Arab media judge Mitchell tour

When the US envoy to the Middle East returned to Washington empty-handed, the Arab press asked why he had failed to secure a compromise deal for renewed peace talks.
But rather than pointing a finger at George Mitchell, editorials for the most part blamed Israel - and Netanyahu in particular.
A Fatah-owned Palestinian paper, Al Quds, said that "as planned" by [Israeli PM] Netanyahu, the two men's talks had ended in deadlock. Israel had remained "adamant in its desire to steal land, expand settlements and judaize Jerusalem".
The newspaper called on Washington and Brussels to understand Israel was seeking to destroy any peace process.
But the daily also expressed its doubt about a Palestinian policy focus of putting pre-conditions on talks - such as a complete halt to illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank. "This gave Israel more time to impose its plans and evade the requirements of just and comprehensive peace."
In a commentary printed by Al Ayyam, another privately owned pro-Fatah newspaper, pessimism about the chances for a breakthrough were also voiced.
It said the Obama administration was "too weak" to sacrifice the US strategic alliance with Israel for the sake of stopping settlement activity as this would effectively mean breaking apart Netanyahu's coalition government.
Meanwhile, the Gaza daily Filastin said the meeting between [Palestinian President Mahmud] Abbas and [Hamas political leader Khaled] Meshaal would achieve more than of any of Mitchell's efforts to bring together Abbas and Netanyahu.
A second commentary condemned Mitchell for not visiting Gaza or talking to Hamas, accusing him of "going to the wrong addresses and knocking on the wrong doors". LinkHere