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O 041008Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6853
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
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7977
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4944
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4794
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6282
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4713
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3317
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002180
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STATE PASS BBG
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC
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 (12/04): Will the EU Break Under
Pressure from the U.S. and Israel?
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Main Stories:
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A confidential EU report condemning Israeli policies that sever East
Jerusalem from the West Bank, continues to receive front page
coverage in the dailies. Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam both quote Palestinian
Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's encouragement of EU
countries to proceed with efforts to recognize East Jerusalem as the
capital of the Palestinian State. Al-Ayyam also reports on Israel's
continued criticisms of the EU's statements.
Reports in the Palestinian dailies continue to focus on the
rejection of the settlement moratorium by Israeli settlers in the
West Bank. Lead photos in the independent daily Al-Quds, and the
independent daily Al-Ayyam, depict a settler as he watches the
construction of a new synagogue in the northern West Bank settlement
of Kidumim. According to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is urging settlers to be patient - that
settlementconstruction may be pursued at the end of the ten-month
moratorium.
Citing reports in the Hebrew daily Maariv, Independent News outlet
Ma'an reports that Knesset members from Israel's Likud and Kadima
parties will be drafting a resolution to exclude large settlement
blocs from Netanyahu's partial settlement freeze.
Reports that Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit was transferred to Cairo
with Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar was denied by Abu Mujahid, Popular
Resistance Committees spokesman. According to Ma'an news and the
dailies, Mujahid issued a statement saying that Israel is
"propagating" false information about Shalit, in order to force the
hand of Palestinian negotiators. Abu Mujahid also added that the
ball is in Israel's court and noted that "a deal is not done yet."
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BLOCK QUOTES:
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1) Al-Quds, "There Has To Be International Support to the European
Move" (12/04): "The EU proposal for recognizing East Jerusalem as
the capital of the Palestinian state is a historical step from the
EU that needs to be supported by the international community in
order to succeed... The international community shouldn't let the
opportunity go."
2) Samih Shbib, Al-Ayyam, "The European Position!" (12/04),
comments on the fears that Israel, with support from the U.S., will
exert pressure on some European countries not to vote for the EU's
decision to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
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Palestinian Cyberspace:
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Netanyahu's settlement moratorium speech has been the subject of
postings by many Palestinian bloggers. Loai Madoun, a member of the
Fida party, poses a rhetorical question and then responds to it, in
an article entitled, "What Peace is Netanyahu Pursuing?" Madoun
asks, "(w)hat peace is Netanyahu seeking with his last speech...
undermining the International community and the American
Administration." Rajeh Khoury, in his article, "Netanyahu Fighting
Obama Inside the Congress Castle," asks: "Is this a fight between
two men, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu? Or is it a
JERUSALEM 00002180 002 OF 002
crisis between two states: Israel and America?"
The Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap-deal is also under scrutiny. David
Kuttab, in "Under "The Prisoners' Case: A Reflection on the
Conflict," writes: "If you ever want to have a single case that can
illustrate all the sources of disagreement in the Middle East all
you need to do is look at the Shalit prisoner-exchange deal."
In his article, "Why Does America Hate Us?" Haidar Eid writes: "The
Palestinians have realized, thanks to Hillary Clinton, that the US
is biased toward Israel."
The following videos are also circulating on Palestinian social
media sites, depicting Israeli soldiers' and settlers' practices
against Palestinians:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl_vIZg1zwI
http://bit.ly/7iMni1
http://bit.ly/607QNk
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Cartoons of the Week:
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This illustration appeared in Al-Quds on December 3. The cartoon
portrays the difficulty faced by Palestinians in establishing the
Palestinian state: a Palestinian man attempts to push a huge rock
in the shape of the world, up a steep slope, as in the Greek myth of
Sisyphus, in the direction of the arrow reading "The Palestinian
State."
The following cartoon appeared in Al-Ayyam on December 3, the day
after Palestinian and Pan Arab outlets ran a video of an Israeli
settler repeatedly running-over a wounded Palestinian with his car.
In this cartoon, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is depicted at the
wheel of a Mercedes, running over the peace pigeon in much the same
way. The caption reads, "an intentional accident."
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