VZCZCXRO1170
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1404/01 2141119
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 011119Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2359
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 7239
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4224
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4077
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5575
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3993
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2558

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001404 
 
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 (8/01): Strong support for 
Palestinian national dialogue 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
The lead story in all the dailies is the visit of Palestinian 
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to Tunisia on July 31. 
Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida run a banner headline in red, 
proclaiming that Abbas has ordered [all factions] to release all 
prisoners arrested following the Gaza explosion on July 25.  Al Quds 
also runs a large headline with the following quote by Abbas: 
"[There will be] no international veto of national reconciliation 
and dialogue will be launched soon.  The U.S. is still committed to 
finding a solution before the end of 2008."  In further reporting, 
Al-Quds writes that in a press conference held at the end of his 
visit to Tunisia, Abbas announced that he had met with the Tunisian 
President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, and had discussed 
intra-Palestinian negotiations and national unity as well as 
Palestinian-Tunisian relations. 
 
Coverage in all dailies continues to report on the fall-out of 
Olmert's announcement that he will resign once his Kadima party has 
elected a new leader in September, with particular focus on the 
competition between two possible Kadima successors, Israeli Foreign 
Minister Tzipi Livni and Israeli Minister of Transportation Shaul 
Mofaz.  The headline in Al-Quds reads, "Mofaz and Livni compete for 
Kadima's leadership and Netanyahu [of the Likud party] requests 
early parliamentary elections," while Al-Ayyam writes, "Israel 
enters a misty period with the beginning of the war to succeed 
Olmert," and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida announces, "the war to succeed 
Olmert is deepening and Netanyahu has called for early elections." 
In related coverage in all dailies, an Israeli official said on July 
31 that Olmert will try to reach a peace agreement with the 
Palestinians before the end of 2008. In other coverage in Al-Ayyam, 
Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riad Al- Malki is said to 
have announced on July 31 in a press conference in Madrid that the 
Palestinian Authority "is not worried" about the resignation of 
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. 
 
Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam report on the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations 
held in Washington. Al-Quds reports that the Israelis and 
Palestinians will continue building on the Washington negotiations, 
and according to statements she made to the media on July 31, 
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is reportedly hopeful that an 
agreement will be reached.  An Al-Ayyam headline quotes Sa'eb 
Erekat, the Palestinian Chief Negotiator, as saying, "there will be 
no state and no reconciliation without Jerusalem, and we have given 
Washington and Israel a list of names of [Palestinian] prisoners to 
be released." 
 
Al-Quds devotes part of its front page to reports about Israeli 
actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, including a large story 
about the Al-Kurd family in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem), who was 
ordered to evacuate their home in an Israeli Supreme Court decision 
handed down on July 14.  Al-Ayyam also reports on this story in an 
inside page.  Both dailies report on the sit-ins that have taken 
place in solidarity with the family since the court decision was 
announced.  The two dailies cite Demetri Deliani, a Jerusalem-based 
Fatah spokesperson, as having said on July 31 that Jewish-American 
money is the backbone of Israeli settlement activities in Jerusalem 
and that this money is taken from the U.S. economy to support 
Israeli actions in Jerusalem.  The dailies also report that the 
political attach of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem received on 
July 31 a Jerusalemite delegation including Deliani, Ahmad Ruweidi 
(who holds the Jerusalem file at the Palestinian Presidency), Hatem 
 
JERUSALEM 00001404  002 OF 003 
 
 
Abdul Qader (advisor to the Palestinian Prime Minister) and Fatah 
leader Kifah Radaydeh.  The delegation reportedly briefed the U.S. 
official on the latest developments in Jerusalem and asked the U.S. 
to intervene in the matter in its role as sponsor of the peace 
process. The delegation is said to have given the U.S. official 
various documents, including papers proving that the Al-Kurds are 
the rightful owners of the house, and copies of the fake ownership 
documents supplied by the Israelis.  In other coverage on Israeli 
actions in the West Bank, Al-Quds reports the arrest on July 31 of 
several Palestinian youth in the village of Anabta, near Tulkarem, 
and also in Ni'lin village near Ramallah.  These arrests were 
carried out by Israeli soldiers. 
 
The dailies highlight that all the Palestinian factions received on 
July 31 a letter from Egypt, inviting them to Cairo to start a 
Palestinian national dialogue.  In an exclusive interview with 
Al-Quds on July 31, Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq said that Hamas 
welcomes Egyptian efforts to unite the Palestinians. Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida quotes another Hamas leader, Ismail Radwan, as saying in a 
press conference on July 31 in the Gaza Strip that "we [Hamas] will 
determine our attitude regarding the Egyptian invitation after we 
know its details." 
 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
¶1. Independent Al-Quds runs its daily editorial by Rajeh Abu Asab 
entitled, "Making the national dialogue successful is in the 
Palestinian and Arab interest" (8/01): "Abbas has announced the 
launch of the Palestinian-Palestinian national dialogue following 
his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo last Sunday [July 
27]under Egyptian and Arab League sponsorship ... Following his 
national duty as the leader of the Palestinian people, Abbas seeks 
with all his power, and without respite, to draw a limit to the 
internal Palestinian struggle ... President Abbas has justified the 
Egyptian sponsorship of the Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue by 
saying, during his meetings with the editors-in-chief of several 
Egyptian newspapers, that Egypt is familiar with all the minute 
details regarding the internal Palestinian situation and has a 
wealth of experience in dealing with it. Egypt has also hosted many 
previous dialogues and this is what qualifies it to play such a role 
and [in the opinion of this columnist], Abbas is right in this 
choice ... All Palestinian factions should respond to the call for 
dialogue issued by these two presidents, Abbas and Mubarak, and 
participate in the national dialogue and let it succeed ... [Abbas] 
cares about making this dialogue a success because it is in the 
interest of the Palestinian people. President Abbas has confirmed 
that he has placed no pre-conditions for this 
Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue and has stressed that the dialogue 
will be based on the Yemen initiative and on his own initiative, 
which he announced recently. He has also confirmed that there is no 
American veto of the dialogue because the dialogue is in the 
Palestinian national interest. We hope that all factions will 
respond to this generous call to start dialogue..." 
 
¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam carries its daily editorial by a member of 
the Palestinian National Council, Azmi Al-Khawaja, entitled, "Going 
back to start a Palestinian national dialogue" (8/01): "In the past 
100 years we have not witnessed a strong and painful 
Palestinian-Palestinian conflict similar to the one we are 
witnessing nowadays.  The [internal] fight and the ongoing division 
negatively affect the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza 
 
JERUSALEM 00001404  003 OF 003 
 
 
Strip, where Palestinians are suffering from the 'siege' imposed by 
Israel, and from the lack of international legislation ... We 
[Palestinians] cannot solve this [situation] unless we go back to 
the Palestinian national dialogue, and unless all parties and 
political powers participate in it, in addition to Arab powers who 
care about our national unity. The dialogue should be preceded by 
the following steps to guarantee its success: 
- Hamas and Fatah should stop their negative media campaigns against 
each other; 
- Hamas and Fatah should release all political prisoners and cease 
their mutual arrest and invasion campaigns; 
- Hamas should vacate all the presidential sites and hand them over 
to Abu Mazen; 
- Hamas and Fatah should sign an agreement outlawing the use of 
violence in dealing with internal conflicts. 
So, the division should not continue, and we [Palestinians] should 
not solve our problems with violence because there will be no future 
for any Palestinian faction, regardless of how powerful it is, as 
long as this internal division exists.  We should not give up and 
should continue calling for a Palestinian national dialogue because 
there is no other option." 
 
WALLES