The European Press View the Middle East: Sharon's Temple Mount Visit "Unprecedented Act of Provocation," Says Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung

France's Le Figaro commented on Oct. 2 that it was too late to turn the clock back. "[Yasser Arafat] can no longer restrain his people's anger," the paper said. "This simple fact should put pressure on all those who want to see peace in the Middle East. Israel and the Palestinians are never going to solve the difficult Jerusalem question alone." Three days later the European press was looking toward the Middle East summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. France's Liberation on Oct. 16 observed that a new Israeli-Palestinian summit is "better than military escalation." However, the paper said, it is also better not to have any illusions about the outcome of the summit. "At best, it will be a blueprint for a cease-fire, which then has to be put into action on site," the paper observed. "And it will not be easy to silence the weapons." Most papers agreed that both Arafat and [Barak] are in difficult positions. Britain's Guardian on Oct. 19 outlined Arafat's problems: "The deep, unfeigned anger of younger generations of Palestinians at a peace process they see as weighted against their nation's interests has both wrongfooted and galvanized their corrupt, lackluster leadership, and stirred the apathetic Arab world beyond," the paper wrote. "[Arafat] is increasingly in danger of being seen by them as the stooge of a discredited, U.S.-led scheme to circumvent U.N. resolutions, stifle Palestine's legitimate aspirations, and consolidate Israel's quasi-colonial dominance."