COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
A year ago this week, the Israeli Army withdrew from Southern Lebanon, in an unmistakably fleeing fashion, because for once, the Israelis have come up against a formidable enemy, that all of its military prowess and intelligence machinery could simply not overcome. For once, it was proven to the Arab World and to the Moslem nation that Israel is indeed fragile and if faced with dogmatic spirit and a sincere belief in the right of the cause that one fights for, then it is almost like a lamb helpless and scared. It was the Lebanese resistance led by the small but wily Hizbullah under the leadership of Sheikh Hassan Nasr Allah that was able to destroy all the military and intelligence myths that Israel's propaganda machine has unleashed to the world, particularly to the gullible West that Israel stands as their uncontested champion in the region and the true image of civilized behavior in the region.
Notwithstanding the ulterior motives many tried to substantiate this "tactical" Israeli pullback, it seemed no mystery to the majority of the Arabs that what Hizbullah has done in Southern Lebanon showed that there is a lot of untouched potential power within this nation and there is really no end to what it can accomplish, no matter what the odds are against them. It is a common frequent occurrence in Islamic history, that somewhere out of the blues a Moslem constituency will dispel all the false myths about the pathetic state of the Moslem nation and the powerless position they are now in. That was exactly a year ago.
On that pretext, the Zionist machinery set out to tackle a more serious worry at hand, which was that the United States might just turn the screw a bit on its spoiled ally and save a few tax dollars, by working out a settlement of the Middle East problem, with some acknowledgement of the wrongs that were inflicted against the Palestinians and the institution of a Palestinian States. Thus, the Sharon visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the subsequent Intifada, which was perhaps desired more by the Zionist strategists than the Palestinians themselves, for the simple reason that Israel was really not ready for any peaceful settlement at all of the problem. They needed time; in anyway it can be obtained, until they have created a Zionist fact of life in as much of the territory that remains out of Israeli control as possible. With the change in American administrations and the obvious weaknesses of the Arab states to take any firm action to rally to the support of their helpless brethren in Palestine, it stands to reason that the Zionist demagogues so an opportunity to further their Zionist aspirations in the Holy Land.
But, arrogance may sometimes lead to too much self confidence in the misguided arithmetic of Zionist strategists, and as is often the case, with any chauvinistic movement that relies on deceit, misrepresentation of the facts and sheer BS to muster up any gullible support it can get in the West, the tide is bound to turn against the wishes of such strategists, because either those strategists have failed to realize that their adversaries are bound to learn from the long experience of conflict with their deceitful enemy, or have failed to realize that indeed the West is not all that gullible and easy to fool, especially in a world of rapid communications and greater transparency, and that, in general, democratic societies do not take it lightly to be fooled so readily, as the Zionist lobby has so successfully been doing over the past Century to the Western Governments, in particular and to the populations of the West and the East in general.
On another note, on this anniversary of the humiliation suffered by the Israelis in Southern Lebanon, a key significant policy change also made it self rise to the surface among the existing Arab leadership, either as a clear indication of the pressures that Arab regimes are facing from their constituencies, that we are ready to forgive you for a lot of your misdeeds, but on important national issues, such as Palestine, there is only so much we can stand.
This was clearly demonstrated by the well timed and called for attitude of the Arab League and the Moslem World Conference, engineered by Mr. Amr Mousa of the Arab Republic of Egypt, who has clearly shown a remarkable ability to guide his Government and now the rest of the Arab world into a more steadfast stand against Israel, that one hopes will go beyond the usual rhetoric of condemnation, that the majority of the Arabs in the streets have become tired of already. The Arab masses indeed welcome this trend towards more vocal and hopefully more tangible actions on the part of these two regional institutions to assert once and for all that there is no limit to what Arabs and Moslems can undertake in defense of their dogmatic and ethnic affiliations and that when the cause is right and legitimate, as is the case in Palestine, there is no self-respect or dignity left when a man like Ariel Sharon can think he can step on not just the Palestinians or even the whole Arab World as he likes, but also pay no mind to the sensitivities of a billion Moslems throughout the world.
It may be also that the Americans are indeed willing to accept such reactions from the Arabs and the Moslem to make it clear that Middle East policy is better if it is written in Washington or Western Europe, rather than in Tel Aviv and that there are indeed more important facts of life that have to be taken into consideration than a few illegitimate kibbutzim, that have no right to be there in the first place anyway.
Thus, one wonders how long Israel can hope to bet that gambling on the stakes of the evil minds of Ariel Sharon and the Zionist strategists, will not lead to an eventual rollback to the fate of all the chauvinistic movements that have come and gone throughout history? When you really have no cause to start with in the first place, there is just no telling how tragic the demise will be!
Carry on Sharon, for it seems that Nasr Allah was right about you, after all, when he predicted that you just might be writing the end of an evil chapter in the history of mankind!

Journalism Is a Mission Not a Career:
Journalism in letter and spirit is a mission served and not a career taken up. It is so because it deals with supreme principles and restores the masses' rights. Journalists deal with issues of major concern to the public which makes them liable to harassment, torture, suppression, prison, etc. Violations are happening all the time. However, they have never been investigated by the authorities. We have never heard of a case in which a journalist's honor is vindicated after being put in question.

Yemeni Journalists' Lost Identity:
Journalists in Yemen are leading a life of suffering and misfortune. The state of insecurity and instability obviously reflects itself in the work they do. Suppression of journalists is not restricted to those who find their work against their interests. Rather, they are sometimes suppressed even within the press establishments. Journalists working with the official press establishments are bounded by the guidelines of the authorities. They are doing nothing but paying lip service to the agenda of the government. They can't uncover the misdeeds of corrupt officials. Therefore, they fail to serve the mission. Again, journalists working for partisan newspapers are restricted by the ideologies and guidelines of the parties. They propagate and lavishly praise their leaders and their activities which again goes against them as a responsible press. Besides being poorly paid, they have to abide by these regulations, otherwise they will be fired.
Journalists working for independent newspapers are none the better. They, too, suffer from the same predicaments. They are poorly paid and restricted by bizarre rules and regulations. This state of insecurity and instability makes them unable to manifest their merits to the fullest.
These worries and concerns are deeply felt and shared by most of my colleagues working in the field of journalism.

Role of Yemeni Journalists Syndicate:
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate has a lot to do in this regard. It has to put an end to this harassment from the government and the press establishments as well. It has to pursue endorsing the journalists' cadre ensuring their rights and duties. It also has to put an end to the exploitation of the journalists. Press establishments have to sign contracts with journalists to protect their rights and offer them decent pay. Journalists should be paid commensurate with their expertise and professionalism. It has to support journalists who are assaulted or suppressed ensuring that they are re-instated. Its role should not be restricted to publishing condemning reports indicating cases of violations only. Will these dreams come true?! I hope so.

Crystals
by Mohamed Kadri
I reiterate my view point published in this column earlier, that the people seem ready to offer support to the leadership and government which should re-build the broken bridges between the citizens and the rulers!
Hence, responsibility of the leadership and government should assure all citizens of their actual departure from pervious periods characterized by negativity, ignorance, oppression and the spread of unemployment.
For citizens are no longer ready to see officials repeat the causes of our backwardness and problems. Like attributing them to home-separation and the transitional period which followed later. This excuse must be written off and converted into a concrete action plan to alleviate the many maladies which the people are suffering from. Citizens need what they have been hoping for since September 26th /1962 and October 14th /1963. Citizen are looking forward to seeing the country earn the name of a united republic with democratic and Islamic dimensions.
Citizen long for happy dreams while in bed without the disturbance of gunfire of unknown origin!
Citizen wish to live in houses, safe from the abuses of owners in the northern regions. Thousands of real-estate owners in the eastern and southern regions wait to restore their national rights and be treated similar to their counterparts in the north! And, citizens require protection against the stealing of their cars parked in streets. More than that, the approximately four million unemployed seek opportunities for employment.
Dear citizens! It's time for the rulers to prove that they are qualified and worthy of respect. The country needs fewer words and more work!