VZCZCXRO6123
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1349/01 2071046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251046Z JUL 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2270
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 7225
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4210
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4063
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5561
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3979
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2544

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001349 
 
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 (7/25):  DIFFERING VIEWS ON 
OBAMA'S WILLINGNESS TO CONSIDER PALESTINIAN POINT OF VIEW 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
The Israeli decision to establish a new settlement called Maskiot 
dominates the front pages of all dailies.  According to Dr. Sa'eb 
 
Erekat, chief of the Palestinian Negotiations Unit, the Palestinian 
Authority (PA) made phone calls to the Quartet, the U.S. 
administration, and the European Union to complain about the 
establishment of this new settlement and warn about the consequences 
of Israel's intensifying settlement activities and incursions into 
the Palestinian Territories.  Al Quds also reports that U.N 
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed concern regarding these 
developments and reiterated his call on Israel to stop all 
settlement activities. 
 
Israeli actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem continue to grab 
front-page headlines in all the dailies.  According to the coverage, 
Israeli forces "invaded" several regions in the West Bank on July 
24, including the Beit Ummar, Hussan, and Al- Minya villages near 
Hebron, where Israeli soldiers reportedly clashed with local 
residents and inspected houses.  The articles in the dailies also 
mention that a curfew was imposed on Bayt Fajjar village next to 
Bethlehem on July 24 and that Israeli forces confiscated machines 
and industrial equipment from Palestinian factories there.  Finally, 
all the dailies report that injuries were suffered by Palestinians 
in Ni'lin village near Ramallah during a peaceful protest against 
the separation wall on July 24, but differ on the number of 
casualties:  Al Quds reports that 12 Palestinians were injured, 
while Al Hayat Al Jadida claims there were 16. 
 
Al Quds notes that Egypt permitted official Hamas member Maryam 
Farhat to enter Egypt from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing for 
urgent medical treatment following a heart attack, citing a report 
by official Hamas member Salah Al- Brodwil.  The same article 
reports that Hamas asked Egypt on July 24 to keep the Rafah crossing 
point open to allow the passage of people requiring medical 
treatment.  In related coverage in Al- Quds, there is mention of a 
letter sent to the U.S. Administration and the State Department by 
members of the U.S. Congress, the Peace Forum in the Middle East, 
human rights organizations in Ohio City, and American Jewish 
activists, asking that Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip be 
allowed to travel to continue their studies. In the letter, they 
reportedly also wrote, "we thank the U.S. Consulate General and its 
staff for their understanding and for their efforts in facilitating 
the issuance of visas for the Palestinian students from the Gaza 
Strip who obtained American scholarships, and especially its 
willingness to send members of the U.S. Consulate to the Hanoun 
crossing point in the Gaza Strip to interview the students who did 
not get permits from Israel to enter Jerusalem for an interview." 
The letter also reportedly urged the American Administration to play 
an active role in ending the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. 
 
Coverage in all dailies mentions that presumptive Democratic 
candidate Barack Obama began a tour in Europe on July 24, reporting 
that in a speech in Berlin, Obama called on a "new generation" to 
destroy divisive barriers and confront the planet's challenges. In 
related coverage, Al- Quds reports that Israeli media held a series 
of interviews with Obama during his visit to Israel on July 23. 
Israeli media is said to have concluded from these interviews that 
Obama does not intend to run away from the Middle East problems, and 
will on the contrary prioritize them.  In a related report in Al- 
Quds, both Palestinians and Israelis are said to feel that during 
his visit, Obama told each side of the conflict what it wanted to 
hear, and that neither side was convinced that its stance is 
wholeheartedly embraced by Obama. 
 
JERUSALEM 00001349  002 OF 003 
 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
The Israeli decision to establish a new settlement called Maskiot 
dominates the front pages of all dailies.  According to Dr. Sa'eb 
Erekat, chief of the Palestinian Negotiations Unit, the Palestinian 
Authority (PA) made phone calls to the Quartet, the U.S. 
administration, and the European Union to complain about the 
establishment of this new settlement and warn about the consequences 
of Israel's intensifying settlement activities and incursions into 
the Palestinian Territories.  Al Quds also reports that U.N 
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed concern regarding these 
developments and reiterated his call on Israel to stop all 
settlement activities. 
 
 
Al Quds reports that the Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt, Nabil 
Amro, announced during an interview with its correspondent in Cairo 
that a Palestinian- Egyptian summit will take place on July 27.  The 
Palestinian Authority President will reportedly brief the Egyptian 
President on the latest developments in the Palestinian Territories 
and on negotiations with Israel. Al- Ayyam claims that this summit 
will take place a day earlier, on July 26. 
 
Al- Ayyam and Al- Hayat Al- Jadida report that the EU has pledged 
4.7 million euros to the PA so that it can pay the salaries of its 
employees, according to a statement made by the EU on July 24. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
¶1.  Independent Al- Ayyam runs an editorial by Rajab Abu Sirriyyeh 
entitled, "Barack Obama: the journey in search of the Jewish voice" 
(7/25): "...Obama's attitude towards the Israeli side...has become 
clearer and more practical.  [His visit to Sderot]...aims to portray 
Israel as a victim of Palestinian "terrorism."  In addition, he 
refrained from referring to the separation wall or the settlements, 
thus adopting an imbalanced policy [in favor of Israel] ... he 
became closer to Israel...and the two candidates for the U.S. 
presidency do not see anyone except Israel. And by the way, usually 
those who reach the White House are first committed to the 
continuity of American policy towards Israel...more than that, they 
let Israel determine their policies regarding the Middle East 
according to what is convenient for Israel...If the Palestinians do 
not solve their problems with internal unity, and if the Arab 
countries do not stand by the Palestinians, the coming American 
Administration will be equally or even more biased towards 
Israel..." 
 
 
¶2.  A second editorial in the same newspaper by Muhammad Yaghi 
entitled "Obama learns to sail in the Middle East" (7/25) expresses 
a different point of view:  "...Obama's declarations in Israel and 
his visit to Sderot, the Wailing Wall, the Holocaust Museum and his 
meeting with the [Israeli] leader of the opposition party, Benyamin 
Netanyahu, were dedicated to the Jewish voters and to the Israeli 
groups who can influence the results of the American elections. In 
the Middle East...Obama's eyes were focused on the American 
elections and on his opponent. However, this did not make him lose 
his balance which his opponent McCain lost when he [McCain] said 
with indifference, 'let the Palestinians say whatever they like' as 
if the Arab and Islamic world were worthless." 
 
¶3. Al- Quds runs its daily editorial entitled, "Until when will the 
 
JERUSALEM 00001349  003 OF 003 
 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
The Israeli decision to establish a new settlement called Maskiot 
dominates the front pages of all dailies.  According to Dr. Sa'eb 
Erekat, chief of the Palestinian Negotiations Unit, the Palestinian 
Authority (PA) made phone calls to the Quartet, the U.S. 
administration, and the European Union to complain about the 
establishment of this new settlement and warn about the consequences 
of Israel's intensifying settlement activities and incursions into 
the Palestinian Territories.  Al Quds also reports that U.N 
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed concern regarding these 
developments and reiterated his call on Israel to stop all 
settlement activities. 
 
Rafah crossing point be closed?" (7/25) "...besieging one and a half 
million Palestinians in order to punish Hamas is a kind of 
collective punishment that violates international laws. Saying that 
opening the Rafah crossing point will empower Hamas is a hypothesis 
that lacks logic and objectivity. The question that arises in this 
context: will the closure of the crossing continue as long as Hamas 
is in control of the Gaza Strip? And what if Hamas' control of the 
Gaza Strip lasts a long time?...Gazan people...have the right to ask 
that all the involved parties...especially the Palestinian 
Authority, the EU, Egypt, and Israel, deal with the question of 
opening the crossing from the humanitarian point of view, regardless 
of the political factors, and quickly move to end the unfair siege 
by opening all the crossings, especially Rafah...to enable the 
Gazans to move and travel for treatment, and in order to revive the 
economy and trade. And Hamas has to be willing to re-embrace 
national unity and constitutional legislation. But opening the 
crossings is a top priority because it is the most urgent and 
sensitive Palestinian, Arab and international demand." 
 
Walles