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DE RUEHAM #4318 1650935
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O 140935Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1303
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UNCLAS AMMAN 004318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, 
B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
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LONDON FOR TSOU 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON TARGETED ASSASSINATIONS AND GUANTANAMO 
SUICIDES 
 
Editorial Commentary on Targeted Assassinations 
 
-- "Israel is pushing the Palestinian people towards point of 
explosion" 
 
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (06/14) 
editorializes:  "This continued Israeli criminality against the 
Palestinian people in Gaza can only be an organized and planned 
methodology to push the security situation towards the direct 
confrontation, giving Israel room to implement its political plan 
for unilateral separation, nullifying Palestinian rights and 
stopping all activity on the peace settlement front.  Israel felt 
great embarrassment from the Hamas government's exercise of control 
on the Palestinian Israeli arena since its election, and so the 
situation had to be exploded in a manner that would guarantee an 
uproar and hence a confrontation....  There are no wise people in 
the Israeli government.  There is no respect for the diplomatic 
efforts that are being exerted to reach a suitable settlement that 
upholds the rights of the Palestinian people in the context of 
international legitimacy.  It is clear that the Israeli policy is 
sly and long term, working meticulously to achieve two objectives: 
increasing division within Palestine and raising the chance of an 
angry Palestinian military reaction that would put the entire 
settlement issue back in square one, allowing Israel to implement 
its own political scheme....  The Palestinian people need a unified 
political address in the face of this very clear and organized 
Israeli approach. 
 
-- "Self-defense!" 
 
Columnist Hilmi Asmar writes on the inside page of center-left, 
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (06/14):  "The United States 
refused to condemn the Israeli aggression against Gaza Strip, which 
led to the killing of innocent women and children, and considered 
their killing as part of 'Israel's right to defend itself!'.... 
This means there is nothing new in the U.S. position.  Even if the 
Israeli occupation kills all the children of Palestine, tortures the 
old men in the streets, rips the bodies of women and children in the 
beds ... I will say what I said before, this is the position of the 
spokesperson of Bush's Department of State.  There is nothing new 
here, Arabs.  In the American balance, your blood is cheaper than 
wastewater.  The position of the U.S. administration carries nothing 
new, fine, and why not? Are not the American soldiers committing the 
same in Ishaqi, Haditha and tens of other places in Iraq?  America 
and Israel are redefining the concept of self-defense.  Others have 
this right too, which means that the world turns into a jungle and 
all international charters and protocols are ripped as if they are 
nothing more than toilet paper!  Have the world's wise people ever 
asked themselves about the reaction that will be formed in the 
hearts of the Arab and Muslim youth when they watch the cost-free 
massacres of death?  The powerful politicians arrogant with their 
strength and madness are dragging the world into the abyss.  They 
are making terrorism that only creates anger, madness and extremism. 
 They are stamping with their feet all values of justice, democracy 
and reform.  They are mocking moderation and killing the voices of 
the moderates.  Why wonder then? Wait for these people's own 
self-defense.  What have they got to lose?" 
 
Editorial Commentary on Guantanamo Suicides 
 
-- "Guantanamo: witness to a civilization!" 
 
Columnist Hussein Rawashdeh writes on the op-ed page of center-left, 
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (06/14):  "Guantanamo has become 
a witness to the misery of the western civilization that is in 
cahoots with the American immoral model of dealing with human 
beings....  It is sad that the voice of the Islamic world, whose own 
citizens are being targeted by these inhumane practices, is still 
absent while the voices of the western public opinion rise in 
condemnation of this ugly behavior and attempt to pressure the U.S. 
administration to shut down the prison or try the prisoners 
according to American laws.  We do not want to wonder about the 
extremism that America is making, nor about its bafflement about the 
Islamic world's increasing hatred of its policies, nor about its 
recklessness towards human rights and dignity.  We only hope that 
those who admire the western model would recognize this 'illusion' 
of civilization and not hesitate to condemn and reject it." 
RUBINSTEIN