rice together with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. The editorial by Bruno Frappat, on the other hand, is dedicated to the illness of John Paul II; it invites us not to transform the Pope’s sufferings into a media show. The editor of La Croix analyses in particular the link between “illness and truth”: “For any invalid two questions are posed: 1) How to speak of his illness? 2) Should the truth be told?… What has been happening in Rome over the last week no longer seems to respond well to respect for the sick person, respect for the truth and respect for the faithful to whom the news is addressed. The absence of communiqués by the physicians who are treating the Pope is the first disturbing element”. Frappat understands that the Pope’s entourage is trying to “put into practice a system of communication and attenuation” of the Pope’s condition. “But it is hard to understand how this kind of communication can be considered a worthy and effective way of making Catholics and the whole world believe that there is no cause for disquiet. Between transparency and opacity the most agonizing of solutions was chosen: that of semi-truths that cannot but arouse anxiety. Whom does that respect?”. There are many comments in the German press, too, about the Israeli-Palestinian summit at Sharm-El-Sheik. An editorial in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( 9/2) says: “ With a view to the political utility of the stop to violence jointly decided by the two sides, the capacity of tolerance tacitly and unofficially agreed on, the capacity to effectively support actions that violate the truce, will be decisive […] Only a certain insensibility to such violations can safeguard the chance of the truce leading to something more. But expressly proclaiming this capacity to put up with violations could be counter-productive and could induce the limits to be tested“. Gemma Pörzgen of the Frankfurter Rundschau comments: “ This time too, announcing a truce is far easier than respecting it. Only in the days and weeks ahead will we see what value is to be attributed to this summit […] It’s useful, however, that in her visit to the Middle East US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it unequivocally clear that Washington is no longer aiming as a unilateral pro-Israel attitude. The new US commitment is coming just at the right time. The fact that Washington is also counting on the cooperation of the European Union could bring closer the prospect of peace in the Middle East“. Writing in Die Welt, Michael Stürmer comments: “ The Europeans… must make their contribution to the building of confidence and security, this time not against but with the Usa. Without or against America, nothing positive can be achieved in this region. The balancing between Jerusalem and Ramallah is for Bush the centre of a great strategy for the whole Middle East. But the destiny of Europe depends, and not only due to petrol and terrorism, on this truly historic opportunity for the region giving rise to political and moral calm, and perhaps even peace“. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1362 N.ro relativo : 11 Data pubblicazione : 11/02/2005
