Arabs should repent their sins against Arafat, London-based daily fulminates

Fighting between government and opposition forces in the southern neighborhoods of Damascus continues to lead the news in Arab media Tuesday.

Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports that the opposition Free Syrian Army has sent thousands of its fighters to Damascus, while mosque loudspeakers have been calling on the capital’s inhabitants to stock up on food.

Sources tell the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the opposition fighters are tactically divided into small groups of three to four men, carrying out street fighting in the Tadhamun neighborhood in southern Damascus.

‘The opposition to Assad believes this is the beginning of the end of a regime that lasted more than 50 years’

“Armored vehicles and street fighting in the neighborhoods of Damascus; Moscow: Assad enjoys his people’s support and will not leave,” reads the daily’s headline, featuring a photo of a woman dressed in black who seems to be weeping while she signals the victory sign in the town of Treimseh, which experienced a massacre last week.

Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera broadcasts footage of the fighting in Damascus, reporting that for the first time, armored vehicles have entered the Maidan neighborhood. Familiar gruesome photos of dead men on the ground now appear in Damascus, and Al-Jazeera reports that some neighborhoods, like Tadhamun, are being plundered. In the upscale Yasmina neighborhood, the channel shows street fighters shooting with AK-47s, commenting that the sound of gunfire can be heard at the presidential palace.

“The opposition to Assad believe this is the beginning of the end of a regime that lasted more than 50 years,” the reporter concludes.

Meanwhile, A-Sharq Al-Awsat editor-in-chief Tareq Homayed celebrates the defection of Syria’s ambassador to Baghdad Nawwaf Fares.

“The ambassador’s defection is not only a blow to the dictator of Damascus, but also to the government of Mr. Nuri Al-Maliki,” writes Homayed, explaining that Maliki recently stated that there was no reason for Assad to step down.

To add to the Iraqi embarrassment, the ex-ambassador admitted in an interview with the British Sunday Telegraph that he personally oversaw the infiltration of al-Qaeda affiliates into Iraq from Syria.

Mubarak returns to prison

Following a medical report that asserted that deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was in fine health for his age, Mubarak was returned Monday to the Tora prison to continue serving his sentence, Arab media reports Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Egyptian press, other issues seem more important. President Morsi returned to Egypt from his African tour accompanied by the Egyptian female journalist Shimaa Adel, who was arrested while covering Sudan. Sudanese President Omar Bashir agreed to Morsi’s plea to release Adel, and her return to Egypt was covered domestically with much fanfare Monday.

‘Today it is said that Egypt was born on January 25, just as it was said that it was born on July 23 [1952]. Egypt was in fact born at the start of human civilization and its entire history is interconnected’

Adel, who was flown to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in order to return with Morsi on board the presidential plane, thanked the new president, saying that his steadfastness “made the honor of Egyptians a red line,” establishment daily Al-Ahram reports.

July 23 marks the 60th anniversary of the Free Officers revolution that toppled the Egyptian monarchy and instated a young general, Gamal Abdul Nasser, in his place.

Al-Masry Al-Youm columnist Samir Farid notes that this year, following the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood, the national holiday will go unnoticed.

Farid says that the 1952 revolution also abolished its proceeding revolution, that of 1919, which brought about Egypt’s independence three years later.

“Today it is said that Egypt was born on January 25, just as it was said that it was born on July 23 [1952]. Egypt was in fact born at the start of human civilization and its entire history is interconnected.”

‘Arafat’s poisoning and Arab hypocrisy’

That’s the title of Al-Quds Al-Arabi’s lead editorial Tuesday. Noting that Arab foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Cairo today to discuss Arafat’s death following a Tunisian request, the editor argues that the meeting comes eight years late.

“More important is the fact that the Palestinian Authority did not appeal to the Arab League on this matter. Did it ignore this crime for fear of the Israelis and the Americans, or because no Arab support could be found for such a move?”

‘Arafat’s problem with everyone was that he preferred to die as a martyr rather than give up on any of the Palestinian principles’

The editor elaborates on the bitter Arab treatment of Arafat throughout his life — including from Hosni Mubarak, who refused to answer Arafat’s phone calls.

“Arafat’s problem with everyone was that he preferred to die as a martyr rather than give up on any of the Palestinian principles,” writes the editor. “Had he acted differently, he would have likely continued living to this day.”

“Arab foreign ministers should repent for their sin against this man and his cause by adopting serious decisions to turn to the UN and demand an international inquiry commission to legally expose the element that had him assassinated.”