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Diana T Fritz  08/26/2006 04:58:04 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

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UNCLAS        ABU DHABI 02786

SIPDIS
CXABU:
    ACTION: PAO
    INFO:   ECON AMB POL DCM

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:OLSINHILARY
DRAFTED: PAO:AHOSHAN
CLEARED: PAO:THAMDI

VZCZCADI314
OO RUEHC RUENAAA RUEKJCS RUEHZM RUEHLO RHRMDAB
RHWSMRC
DE RUEHAD #2786/01 1900346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090346Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6024
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1049
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; 
RRU-NEA 
IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR MCKUNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: ARABS AND ISRAELI AGGRESSION; GULF WOMEN 
QUOTAS 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: A front-page editorial by the Editor in Chief of 
"Al-Khaleej" criticizes the silence with which most Arabs have 
reacted to recent Israeli actions.  Another unsigned editorial in 
"Al-Khaleej" calls for an emergency Arab summit to respond to recent 
developments in Gaza.  A female Emirati professor writes in 
"Al-Khaleej" encouraging Gulf countries to establish quotas for 
politically active women to ensure them an adequate voice and 
experience in affairs of state.  Finally, an editorial in "Al-Bayan" 
urges Arab nations that are incapable of matching Israeli military 
power to actively expose and disseminate information about Israeli 
practices.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. Under the headline "When silence arouses suspicions", the 
Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000) 
published the following in an 07/08 front-page editorial signed by 
Dr. Abdullah Omran, the publication's Editor in Chief: 
 
"The Arab people's current reaction to the barbaric actions 
undertaken by the Israeli military is morally unjustified and 
politically scandalous... The Arabs' present silence allows Israel 
to take one more step towards turning the Palestinian territories 
into prisons for their own people and allowing barbaric military 
forces to besiege the Palestinians, depriving them of the most basic 
needs of life such as water, electricity and food... Israel is a 
terrorist state of the highest order, displaying nothing but 
hostility, brutality and murder.  Remaining silent in the face of 
such actions only allows their brutality to escalate, promising to 
eventually leave the Arabs completely without refuge from the ocean 
to the sea. " 
 
¶3. Under the headline "Emergency Arab summit", the Sharjah-based 
pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000) published the 
following in an 07/08 unsigned editorial: 
 
"Arab countries have presented a draft resolution to the UN Security 
Council demanding that Israel cease its aggression, withdraw from 
the Gaza strip and release Palestinian ministers and officials 
detained.  Israel's reply was to continue its aggression, even as 
the United States threatened to use its veto vote if this proposal 
were ever brought before the Council... Such actions demonstrate the 
United States' support for Israeli aggression, even as Arabs 
continue to remain silent and wait... Does not the grave situation 
in Palestine, which impacts not just the Palestinians but all 
peoples in the region, deserve an emergency Arab summit, where 
resolutions and positions can be collectively forged in a manner 
more suitable for the challenges at hand?  Perhaps then Arabs could 
make the world see that they are indeed a significant force in the 
region, one whose destiny cannot be so easily manipulated by the 
United States and Israel." 
 
¶4. Under the headline "Women's empowerment in the Gulf in light of 
the Kuwaiti elections", Emirati, UAE University professor Dr. Fatima 
Al Sayegh, wrote the following in an 07/08 editorial in the 
Sharjah-based pan-Arab daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 85,000): 
 
"... Gulf countries, though not yet ready for full political 
participation by women, can still take a first step towards the 
future.  Political leaders should begin preparing Gulf communities 
[for women's political participation] by establishing quotas that 
ensure reasonable proportional representation for Gulf women in 
elected and appointed political bodies.  They should avoid empty 
symbolic measures based on standards that do not genuinely serve the 
interests of women.  Yet at the same time, women who do not want to 
take on the responsibilities of political participation or are 
incapable of doing so should not be included in or benefit from such 
a system.  Without such measures, politically active women in the 
Gulf will never earn the respect their participation deserves from 
others." 
 
¶5. Under the headline "Who judges or accounts for murderers?", the 
Dubai-based Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan," (circulation 90,000) 
published the following in an 07/08 unsigned editorial: 
 
"Is the goal of Israel's recent actions the liberation of their 
captured soldier or the Gaza strip itself?  The soldier is merely a 
prisoner of war, one who fell into the hands of a legitimate 
Palestinian resistance group in accordance with international laws 
and norms.  Yet Israel has depicted him as having been kidnapped by 
a terrorist organization... Although Arab nations pushed Israel to 
withdraw from Gaza through the UN Security Council, these actions 
have again proven useless, particularly as they continue to be 
defeated by the United States... If Arab nations are not able to 
confront power with power, they can at least use political, 
diplomatic, media and even economic power, not only to expose 
Israeli practices, but also to deter their aggression by levying 
punishments and ensuring accountability..." 
 
SISON