Arab World

On the day Secretary of State Colin L. Powell consulted with Jordanian leaders about conditions in the Middle East, hundreds of angry men and women marched through this Arab capital yesterday, chanting "Where is the Arabic army?" and "No peace negotiations. " The raucous but orderly protest was one of two sizable gatherings in Amman, the latest in a series of anti-Israeli and anti-American protests across the Arab world that are growing larger, bolder and more violent. The unrest is putting pressure on moderate governments such as Jordan's that could make cooperation with America more difficult.

How much do you know about the Middle East, whose crises and conflicts often dominate world events? What's the capital of Saudi Arabia? Who was Mohammed? When did Kuwait gain its independence? And how should the United States and the western world respond to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait? That last question was discussed at length during a conference on Saturday called "Behind the Headlines: Social and Political Forces in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf," held at the Moorestown Friends Meeting House.

While the Western world may be sighing in relief over news of a possible diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis, Israel has no choice but to react more cautiously, and slowly, according to Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, who spoke here last night. "We are dealing with a country with a leader whose scale of brutality can't be compared," said Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold, who addressed the 37th annual scholarship fund dinner for Yardley's Abrams Hebrew Academy, held at Adath Israel Congregation in Lawrenceville.

We have a poster of a presidential candidate at a bus stop in Philly that was compared by the Daily News to be the likeness of a dictator in the novel "1984. " A reporter once compared him to Jesus without the miracles. He is half white and half black. He is part Christian and part Muslim. Europe likes him, the Arabs like him, black and white Americans love him. College students treat him like a rock star. He is the everyman. He promises to do all he can to bring peace to the Middle East.

President Bush wanted U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia to be part of a multinational force for an important reason. In the Arab world, with its memories of colonialism, there is strong sentiment against intervention by the West. That is a theme that Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein has been playing on for all it's worth. He has been presenting himself, with some success among Arab publics, as the only Arab tough enough to defy the West - and Israel - and restore historic Arab glory.

In their rush to renew diplomatic relations with Egypt, Arab states have implicitly accepted Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, suggesting that they have lost enthusiasm for the confrontation with the Jewish state and that they now see Iran as the principal threat to their security. At the close of an emergency summit in Jordan on Nov. 11, Arab leaders, emphasizing the need for "total solidarity" in the face of Iranian aggression, declared that individual states were free to resume formal ties with Cairo, although Egypt's suspension from the Arab League remained in force.

JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister gave a cool reception Wednesday to a new Arab Mideast peace initiative, saying the conflict with the Palestinians was not about territory but rather the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland. The remarks signaled trouble for Secretary of State John Kerry's new push for Mideast peace and risked reinforcing Benjamin Netanyahu's image as a hard-liner unwilling to make the tough concessions required for peace. Netanyahu has not commented directly on the Arab League's latest initiative, but his words questioned its central tenet - the exchange of captured land for peace - and appeared to counter a modified peace proposal from the Arab world that Washington and Netanyahu's own chief negotiator have welcomed.

Iraq's invasion of tiny, neighboring Kuwait yesterday left most other Arab leaders bewildered, cowed and looking a bit foolish. And so they did not immediately answer the dramatic S.O.S. broadcast on Kuwaiti radio: "The people of Kuwait, their honor is being violated and their blood is being shed. Hurry to their aid, you Arabs. " In Cairo, where foreign ministers had just finished a meeting of the Islamic Conference Organization, not so much as a mild reproach was forthcoming in the hours after the attack.

An international conference assembled to launch a new era of Arab-Israeli cooperation met the real world yesterday. The Palestinians staged a last- minute boycott. Despite the boycott, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations that had never been in direct contact with Israel sat down with Israeli representatives and the world's industrial powers to discuss common economic, environmental, military and social problems. "The presence of Arabs at this conference provides proof that Arab nations desire peace," said Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister.

Confrontation with Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Khadafy has been at the top of President Reagan's foreign policy agenda since he took office, and eliminating or crippling the Libyan leader is one of the jobs he wants to finish before he leaves. Americans may well wonder if Reagan has gone too far this time, however. In an attempt to make his world safer for democracy, there is real danger that he may leave the American people a legacy of enmity with the peoples of the Middle East that may last well into the 21st century.