BC-Editorial Roundup, 1st Add,1385

UNDATED: in 2004.Die Presse, Vienna, Austria, on the alleged attempt to blow up American Airlines flight 63:We must renounce the misconception that Europe is not really involved in the campaign against terrorism.

It's easy to make fun of airport controls in the United States and accuse Americans of not being able to ask the right questions.

But who in Paris noticed that someone without luggage boarded a long-distance flight? Why didn't anyone there ask the right questions? Is European complacency still so widespread?

And why did it suddenly become known that a forging network exists in Brussels? If is was easy to identify, why wasn't it broken up? ...

There is certainly no way to protect ourselves completely from either murderers or the abuse of technology. But the incident on flight 63 has shown us one thing: before we begin talking about fate and unavoidable tragedy, security must be improved.

Le Matin, Lausanne, Switzerland, on the Middle East:

In the Middle East the dialogue of the deaf has been demonstrated by the ban imposed on the Palestinian leader's going to the Christmas Mass in Bethlehem. Ariel Sharon failed to realize that he was costing his country the sympathy that has been manifested since the Palestinian suicide attacks. ... The Israeli leader is blinded by the dogma of Europe's bad conscience toward Jews and has yet to understand that, since the war in Lebanon, public opinion has been more favorable to the Arabs of the territories, victims of a historic injustice.

The West ... is divided. Europe and Japan are mainly pro-Arab. North America and Australia are pro-Israel. To harmonize they have to stop giving priority to their economic relations with the rest of the world.

The Middle East dictators for their part hide behind the argument that ... 'the West can never solve its problems without at least accepting the fundamental principle that democracy consists in accepting legitimate diversity.' ... Do they mean by diversity the right to refuse women any possibility to express their political opinion by the ballot or their right to dress as they wish? ...

It isn't possible to respect others unless you accept their differences, which implies abandoning religious considerations in international relations. Who is ready to take the first step?

Al-Ahram, Cairo, Egypt, on the return of U.S. envoys to Mideast:

After the Palestinian Authority adopted self-restrained steps and acted to retain an atmosphere of confidence with the Israeli side, it has become imperative that (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon's government reciprocates with similar steps if it really wants to resume the peace process.

Otherwise, if it pretends to work on engaging in peace talks through exchanging roles between Sharon and his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, one speaks on how to establish a Palestinian state and the other denies it, then this means the Israeli side is back to procrastination and the release in the air of test balloons without showing a real wish and serious interest in the peace process.

This situation, which Israel wants to prevail, does not herald at all positive results soon, therefore there is a dire need for the resumption of the American envoys' efforts not only to evaluate the situation following Arafat's steps but to end Israel's stalling and push both sides to the negotiation table. This is the only way that helps seeing a glimpse of hope to end the current dilemma in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Expressen, Stockholm, Sweden, on abusing fight against terrorism:

China and India are part of the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. If China uses this as a cover to try to solve all the security problems that its own oppression has created, the world can look forward to a long and merciless war against people that want nothing but to escape the communist dictatorship.

If India receives the understanding of the world around it that the Kashmir conflict is the same as Sept. 11, all barriers to war disappear.

The world rightfully approved that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the terror network al-Qaida were waged war upon. But if the democracies continue with military actions against countries and groups whose connections are not as clear, a standard and a practice are set that will be abused. An array of countries will use the terror war's logic to justify their own military goals.

Daily Dispatch, East London, South Africa, on children:

Indian poet and author Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) penned the words: Every child comes into the world with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.

Despite all the foibles, follies and failings of the human race, the Creator continues to stock up the world with new generations of the species with every birth of a child.

Each child bears a further message to humanity: here is another chance we have been given to make this world a better place. Jesus, the Christ-Child whose birth in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago is celebrated today, to the believer offers the ultimate message that there is hope for the world.

For South Africa, if we wish to localize that message. Every South African child shares the same innocence, beauty, value, goodness and wonder as the Child of Bethlehem.

When those celebrating this religious day today contemplate the Child Jesus, they ought to see Him in every other child in this country.

Perhaps that will be a most powerful deterrent against the next child rape and child abuse.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, on the benefits of a national African American museum:

The Congress of our nation's present has fashioned a gift of our nation's past.

It has laid the foundation for a national museum of African American history and culture by creating a presidential commission to study what it will cost, where in Washington it should go, how it will operate and what exhibits to include. Final approval, President Bush's signature, is expected soon. ...

Even listing some of the heroes of African American history can be painful, as their fame is so locked into struggles against the worst of America: Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Mary McLeod Bethune and Ida B. Wells, Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks.

Some might worry that a museum enshrining the nation's past will be divisive. If so, they miss the point:

During these struggles, black and white Americans were each helping to mold a culture, were contributing daily to the economic strength of the country, were trying to live up to the nation's cherished ideals. Sometimes this was done separately, sometimes together, but always contributing to the whole. ...

Daily News, Los Angeles, on air travel vigilance, not fear:

There's evidence that we're getting over the natural anxiety that followed the terrorist attacks. The number of prescribed sleeping pills and tranquilizers, for example, is down. But that doesn't mean we've become complacent. ...

After boarding Flight 63 from Paris to Miami on Saturday, (Richard) Reid lighted a match, allegedly to ignite a makeshift bomb he had concealed in his high-top tennis shoes.

But he was quickly foiled by a new breed of heroes — ordinary people who, when pressed, show extraordinary valor and selfless bravery. This new breed of heroes ... includes people like Hermis Moutardier, the American Airlines flight attendant who was quick to spot Reid lighting the match and then confront him. Moutardier called out for help and tried to extinguish Reid's shoes as he pushed and shoved her. ...

It's doubtful that the response would have been so quick or overwhelming before Sept. 11. The passengers and crew aboard Flight 63 were on the lookout for suspicious behavior, and they were prepared to act in the event that they saw it.

They were cautious but not afraid. If they were afraid, they wouldn't have been on that plane at all. ... They boarded the plane, got to work and cracked open novels. Only this time, chastened by a changed world, they kept one eye out for danger. ...