The question of the Israeli “wall” on the West Bank, while awaiting the ruling of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is a major focus of attention in the main international dailies, which analyse the complex situation in the Middle East and the succession of acts of violence and suicide attacks. “The Palestinians – writes Gilles Paris in Le Monde (24/2) summarizing the two opposing “views” of the wall being built by Israel do not contest the principle of this separation, but the fact that it is being routed deep into the West Bank in order to incorporate the Israeli colonies”. The Israelis, on the contrary, “declare that this wall being erected (180 km out of a total of some 730 have been completed) has no objective but security and no political purpose at all”. In response to the “international criticisms” drawn by the projected “wall” on the West Bank, concludes the author of the article, “the Israelis have recognized the dramatic consequences that it involves for the daily life of tens of thousands of Palestinians (…). Under US pressure, some adjustment could be made, in future, to the route of the wall”. That “each real chance of a political agreement” on the wall depends on the USA is underlined by Noam Chomsky ( Herald Tribune), according to whom the ruling of the Court in The Hague “could at most take the form of an advisory opinion on the illegality of the wall”, but “it won’t change anything”. Elio Maraone, writing in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (24/2), hopes for “an international intervention that may impel the two sides to abandon the logic of walls, and open the dialogue of peace that must perforce lead to the reciprocal and definitive recognition of both sides”. Recent Russian events and Putin’s dissolution of the government are subjected to various comments in the German press. “ End of illusions“, is the headline carried by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (23/2). “ Despite all the declarations of harmony, the EU and Russia are competitors and rivals as regards the organization of the frontiers in Ukraine, Belarus and the Caucasus. Here what’s at issue is no longer the hype of the “European home”, but security, trade relations, minorities, methane gas and petrol, environment, steel production quotas, and organized crime. For years there have been enough occasions to prepare, to negotiate, to accommodate. Almost nothing has been done. Now the chickens are coming home to roost“. “ Putin has got rid of the head of the government, who devoted himself for four years to the ordinary business of government, but without becoming his closest confidant“, writes Karl Grobe in the Frankfurter Rundschau (25/2), who continues as follows: “ The argument that Russia needs a strong leader is one close to the hearts of wavering voters. The representatives and promoters of civil society and political democracy do not come under this label. That says a lot about the state of Russian society in 2004“. Writing in Die Welt (25/2), Jens Hartmann notes: “ Any radical change of route by the head of the Kremlin is unthinkable. The progress of the reforms for the market economy will be slowed down. Nonetheless, if a hard-line exponent should win the post of prime minister, democracy in Russia will suffer a further blow. The prospect of one former KGB man in the Kremlin and another in the post of premier is not very reassuring“. “Generosity with Rabat”. The recent earthquake in Morocco is discussed in the editorial in El Periódico ( 25/2) which declares that “Spain was quick to offer its solidarity and aid to Morocco to alleviate the serious human and material damage caused by the quake”. The paper adds that “this was inevitable in response to a quake in the area of the Rif, where the ties with Spain have been historically numerous and long lasting”. Even though “relations between the two countries” have not always been easy, “ our country cannot uncouple itself from neighbouring Morocco”, concludes the editorial. “Without complexes or excuses, conscious of their importance and the specific weight they pull in the EU, France, Germany and Great Britain have taken a step forwards to act as the helmsmen of an EU firing on all cylinders”. That’s the comment of Ana Zarzuela in Cambio 16 (1/3), according to whom the Berlin summit attended by the “three big European powers” on 18 February was nothing but “the expression of this intention”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1275 N.ro relativo : 15 Data pubblicazione : 27/02/04
