INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Jerusalem Media Reaction (11/20): Popular Campaign Against

Published: Fri 20 Nov 2009 09:49 AM
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STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD
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TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (11/20): Popular Campaign Against
Settlements; PA Rejects Temporary Borders
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Main Stories:
-------------Al Citing Ma'an and Reuters, independent daily Al-Quds
quotes jailed Fatah leader, Marwan Barghouti, saying that
Palestinian-Israeli negotiations have failed. He called for a
popular campaign against settlements and urged Palestinians to apply
a mix of diplomatic and popular action as well as other means to
achieve statehood. He also called on Hamas to end the internal
state of division, which he referred to as "a crime against the
nation" and restore national unity.
- The Palestinian Authority's (PA) official daily, Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida, reports on the statement by Mohammad Nasr, member of the
Hamas political bureau, that Hamas will not sign the Egyptian
national reconciliation proposal.
- Independent daily Al-Ayyam leads with President Mahmoud Abbas
reiterating that his decision not to run in the next elections is a
"final" one. During an interview with BBC in Amman, Abbas said that
Hamas is conducting secret negotiations with Israel in Geneva for a
state with temporary borders.
- In an exclusive interview with Al-Ayyam, Yasser Abed Rabbo,
Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, stated that the PA
will not consider any proposal that fails to include a complete
cessation of settlement activities or which allows for temporary
borders.
Al
Al Al-Quds reports on Nabil Shaath, Fatah Central Committee member,
reiterating that the Arab States are assisting the PA in its attempt
to get the UNSC to adopt a resolution recognizing an independent
Palestinian state.
Al Al Quds and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida lead with continued reporting on
settlement construction. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quotes Arab-Israeli
Knesset member, Ahmad Tibi, regarding GOI plans to construct 15,000
Israeli housing units in "occupied" Jerusalem. Al-Quds, citing
Khalil Tufakji a Palestinian expert in settlements affairs, reports
that under a plan endorsed by the GOI in 1996, Israel will construct
more than 48,000 housing units (to accommodate 500,000 settlers) in
Jerusalem by 2020. Al-Quds also front pages that "In light of U.S.
pressure... Israel postpones the release of a tender to construct
1500 housing units in Jerusalem" in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze'ev.
- Ma'an and the dailies report on the arrest of an Israeli
teenager, by Israeli police, for stabbing a 42-year-old Palestinian
in East Jerusalem. According to reports, the teenager attacked the
man while he was at a bus stop.
- The dailies and Ma'an report on the announcement by the
Palestinian Telecommunications Company (PalTel) that it cancelled
its agreement with Jordan's Zain Telecommunication Network due to
Zain's inability to fulfill basic conditions of the agreement.
Pa Ma'an reports that Palestine was allocated a postal code by the
Universal Postal Union (UPU) following successful talks with UPU in
Berne, Switzerland. The issuance of the postal code will help
guarantee the independence of the Palestinian postal system when it
is re-launched, making it distinct from the Israeli system.
JERUSALEM 00002086 002 OF 002
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BLOCK QUOTES:
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RRajab Abu Sirriyeh opines in independent daily Al-Ayyam
under the title "Abu Mazen... a different leadership figure"
(11/20): "In his announcement not to run in the next elections,
Abbas seems very serious and intent ... his ultimate goal at this
juncture is to achieve national unity and end the internal
division...he is willing to sacrifice running if this will achieve
national unity".
--------------------------PALESTINIAN CYBERSPACE:
-----------------------
Palestinian social media scene (Twitter and Facebook) has mocked the
U.S. Government's response to Israel's announcement of the
construction of 900 new units in Gilo, specifically the choice of
"dismay." Also circulating are reports on American Jews traveling
to Jerusalem to join settlers in a cornerstone ceremony for future
Jewish settlements. (Reference to USG's response to new
settlements: http://ow.ly/DB2g;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7REFp3YDkc; Cornerstone ceremony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_PilOjjes.)
---------------------
Cartoons of the Week:
--------------------
1) Independent daily Al-Ayyam on November 16 showed Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to decide which unilateral steps
to take in response to the PA's move to seek international
recognition of a Palestinian state. The caption reads: Israel and
its future steps!?
2) On November 17, Al-Quds ran an illustration of the anticipated
Palestinian state as scattered islands in the sea: Ramallah appears
with the Palestinian flag; Jenin, Nablus, etc., have no geographic
contiguity.
RUBINSTEIN
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