VZCZCXRO4563
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1729/01 2610912
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170912Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2801
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 7322
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4304
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4157
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5651
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4072
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2638
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001729
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 (9/17): "ONE NATIONAL VISION AND
ONE NATIONAL ADDRESS THAT PLACES THE INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE ABOVE
ALL OTHERS."
-------------
Main Stories:
-------------
The September 16 meeting between Palestinian Authority President
Abbas and Israeli Premier Olmert receives highlighted coverage in
all dailies. Front-page pictures show the two leaders shaking
hands. Leading with the story, Al-Quds reports that Abbas,
"expressed disappointment," over Israel's, "failure to meet its
commitments." The report also quotes Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb
Erekat noting that the meeting was held in accordance with
understandings reached at Annapolis that any agreement must be based
on resolving all final-status issues. The paper notes that Israeli
Foreign Minister Livni did not attend the meeting, citing her
activities involving Kadima Party elections. Coverage on Israeli
Kadima Party elections does make the front pages, but reporting is
not detailed nor highlighted.
An Al-Quds' front page story quotes Palestinian negotiator Ahmad
Quray stating that negotiations with Israel are difficult but have
not reached the point where parties must compromise. He explains
that any negotiations that start with compromises cannot succeed and
that Palestinian ambitions, "are not subject to compromise."
Armed clashes on September 16 between Hamas and the powerful Gaza
Daghmash clan garner prominent coverage in the dailies. Al-Ayyam
leads with the news, noting that clashes lasted for many hours and
included the launching of rockets. All papers report that 11
people, including two children, were killed. In other Gaza news,
Al-Quds reports that Khaled Abu Arafih, a Jerusalem resident and
minister in the former Hamas government, was released by Israel on
September 16, after 27-months of detention.
Citing unidentified Israeli security sources, Al-Ayyam reports on
its front page that the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Authority
(PA) are discussing a plan to replicate the security model
implemented in Janin, in other West Bank cities. The report states
that, while the PA would like Hebron to be the next city, Israel
prefers the northern border town of Tulkarm. In related front page
coverage, Al-Ayyam runs a story on the recent World Bank report that
states that the Palestinian Authority has made great progress in its
reform and development efforts and in imposing the rule of law in
parts of the West Bank. The report includes implied criticism of
Israel's "limited" improvement of Palestinian freedom of movement,
the paper notes.
The dailies continue front-page coverage of the global financial
crisis, running wire stories that highlight concerns over the
possible collapse of the major U.S. insurance company AIG.
A September 16 meeting between U.S. Commerce officials in Ramallah
and Palestinian representatives of the IT sector gets prominent
coverage on all dailies' economic pages. The reports state that the
visiting International Trade Agency desk officer and Foreign
Commercial Service officer discussed challenges facing Palestinian
information and communications technology infrastructure. Separate
articles carry coverage on the US Trade and Development Agency
signing ceremony also held in Ramallah on September 16, in which
USTDA awarded a local IT company a $412,093 grant to help establish
JERUSALEM 00001729 002 OF 002
the first commercial Internet data center in the West Bank.
------------
BLOCK QUOTES:
------------
1. Al-Quds independent writes in its main editorial entitled "Cairo
Dialogue is an Opportunity Not to Be Wasted" (09/17): "Fatah and
Hamas, or more precisely, the Palestinian Authority and the
Palestinian Government in Gaza, should benefit from this [one-time]
opportunity. Dialogue should place the interests of Palestine and
its people above those of the personal, party and factional
nature... the will of the people [should be consulted since they]
suffer from the consequences of the disputes and internal division
that is deepening with each passing day... What we need, especially
from Hamas, is more flexibility in dealing with the Egyptian
proposals and what we hope to get from Egypt, is the opening of the
Rafah crossing, because the citizens of Gaza Strip are Palestinians
above all else, and because the majority [of Gazans] are not
politicized, nor belong to any faction. They want to live in
dignity and be allowed to travel freely like people in the rest of
the world. The Palestinian people want a responsible, constructive
dialogue in Cairo and are following developments closely, expecting
positive results. This is the message that the Palestinian people
are sending to the leadership of Fatah and Hamas."
2. Columnist Mohammid Allush opines in official Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
under the title, "Negotiations and Resistance... New Similarities"
(09/17): "[Palestinians]... are witnessing an unprecedented state of
division that was further deepened by the Hamas coup in the Gaza
Strip... It is essential that national unity be restored since our
main confrontation should now be with Israel. We need to mobilize
the peoples' energy in the political, social and institutional
arenas, and re-engage popular resistance [against] the occupation
and its racist policies. We need to conduct political resistance in
all its forms, as the situation allows... we have to strive to make
national dialogue a success... we must look for similarities between
the resistance and negotiations, and develop one national vision and
one national address that places the interest of the people above
all others."
WALLES