VZCZCXRO0455
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0726/01 1200900
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 290900Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1315
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7085
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4078
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3932
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5430
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3840
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2407

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000726 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
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 (04/29): VIOLENCE IN GAZA AND 
DEBATING FORMS OF RESISTANCE 
 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
Graphic photos of the four children killed along with their mother 
after an Israeli shell hit their house on April 28 in Gaza were 
displayed on the front-paged of Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.  On 
a black background covering the upper half of its front-page, 
Al-Ayyam and ran a banner headline in red type, "The breakfast of 
death in Beit Hanoun: Killing a mother and her four children." The 
front pages of the three dailies reported that Palestinian President 
Abbas condemned the "Israeli aggression on Gaza" and renewed calls 
for state of calm. Other reports stated that the number of 
Palestinians killed in Gaza on April 28 reached seven. 
 
The dailies highlighted coverage of the anticipated building of a 
new Israeli settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras 
al-Amud, east of Jerusalem. Israeli sources reported that the new 
Israeli settlement will be constructed on land that used to 
encompass Israeli police stations. 
 
The dailies reported that the Israeli authorities opened, but did 
not remove a major checkpoint near Nablus. Al-Quds carried a picture 
showing Palestinians trying to remove the metal gate at the 
checkpoint. Related front-page reports stated that Quartet envoy 
Tony Blair submitted to the Israeli Minister of Defense a list of 
checkpoints that "must be removed." 
 
Ma'an reported that the Palestinian Intelligence Services seized a 
stockpile of weapons and explosives in the West Bank city of 
Bethlehem on April 28, quoting intelligence officials that the 
armaments belonged to a Hamas cell. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida ran a picture 
showing the seized equipment. 
 
Citing a White House statement issued on April 28, Al-Ayyam reported 
that President Bush will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, May 
13-18, but that there are no plans for a joint peace summit with 
Israeli and Palestinian leaders. 
 
Ma'an quoted Palestinian security sources that three prisoners had 
escaped from a Palestinian Authority prison in the West Bank city of 
Jericho on April 28. 
 
The dailies reported that a Palestinian military court in the West 
Bank city of Hebron sentenced a Palestinian security officer to 
death by firing squad after he was found guilty of treason and 
collaboration with Israel. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
¶1. In its main editorial entitled, "Why are women and children being 
killed?", independent Al-Quds opined (4/29): "The Palestinian public 
may have its own criticisms of Hamas, but the ongoing Israeli 
attacks on the Gaza Strip and West Bank alike make one wonder about 
the Israeli logic.  Israel not only rejects a comprehensive quiet in 
both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but also hinders any efforts 
to achieve a limited quiet in Gaza ....  Israeli society must 
realize that targeting civilians, including women and children, and 
the absolute reliance on the logic of force to resolve the 
Arab-Israeli conflict has never been nor will it ever be an 
efficient basis for achieving peace and stability in the region. 
Quite the contrary, it remains the recipe for more violence and 
 
JERUSALEM 00000726  002 OF 002 
 
 
counter-violence and bloodshed on both sides." 
 
¶2. Commentator Moaffaq Matar wrote in official Al-Hayat Al-Jadida 
under the headline, "War and the end of a family," (4/29): "We 
should have learned from previous lessons when, last month, the 
Israeli occupation forces killed 120 victims in three days....  It 
has become evident that the occupation army, through its shelling of 
civilian and military targets alike, has blown up the so-called red 
lines and all ethics and rules of war.  The victims and those 
injured were mostly innocent civilians....  That said, the talk here 
is not about our right for self defense, freedom or independence. 
Rather, we are talking about our right to debate the ways [of 
resistance] that would best ensure the safety and security of our 
citizens and help them remain steadfast in their homes and land." 
 
WALLES