VZCZCXRO1170
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1404/01 2141119
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 011119Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2359
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7239
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4224
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4077
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5575
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3993
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2558
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001404
SIPDIS
STATE PASS BBG
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC FOR ABRAMS
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (8/01): Strong support for
Palestinian national dialogue
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Main Stories:
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The lead story in all the dailies is the visit of Palestinian
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to Tunisia on July 31.
Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida run a banner headline in red,
proclaiming that Abbas has ordered [all factions] to release all
prisoners arrested following the Gaza explosion on July 25. Al Quds
also runs a large headline with the following quote by Abbas:
"[There will be] no international veto of national reconciliation
and dialogue will be launched soon. The U.S. is still committed to
finding a solution before the end of 2008." In further reporting,
Al-Quds writes that in a press conference held at the end of his
visit to Tunisia, Abbas announced that he had met with the Tunisian
President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, and had discussed
intra-Palestinian negotiations and national unity as well as
Palestinian-Tunisian relations.
Coverage in all dailies continues to report on the fall-out of
Olmert's announcement that he will resign once his Kadima party has
elected a new leader in September, with particular focus on the
competition between two possible Kadima successors, Israeli Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni and Israeli Minister of Transportation Shaul
Mofaz. The headline in Al-Quds reads, "Mofaz and Livni compete for
Kadima's leadership and Netanyahu [of the Likud party] requests
early parliamentary elections," while Al-Ayyam writes, "Israel
enters a misty period with the beginning of the war to succeed
Olmert," and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida announces, "the war to succeed
Olmert is deepening and Netanyahu has called for early elections."
In related coverage in all dailies, an Israeli official said on July
31 that Olmert will try to reach a peace agreement with the
Palestinians before the end of 2008. In other coverage in Al-Ayyam,
Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riad Al- Malki is said to
have announced on July 31 in a press conference in Madrid that the
Palestinian Authority "is not worried" about the resignation of
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert.
Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam report on the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations
held in Washington. Al-Quds reports that the Israelis and
Palestinians will continue building on the Washington negotiations,
and according to statements she made to the media on July 31,
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is reportedly hopeful that an
agreement will be reached. An Al-Ayyam headline quotes Sa'eb
Erekat, the Palestinian Chief Negotiator, as saying, "there will be
no state and no reconciliation without Jerusalem, and we have given
Washington and Israel a list of names of [Palestinian] prisoners to
be released."
Al-Quds devotes part of its front page to reports about Israeli
actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, including a large story
about the Al-Kurd family in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem), who was
ordered to evacuate their home in an Israeli Supreme Court decision
handed down on July 14. Al-Ayyam also reports on this story in an
inside page. Both dailies report on the sit-ins that have taken
place in solidarity with the family since the court decision was
announced. The two dailies cite Demetri Deliani, a Jerusalem-based
Fatah spokesperson, as having said on July 31 that Jewish-American
money is the backbone of Israeli settlement activities in Jerusalem
and that this money is taken from the U.S. economy to support
Israeli actions in Jerusalem. The dailies also report that the
political attach of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem received on
July 31 a Jerusalemite delegation including Deliani, Ahmad Ruweidi
(who holds the Jerusalem file at the Palestinian Presidency), Hatem
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Abdul Qader (advisor to the Palestinian Prime Minister) and Fatah
leader Kifah Radaydeh. The delegation reportedly briefed the U.S.
official on the latest developments in Jerusalem and asked the U.S.
to intervene in the matter in its role as sponsor of the peace
process. The delegation is said to have given the U.S. official
various documents, including papers proving that the Al-Kurds are
the rightful owners of the house, and copies of the fake ownership
documents supplied by the Israelis. In other coverage on Israeli
actions in the West Bank, Al-Quds reports the arrest on July 31 of
several Palestinian youth in the village of Anabta, near Tulkarem,
and also in Ni'lin village near Ramallah. These arrests were
carried out by Israeli soldiers.
The dailies highlight that all the Palestinian factions received on
July 31 a letter from Egypt, inviting them to Cairo to start a
Palestinian national dialogue. In an exclusive interview with
Al-Quds on July 31, Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq said that Hamas
welcomes Egyptian efforts to unite the Palestinians. Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida quotes another Hamas leader, Ismail Radwan, as saying in a
press conference on July 31 in the Gaza Strip that "we [Hamas] will
determine our attitude regarding the Egyptian invitation after we
know its details."
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BLOCK QUOTES:
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1. Independent Al-Quds runs its daily editorial by Rajeh Abu Asab
entitled, "Making the national dialogue successful is in the
Palestinian and Arab interest" (8/01): "Abbas has announced the
launch of the Palestinian-Palestinian national dialogue following
his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo last Sunday [July
27]under Egyptian and Arab League sponsorship ... Following his
national duty as the leader of the Palestinian people, Abbas seeks
with all his power, and without respite, to draw a limit to the
internal Palestinian struggle ... President Abbas has justified the
Egyptian sponsorship of the Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue by
saying, during his meetings with the editors-in-chief of several
Egyptian newspapers, that Egypt is familiar with all the minute
details regarding the internal Palestinian situation and has a
wealth of experience in dealing with it. Egypt has also hosted many
previous dialogues and this is what qualifies it to play such a role
and [in the opinion of this columnist], Abbas is right in this
choice ... All Palestinian factions should respond to the call for
dialogue issued by these two presidents, Abbas and Mubarak, and
participate in the national dialogue and let it succeed ... [Abbas]
cares about making this dialogue a success because it is in the
interest of the Palestinian people. President Abbas has confirmed
that he has placed no pre-conditions for this
Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue and has stressed that the dialogue
will be based on the Yemen initiative and on his own initiative,
which he announced recently. He has also confirmed that there is no
American veto of the dialogue because the dialogue is in the
Palestinian national interest. We hope that all factions will
respond to this generous call to start dialogue..."
2. Independent Al-Ayyam carries its daily editorial by a member of
the Palestinian National Council, Azmi Al-Khawaja, entitled, "Going
back to start a Palestinian national dialogue" (8/01): "In the past
100 years we have not witnessed a strong and painful
Palestinian-Palestinian conflict similar to the one we are
witnessing nowadays. The [internal] fight and the ongoing division
negatively affect the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza
JERUSALEM 00001404 003 OF 003
Strip, where Palestinians are suffering from the 'siege' imposed by
Israel, and from the lack of international legislation ... We
[Palestinians] cannot solve this [situation] unless we go back to
the Palestinian national dialogue, and unless all parties and
political powers participate in it, in addition to Arab powers who
care about our national unity. The dialogue should be preceded by
the following steps to guarantee its success:
- Hamas and Fatah should stop their negative media campaigns against
each other;
- Hamas and Fatah should release all political prisoners and cease
their mutual arrest and invasion campaigns;
- Hamas should vacate all the presidential sites and hand them over
to Abu Mazen;
- Hamas and Fatah should sign an agreement outlawing the use of
violence in dealing with internal conflicts.
So, the division should not continue, and we [Palestinians] should
not solve our problems with violence because there will be no future
for any Palestinian faction, regardless of how powerful it is, as
long as this internal division exists. We should not give up and
should continue calling for a Palestinian national dialogue because
there is no other option."
WALLES