Lebanon:
Hizbullah
Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said:
"What happened yesterday is a message for all humanity, and especially for
Arab and Islamic peoples and the peoples of the Third World. This is a message
to all those who in recent years thought that the U.S. was God... America the
superpower, with its navy, its science, and its invasion of space threatens the
Planet Earth with war... Yet, yesterday it stood stunned as the space shuttle
exploded in the skies and fell to earth without anyone being able to do a thing.
Whether it wanted to or not, the U.S. stood submissive to the will of
Allah."
Source:
AFP, cited by Al-Bayan (UAE), February 3, 2003; reproduced courtesy of MEMRI
Institute.
Lebanon:
Nur
Al-Din Sati', a columnist for the Lebanese pro-Syrian daily Al-Safir,
wrote: "... Although the disaster will not change imperialist American
behavior across the world, the loss caused by the crash of the Columbia
is not restricted to America, which will continue to be a center of attraction
for the minds and geniuses of the entire world, six of whom were lost two days
ago; as for the seventh, his expertise was in destroying homes and pinpoint
strikes at civilian targets, so he should not be classified [as a
genius]."
Source:
Al-Safir (Lebanon), February 3, 2003; reproduced courtesy of MEMRI
Institute
United
Arab Emirates:
Hamed
Salamin, a columnist for the UAE daily Al-Bayan,
wrote: "Feelings of sadness and joy intermingle at the sight of the
fragments of the American space shuttle Columbia scattering in the skies
of Texas. These conflicting feelings make those feeling them probe the obscurity
of their souls to seek out the reasons for the sadness and the joy... An
atmosphere of sadness and shock overcame the Israelis two days ago when NASA
announced [Ramon's] death... This is enough to arouse joy in every heart that
beats Arabism and Islam... Perhaps the sight of the Columbia shuttle's
crashing in the town of Palestine, Texas reminds the Israeli people of the daily
tragedy of the Palestinians - of the sorrow, the blood, and the massacres that
the army of the [Zionist] entity carries out on the occupied lands. But it would
not appear that the vast majority of Israelis have feelings for others... The Columbia
disaster is a loss to all, even though emotions are conflicting. Sincerest
condolences to the American people and to the families of the six American
astronauts, and Ramon should go to hell. There is no sorrow for him
whatsoever."
Source:
Al-Bayan
(UAE),
February 3, 2003; reproduced courtesy of MEMRI
Institute
Libya:
Khaled Ghalam
in the Libyan newspaper Al-Zahf Al-Akhdhar: "... The
Americans, whose administration has set them at odds with the world due to its
blind policy, found no one to comfort them, even in this bleak moment... What
will Bush say to his people this time? Did bin Laden fly in a space shuttle like
Columbia and crash into it...? Or perhaps Hamas used short-range Qassam
rockets to explode it? Perhaps [the disaster was deliberate] so as to serve as a
pretext for Blix and Al-Barad'i to explain the danger of nuclear warheads that
cross the atmosphere and hit shuttles? ..."
"Our only condolences to the American people are for its administration...
which has lost human feeling and genuine love in its attitude towards the
world's governments and peoples."
Source:
Al-Zahf Al-Akhdhar (Libya), February 3, 2003; reproduced courtesy of MEMRI
Institute