VZCZCXRO8434
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1364/01 2111035
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291035Z JUL 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2299
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 7232
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4217
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4070
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5568
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3986
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2551

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001364 
 
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 (7/29): "There is worse to come if 
internal division continues" 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
All the dailies lead with stories about the mounting tension between 
Fatah and Hamas following the Gaza beachfront explosion on July 25 
which resulted in six deaths, including that of a young child.  They 
report that on July 28, Hamas and Fatah carried out arrests of one 
another's members in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with Fatah 
police reportedly arresting 20 Hamas members in Jenin and 15 in 
Tulkarem. The dailies attribute this campaign of arrests in the West 
Bank as a response to the arrests of Fatah members carried out by 
Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the explosion occurred. 
 
The front pages of all the dailies cover a statement made by a 
Palestinian official in an interview with AFP on July 28 that within 
a few days, Egypt will invite all the Palestinian factions to Cairo 
to start a Palestinian national dialogue under the sponsorship of 
the Arab League. In related coverage in Al-Ayyam, Hamas leader Taher 
Al-Nunu is said to have distributed a written statement in Gaza 
accusing Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas of being 
insincere in his calls for a national dialogue.  Al-Quds also 
reports that a two-person Hamas delegation will head to Cairo on 
July 29 to discuss "unsolved problems" with Egyptian officials, 
according to a statement by Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri published by 
the Palestinian Media Network on July 29. Abu Zuhri added that the 
delegation will clarify Egypt's attitude towards some of these 
"unsolved problems," which Al-Quds speculates may include discussion 
about a prisoners exchange deal between Hamas and Israel that would 
include Shalit. 
 
Continuing Israeli actions in Jerusalem and the West Bank receive 
widespread coverage in all the dailies.  They all highlight news 
about an Israeli plan to establish 6000 new residential units in the 
Ma'ale Adumim settlement, according to a detailed report made by the 
Palestinian Bethlehem-based ARIJ Institute for Research issued on 
July 28.  In related coverage, the dailies express satisfaction over 
the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to dismantle 2.4 
kilometers of the separation barrier north of Qalqilya. The Court's 
decision, which was published in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on July 
28, came after a five-year battle and stipulates the return of 2600 
dunums of land in the villages of Jayyus and Flameeh outside 
Qalqilya in the West Bank. All the dailies express outrage over the 
Israeli demolition of the house owned by the Abu Eisha family in 
Beit Hanina (East Jerusalem) on July 28 and lead with photos of the 
destroyed five-story building. They also report that dozens of 
people participating in a sit-in at the building were injured during 
the Israeli incursion. According to the Jerusalem municipality, the 
house was destroyed because it had been built without a license. 
 
All the dailies report that the Palestinian Ministry of Information 
and "Palestinian factions" (of which only the Popular Front for the 
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is specified) condemned on July 28 
Hamas' decision to prevent reporters from the three Palestinian 
dailies Al-Quds, Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida from entering the 
Gaza Strip.  Al-Quds asserts that Hamas' decision came as a response 
to the dailies' unbiased [sic] coverage of the news on the Gaza 
Strip explosion which took place on July 25. 
 
Dailies continue coverage of President Abbas' visit to Egypt, 
including his July 28th meetings with an Iraqi delegation and with 
the Palestinian ambassadors to Egypt, Mali, and Nigeria.  Abbas is 
also reported to have briefed Sheikh Sayyed Tantawi of Al-Azhar 
Mosque on the latest developments in the Palestinian Territories. 
 
JERUSALEM 00001364  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
¶1. Independent Al-Quds prints its daily editorial entitled, "Israel 
destroys peace...and we destroy ourselves?!!" (7/29): "Finally the 
Israeli Premier, Ehud Olmert, confessed that achieving peace this 
year is unlikely....Israel has continued its settlement activities 
everywhere especially in Jerusalem and its surroundings, and it has 
continued the policy of incursions and assassinations despite all 
the Arab and international mediations and efforts...and yesterday 
[July 28], Israel looked closer at its policy in Jerusalem and 
destroyed a big five-story building which housed several families. 
The pretext for destroying the house is that part of it was 
unlicensed. This building is only one of hundreds of buildings in 
Jerusalem facing under threat of demolition ... The matter of 
licensing is funny and sad. When any person applies for a building 
license, he already knows the difficulties and complications 
justified by illogical pretexts which any Palestinian will face. At 
the same time, one sees the enormous houses in the settlements and 
how quickly they are built in Jerusalem, inside and outside, near it 
and everywhere. And more than that, the wall that Israel is building 
places hundreds of thousands of Palestinians outside the borders of 
Jerusalem. This reduces the number of houses available and the 
building license policy meets the main goal of pushing Palestinian 
Jerusalemites outside ... We are facing a true crisis, not only as 
Palestinians but as Arabs ... We [Palestinians] call on a 
comprehensive Arab review of the situation [the Palestinian-Israeli 
conflict, internal Palestinian divisions], and we call on the 
Palestinian leadership to re-evaluate the situation before anyone 
else. We really feel ashamed of ourselves in front of the 
[international community] when we see this [internal] division...so, 
would anyone listen to us?" 
 
¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam runs its daily editorial by Rajab Abu 
Sirriyyeh entitled, "There is worse!!" (7/29): "The tragic and awful 
bombing incident on Friday [July 25] showed that with the ongoing 
internal division and the severe conditions in the Gaza Strip, the 
worst is yet to come regarding the Palestinian cause and the living 
conditions of the one and a half million Palestinians [in Gaza]. 
The political logic says that if the internal situation is not 
organized in a way that achieves internal peace and security, the 
internal divisions will allow the entrance of possible poisons into 
the exhausted Palestinian body. Things may not end at the internal 
division between Fatah and Hamas. When a society is not organized 
normally...it may turn into a victim of endless conflicts ... The 
only way to rescue the society is to achieve coexistence among the 
Palestinian parties...all other things are mere illusions and 
attempts to create more internal conflicts and a politically 
imbalanced Palestinian society ... It is very sad to say that 
despite all the sad and tragic events that have already taken place, 
there is worse to come if internal division continues..." 
 
 
WALLES