"Arab and Islamic peoples draw a close link between the U.S. role in the ME and its stand from the daily Israeli aggression against Palestinians"

Additional Reporting By Omneya Badr, IOL Staff

AMMAN, November 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – In the wake of a series of anti-U.S. attacks in the Middle East region, including in Jordan, fires blazed at U.S. fast-food restaurant Pizza Hut in the southern Red Sea port of Aqaba Sunday, November 24, causing material damage but no casualties.

Three U.S. fast-food outlets, including two Pizza Hut, were bombed earlier this month in neighboring Lebanon also causing extensive damage but no casualties.

The bombings in Lebanon came amid a widely observed regionwide boycott of U.S. fast-food outlets called by Islamic and left-wing groups to protest Washington's perceived bias towards Israel and its perceived targeting of Arab and Muslim states such as Palestine and Iraq.

"The fire erupted in the afternoon in the basement of Pizza Hut, but it does not appear to be of criminal nature," a Jordanian police source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Nevertheless, the authorities have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the blaze which was quickly put out by firefighters in Aqaba, 360 kilometers (223 miles) south of Amman, the source added.

The fire came just two days after the United States said it would allow its non-essential personnel to leave Jordan "in light of the security concerns" following the murder of an American citizen – USAID employee Lawrence Foley – in Amman in October, which still remains unsolved.

An American missionary was gunned down Thursday, November 21, in the Lebanese port city of Sidon last week apparently because of anger against U.S. bias to Israel, military presence in the Gulf and plans to attack Iraq.

On the same day, a gunman shot and wounded two U.S. soldiers in an ambush on a highway outside Kuwait City.

A Kuwaiti junior police officer questioned for the shooting has told state security he had “planned for an attack against Americans in Kuwait because he hated them,” according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba.

The daily said the officer had not specifically planned to target the two soldiers but any Americans that came his way, the daily said, quoting sources.

"Arab and Islamic peoples draw a close link between the U.S. role in the Middle East and its stand from the daily Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people which takes place under full American protection," Ahmed Taha Al-Naqr, political foreign affairs expert at Egypt's Al-Akhbar daily, told IslamOnline. 

"The U.S. verbally asks Israel to end military offensives on the occupied Palestinian territories while granting it in reality a free hand to occupy more Palestinian land and kill more Palestinian citizens," said Al-Naqr. "The current U.S. administration has given Israel what no other administration has – full spiritual and financial support to continue war on the Palestinians. This is the main cause of any Arab and Muslim violence against the U.S."

"The current U.S. administration adopts the extreme policies of the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his new Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. This only helps widen the circle of violence in the region since there's no foreseeable future for peace with such a  U.S.-backed radical government.

"Frustrated Arab and Islamic peoples long to stand by their oppressed brethren in Palestine; however, considering the iron-fist rule of their governments, they have no other means but to boycott American products and launch attacks against U.S. bases, interests or citizens in their countries," continued Al-Naqr.

Moving to Iraq, the Egyptian political expert said: "Iraq makes matters worse; it deepens anti-U.S. sentiment not in the Arab and Islamic worlds alone, but the entire world as well.

"The continued U.S. policy of double standards is not only aggressive but ridiculous too. The U.S. insists that weapon-free Iraq rid of alleged weapons of mass destruction, while it turns a blind eye to Israel's massive nuclear arsenal."

"The U.S. has never clearly condemned Israel's massacres against the Palestinian people and insists on launching war on 12-year-sanction-hit Iraq.

"Arabs and Muslims are left with a feeling of powerlessness; hence those random attacks that bespeak frustration with unjust American policies. If not for oppressive governments, they would have flooded streets in massive anti-U.S. demonstrations," Al-Naqr concluded.

Abdul-Bary Atwan, Middle East political analyst and editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, also said anti-U.S. attacks in the region appear to be on the rise, citing the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq as a reason behind the escalating attacks.

In an article titled "Violence in Arab Streets" Atwan deduced that:  

"Firstly, anti-U.S. sentiment has reached its peak in the Middle East, which might reflect catastrophically on the West and the U.S. administration. Al-Qaeda and other groups might be able to recruit deeply frustrated young people in various places in the Arab and Islamic worlds."

"Secondly," said Atwan, "the dread of once mighty Arab regimes is increasingly and unexpectedly dwindling. Talking politics in a country like Saudi Arabia used to be a sin. Now Saudi youths attack police, burn down stores and take part in attacks against U.S. bases in Al-Khubar and Riyadh."

"Thirdly, the majority of those who carried out attacks against U.S. and Western targets were in rich Arab Gulf countries known for strong relations with the U.S., which clearly points to a severe problem with political regimes there and a deep disrespect for the feelings of citizens in the region."  

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