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UNCLAS AMMAN 005609 
 
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STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN, 
B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON LEBANON 
 
 
Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The Lebanese holocaust" 
 
Columnist Abdel Rahim Malhas writes on the op-ed page of 
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/26):  "The 
Zionist Jews used to name wars in a manner that was beneficial to 
them.  They named the 1967 war the 'six day war' to indicate how 
fast we were defeated and the strength of their army.  As for what 
happened to them in World War II, the called it the Holocaust to 
reap sympathy every time this word is heard....  That is why I 
suggest the ongoing war on Lebanon be called 'the Lebanese 
Holocaust'.  What is happening to the Lebanese people at the hands 
of the Zionist Israeli Jews in 2006 is a real holocaust committed by 
real Nazis who are more barbaric that the German Nazis.  We must use 
this name to build in their future generations a guilt complex that 
befits the aggressiveness of their fathers and forefathers and to 
build in our generations an everlasting memory of their crimes." 
 
-- "The role of states in war and peace is over" 
 
Chief Editor Taher Odwan writes on the back-page of independent, 
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/26):  "No Arab country 
can claim that it can assist Lebanon against the Israeli aggression 
in terms of recruiting its political, military and economic 
abilities and placing them in Lebanon's service....  I am not asking 
the Lebanese to despair or give up.  My objective rather is to call 
on some of the Arab government to fear God and to stop their media 
and their officials from using the pains, sacrifices and heroism to 
glorify their own leaders or the pan-Arab and Islamic stances of 
their capital cities.  What is happening is a flagrant exploitation 
of the sanctity of the blood of Lebanese martyrs and the heroism of 
resistance fighters who alone deserve appreciation and 
commendation....   The conflict in the region is now between parties 
and Arab countries and government have no presence.  It is a 
conflict between the United States that has occupying armies in Iraq 
and Israel that is occupying Palestine and fighting in Lebanon on 
the one hand, and resistance movements like Hizbollah, Hamas and 
Jihad that have the peace-making or war-making decision....  The 
Middle East issue is no longer in the hands of any Arab countries. 
At best, these countries may find for themselves a new role like 
negotiating or mediating between the parties to the conflict.  The 
war and peace issue in the region is now outside the jurisdiction of 
the Arab regimes.  It is the fruit of the collapse of the Arab 
policy that has abandoned the task of protecting the national and 
pan-Arab fate and instead placed all the cards in Washington's 
basket, which in turn placed them in Israel's basket.  We do not 
know how Rice is going to succeed in imposing a permanent settlement 
in Lebanon or the Middle East when there is refusal to acknowledge 
the resistance movements or negotiate with them.  It is as 
impossible as the idea of imposing a settlement using Israel's 
barbaric force.  This force is not going to nullify Hamas and 
Hizbollah, but it will nullify peace and security in the region. 
May be this is what Rice wants to accomplish within the concept of 
'creative chaos'.  How else can we explain this American insistence 
of fighting a ceasefire?" 
 
-- "The magic word in Rice and Blair's speeches" 
 
Columnist Oraib Rantawi writes on the op-ed page of center-left, 
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/26):  "The password or magic 
word in Rice and Blair's speeches is 'establishing conditions' for a 
ceasefire; a phrase that explains the escalation of Israel's 
destructive war against Lebanon in the few hours preceding the U.S. 
Secretary's visit to the region....  The confrontation that followed 
 
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the Secretary's visit shows beyond the shadow of doubt that the 
United States is still fulfilling its promise to give Israel 
sufficient time to destroy what is left and that the diplomacy of 
'smart bombs' is the only diplomacy that America is adopting so far, 
awaiting for this region to give in to the idea of the new Middle 
East that Rice had promised: a Middle East void of Hizbollah and 
Hamas that provides Israel with eternal security without it having 
to even think about considering to end the occupation.  The war 
continues, and the upcoming battle are going to be harsh, and the 
conditions for a ceasefire will not occur until after Hizbollah is 
destroyed.  This is a summary of what Rice brought to the region. 
Yet, the American lady of diplomacy forgot that the U.S. crazy war 
that is being waged on its behalf by Israel will bring nothing but 
death and destruction and that the fallout from this war will not 
bring about the new Middle East that Washington desires.  Any Middle 
East that springs from the womb of arrogance, racism and mad 
killings will not in any case be 'American', but rather a Middle 
East filled with religious extremism." 
 
-- "Rice's ill promise" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman writes on the op-ed page of 
independent, centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (07/26):  "We are before 
a new and serious stage for imposing the American project, be that 
will deals, wars, pressures or alliances.  The problem is not with 
the American administration that has brought to us nothing but 
devastation and destruction.  The problem is with the Arab regime 
that looks at its political options only from the viewpoint of its 
short-term selfish interests and that has no effect political will 
whatsoever to give it the benefit of choosing the best of these 
options and political alliances.  At the Arab level, the next stage 
is definitely going to be worse that what we have now.  This is 
Condoleezza Rice's ill promise to the Arab countries and people.  If 
there are those who are still arguing, let the Iraqi, Lebanese and 
Palestinians models be the living example of Uncle Sam's intentions 
toward the region." 
HALE