This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

271121Z Mar 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001938 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Los Angeles Demonstrations - 
Israeli Elections - Belarus 
 
 
PARIS - Monday, March 27, 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Los Angeles - Demonstrations 
Israeli Elections 
Belarus 
 
(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
The issue of PM Villepin's controversial employment measure 
continues to dominate headlines in the weekend and Monday 
press. Left of center Le Monde's Sunday front page read: 
"Villepin's Intransigence Lets the Street Do the Talking." 
Adding to the continuing conflict over the CPE is the real 
risk that the under-privileged suburbs will flare up again. 
Weekly Sunday right of center paper Le Journal du Dimanche's 
editorial wonders: "Who will come out as the winner in this 
interminable conflict? 
 
Private TF-1 television reported on Sunday the "surprisingly" 
large mobilization of Hispanics in California and Arizona to 
protest a new federal law making its way through the House 
significantly increasing penalties and prison time for 
clandestine immigration to the U.S. Right of center Le Figaro 
on Monday devotes a half page to the "Immigration Battle That 
Has Fired Up Los Angeles." "Never, even during the height of 
the Vietnam war had Los Angeles seen a demonstration of this 
scope." The estimates are about 500,000 protestors. (See Part 
C) 
 
Right of center Le Figaro reports that a "Franco-Egyptian" 
debate exists over the January 3, 2004 crash that claimed the 
lives o 148 people, 134 of whom were French. The French 
investigators are contesting the findings of their Egyptian 
counterparts. The Egyptian investigators blame the crash on 
technical problems thereby blaming Boeing. The French 
investigators contend that the crash was due to the Egyptian 
Flash Airlines pilot falling asleep. 
 
For La Croix "Israelis are Unenthusiastically Going to Vote." 
(See Part C) 
 
Left of Center Liberation on Saturday reported the government 
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Belarus. 
Liberation's correspondent was briefly detained by the police 
and released only when French diplomats intervened.  Right of 
Center Le Figaro on Saturday reported the EU's decision to 
implement sanctions on Belarus.  The EU will "take restrictive 
measures against those who are politically and 
administratively responsible for violations" of human rights, 
"including President Loukachenko," announced the Austrians, 
currently head of the EU.  The White House spokesman, Le 
Figaro notes, announced that Washington "would react in unison 
with Brussels." 
The editorial in right of center Le Figaro on Monday by Pierre 
Rousselin suggests that: "the legislative elections yesterday 
held in Ukraine prove that the Orange Revolution was not waged 
for nothing." (See Part C) 
 
 (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Los Angeles - Demonstrations 
 
"Immigration Peoples the American Streets" 
Washington correspondent for left-of-center Liberation writes 
(03/27): "It is by way of huge demonstrations in several 
cities, including a record 500,000 people in L.A., that on 
Saturday Hispanics in the U.S. opened the debate that the 
American political circles had always taken pains to carefully 
delay until now." 
 
Israeli Elections 
"The Sharon Heritage at the Heart of the Elections" 
Jerusalem correspondent in Catholic La Croix (03/27): "Ehoud 
Olmert is not well-liked by the general public but with the 
discreet support of Washington he is beginning to look more 
and more like a statesman." 
 
"The Abbas Scenario" 
Bernard Guetta on state-run France Inter radio commented this 
morning (03/27): "The most likely scenario. is that the 
elections will lead Israel to unilaterally redefine its 
boundaries after having withdrawn from a large part of the 
West Bank. The `separation' scenario may be the most likely, 
but there remains a glimmer of hope that true, negotiated 
peace that is acceptable to both sides may come about in the 
next few months. Mahmoud Abbas says that he is convinced that 
a definitive settlement to the crisis is possible within a 
year. He proposes to negotiate with the Israelis and the 
Americans. thereby by-passing the government formed by Hamas. 
But Hamas may find that the idea of negotiations is a good 
one. There failure would not be theirs and their success would 
enable Hamas to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the 
international community without having to be officially 
recognized by Israel first. What Abbas is proposing is a 
return to the Clinton plan, the one that Yasser Arafat had 
refused and that triggered the second Intifada." 
 
Belarus 
 
"The Ukrainian Way" 
"What is taking place in Belarus is completely the opposite of 
what is happening in its neighbor Ukraine. In Minsk freedom is 
scorned by a regime that refuses transparency and openness. If 
Europe, for its part, supports the opposition in Belarus, the 
repression of the regime will lead to what it is trying to 
quell: democracy. The battle is just beginning. Ukraine like 
Belarus cannot escape their geographical situation. They are 
trapped between two worlds, torn between strengthening ties 
with Europe while not posing a threat to Russian interests. 
They must at once stand up to pressure from Moscow without 
having too many illusions as to the West's `good intentions.'" 
STAPLETON