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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7295
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RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
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RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8056
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5009
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4855
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6343
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4774
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3378
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000084
SIPDIS
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 (01/15): General Jones reaffirms
the U.S. commitment to the two state solution
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Main Stories:
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The dailies report on the meeting between Palestinian Authority (PA)
President Mahmoud Abbas and US National Security Advisor Jim Jones
yesterday in Ramallah. Leading headlines report that Jones
reiterated President Obama's commitment and determination to
establish an independent Palestinian State.
PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Jones reaffirmed that the
resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations is the best way to
allow the US to help the Palestinians. PA Presidency spokesperson
Nabil Abu Rudeina noted that Jones stressed that the US will
continue its efforts to achieve peace in the region and will remain
committed to the two state solution.
Independent daily Al-Quds leads with President Abbas' statements
during his interview with "Sawt Al-Arab-Arabs Voice" station in
Egypt. Abbas said that the PA will resist US pressure to resume
negotiations before a complete freeze in settlement activity and
noted that the US pressure on the Palestinians to resume
negotiations without a full freeze is "unfair".
The dailies report that Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Husam
Zaki told the press that the relationship between Hamas and Egypt
has not reached a "dead end yet" despite the latest tension between
them over the steel wall. Khaled Mishal, head of the Hamas political
bureau, said he will visit Egypt immediately if invited.
The Fatah Revolutionary Council will start a three day meeting today
to follow up on the Fatah Sixth Party Congress held in Bethlehem
last August. President Abbas and Fatah Central Committee members
will participate in the meetings. The Council will also discuss the
stalemate in the peace process and continued Israeli settlement
activities.
The dailies report that settlers from the Ma'oun settlement near
Hebron uprooted 70 olive trees belonging to Palestinians yesterday.
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BLOCK QUOTE:
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Mouhammad Yaghi, writing in Al-Ayyam under the title "Why is the
Prisoner Exchange Deal Obstructed?" believes that the international
community is imposing pressure on Israel not to proceed with the
deal until the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations,
arguing that they believe that the success of the deal will weaken
the PA.
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Palestinian Cyberspace:
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This week, Palestinian cyberspace focused on the Israeli
authorities' and settlers' "assaults" on Palestinians and the
tension on the border between Egypt and Gaza.
Many social media sites carried the Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights' (PCHR) weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in
the Palestinian Territories.
Several blogs focused on the steel wall that Egypt is building on
their border with Gaza. Khalid Amayreh, a journalist based in the
Palestinian town of Dura, blogged on what he called the
"Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip."
JERUSALEM 00000084 002 OF 002
On PalestineNote.com, George Hishmeh, a founding member of the
Jerusalem Fund and former writer for the US Information Agency,
blogged under the title "Obama talked the talk but hasn't walked the
walk" saying, "What is needed here is more action by the Obama
administration and fewer words."
RUBINSTEIN