Saudi writer laments Arab inaction

Lamenting the Arab inaction while besieged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is struggling for survival, Saudi writer Nourah Abdul Aziz Al Khereiji hailed the number of Western male and female peace activists who walked into the compound to rescue the Palestinian leader.

"Hats off to those men and women who refused to stay in a five star hotel and chose to guard the Palestinian leader. Hats off to the peace activists who jeopardised their lives by walking to the besieged compound in crossfire to console the Palestinian leader and to assure him that he was not alone in this nightmare," said Norah from the Holy City of Madinah.

In her popular column Nourah said in the Jeddah-based English language daily Arab News: "While Israel's slaughter campaign of the Palestinians continues unabated with the blessings and support of United States, the Arab leaders have no choice but to hope that the sky will one day rain gold. The Arab leaders are obsessed that the U.S. one day will take a just stance on the Palestinian issue."

She said the Arabs did nothing compared to the few Western peace activists and it is humiliating to see the Arab countries doing nothing for their Palestinian brethren.

"How shameful to see the Israelis executing innocents in cold blood and our leaders seeking the intervention of the U.S. to put an end to the bloodshed," she said.

"This is the time when the Arab masses want definite answers to the following questions: What is the use of Arab countries having armies? Why do we spend so much of our massive budgets for armaments, training, navies and air forces? What is it all for? When are we going to use our military power? And for whom are we building military installations? It is said that the Arab armies are there to defend our dignity, our faith, our religious sanctuaries and our existence.

In fact the U.S. policy has trod on our dignity and given no thought to our existence. The Israelis are not alone and they are nothing without their U.S.-made weapons and the overall U.S. support. The Israelis are nothing without Uncle Sam's blind support for their expansionist policies.

The U.S. President George W. Bush has proven to be a dedicated public relations representative for Israel and become an official spokesman for the Jewish state," stated Nourah known for her forthright views.