Cablegate: Jerusalem Media Reaction (10/08): Hamas Threatens To

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WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
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TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS

SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (10/08): Hamas threatens to
postpone national reconciliation over Goldstone report

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Main Stories:
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The local press highlights news on the UN Security Council rejecting
Libya's request to discuss the Goldstone report, saying that the
Human Rights Council is the most appropriate body for such a
discussion. In related news, the dailies report on State Department
Spokesperson Ian Kelley reiterating that the US wants to defer
discussion of the report so it will not become an impediment to the
resumption of negotiations.

News questioning whether or not Hamas will participate in the
national reconciliation talks scheduled for later this month in
Egypt receives prominent coverage in the local press. Hamas'
spokespersons note that they are working with Egyptian officials to
determine whether or not they will boycott the talks to protest
against the Palestinian Authority's (PA) involvement in delaying the
vote on the Goldstone report. Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit
is quoted in the press stating that any Palestinian faction that
tries to postpone the reconciliation agreement will damage
Palestinian national efforts.

The dailies continue to report on the demonstrations against the PA
for postponing the vote on the Goldstone report. The Secretary
General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Central
Committee, Yasser Abed Rabbo, noted in an interview with Palestinian
official TV that the PA made a mistake and must rectify it.

The dailies report on Israeli settlers inaugurating the second phase
of a settlement project in Jabal Al-Mukabber in East Jerusalem. The
project includes the establishment of 104 housing units after
confiscating land in East Jerusalem. The inauguration, according to
coverage, was conducted under the full protection of the Israeli
police.
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BLOCK QUOTES:
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1) Basem Al-Jiser opines in Al-Quds independent daily under the
title "The world ... after a year with Obama in office" (10/08):
"President Obama has realized that in order to ensure peace and
stability in the region, the Palestinians need an independent state
... to a certain extent, Obama has succeeded in changing the image
of the US in the Arab and Muslim worlds. However, the new era that
President Obama promised he will bring has not yet arrived. If it
doesn't arrive in the next year, then it will never come with Obama
in office."

2) Al-Quds independent daily runs an editorial under the title "The
solution is through reconciliation and elections and not in
postponing" (10/08):"We call on the Palestinian factions not to
postpone the reconciliation and we call on them to agree on a final
date for holding presidential and legislative elections ... we have
already suffered a lot from the internal division, the
reconciliation and elections are our only exit."

RUBINSTEIN

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