VZCZCXRO3511
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1422/01 2180951
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 050951Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2390
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 7246
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4235
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4088
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5582
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4000
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2569

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001422 
 
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 (8/05):  Desperate calls for end 
to Palestinian infighting 
 
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Main Stories: 
------------- 
The lead story in Al-Quds is the decision by Palestinian Authority 
(PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to allow an unspecified number of 
Palestinians who had fled the Gaza Strip in the wake of clashes 
between Hamas and the Hilles family to enter Jericho.  In other 
front-page coverage, Al-Quds prints a statement by Hamas leader 
Naser El-Din Asha'er entitled "Clearing all the Palestinian prisons 
of political prisoners and intellectuals," in which he called for 
the release of all political prisoners in the West Bank and the Gaza 
Strip.  Al-Quds also carries remarks made by an Islamic Jihad leader 
during a local radio interview, encouraging Palestinian factions 
such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front to help bridge the 
gap between Fatah and Hamas.  In smaller front-page coverage, all 
the dailies mention that on August 4, Hamas released Zakariya 
Al-Agha, a Fatah leader who was arrested by Hamas on August 1 in the 
Gaza Strip.  In a story mentioned on the front page but developed on 
an inside page, Al-Quds reports that in a press conference held in 
Nablus on August 4, Fatah threatened to carry out attacks and 
arrests against Hamas in the West Bank. 
 
Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida lead with headlines about the 
Palestinian government's call to support President Abbas' national 
dialogue initiative.  In a large headline, Al-Ayyam writes that the 
Palestinian government, in a press statement made on August 4 after 
the weekly ministerial meeting, expressed concern regarding the sad 
events in the Gaza Strip and called on all Palestinian factions to 
adopt the PA President's initiative in order to re-unite the 
Palestinian homeland.  Al-Hayat Al-Jadida's headline reads, 
"Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad calls for a popular and 
institutional move to support the President's initiative."  This 
news is also mentioned tangentially by Al-Quds. 
 
All the dailies highlight news about continuing Israeli actions in 
the West Bank and Jerusalem.  They all report the death, on August 
4, of a Palestinian from Ni'lin village, near Ramallah, as a result 
of injuries sustained during clashes with Israeli soldiers on July 
¶31.  The dailies also report that Israeli soldiers invaded a number 
of neighborhoods in Nablus on August 4, searched many houses, and 
forced their owners onto the street, holding them at gunpoint for 
several hours.  In Jerusalem, dailies report that residents of Sour 
Baher village in East Jerusalem succeeded, on August 4, in gaining 
approval for a new housing plan from the Jerusalem Municipality. 
This plan, which was implemented in cooperation with the 
International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) and with limited 
funding from the British Consulate, permits Palestinian families to 
live in 193 unlicensed houses in the village and allows for the 
establishment of 500 new housing units for Palestinians. In related 
coverage in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the Israeli Supreme Court on August 
4 gave the Israeli government 45 days in which to implement a 
previous Supreme Court decision, handed down "about a year ago," 
which called for the route of the separation wall in Bei'lin 
village, near Ramallah, to be modified. 
 
Coverage in all the dailies highlights that Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of 
Staff of the IDF, reportedly said during his visit to one of the 
Israeli military bases in Tel Aviv that Israel knows that kidnapped 
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive.  Ashkenazi added that 
Israeli also knows Shalit's location and the identity of his 
kidnappers. 
 
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BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
JERUSALEM 00001422  002 OF 002 
 
 
------------ 
 
¶1. Independent Al-Quds carries its daily editorial entitled, "How 
can we regain our waning confidence?" (8/05): "A lot has been said 
about the low level to which the Palestinian attitude has fallen due 
to this destructive division between the two major parties [Fatah 
and Hamas] in the Palestinian arena. The most negative effects 
resulting from all this is that the homeland has lost confidence in 
its leadership, in itself and in its future ... Even if all 
[Palestinian factions] agree on internal calm and even if the 
anticipated national dialogue starts, confidence remains unsettled 
with lots of doubts ... The big question is how to regain this 
disappearing confidence...? It is clear that the internal division 
and fighting should stop. And if this is impossible, the least they 
can do is stop these [negative] media campaigns [against each 
other], as well as the mutual accusations ... Each party calls for 
dialogue with the other, and is aware that it cannot live without 
the other, and [it is clear] that eventually, the two parties will 
meet, no matter how long it might take. So why all these 
accusations? ... We call on the two parties to halt their negative 
media campaigns immediately, and to deal with each other with 
respect ... By this, we can regain confidence and some honesty in 
any dialogue or future agreements. In this regard, the almost 
non-existent Arab role should be mentioned ... The Secretary General 
of the Arab League, Amr Mousa, announced that the situation in the 
Palestinian lands is deteriorating very fast and that Arabs are 
calling for discussions on the means of halting this deterioration. 
Amr Mousa's revelation that the situation [in the Palestinian lands] 
is deteriorating has came too late and these calls that he is 
talking about are seemingly like a turtle [i.e. very slow]. What is 
most probable is that the Arab countries ... have less interest and 
are less capable of influence..." 
 
¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam runs its daily editorial by Hani Al-Masri 
entitled, "The password to [the solution]: Regaining respect for the 
national project"(8/05): "The flight of 200 Palestinians from the 
Hilles family and the Al-Shaja'iya neighborhood in the Gaza Strip to 
Israel, who received them by arresting their leaders and shooting 
them, is a big scandal for Palestinians ... At a time when we were 
waiting for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue, the crime 
at the Gaza Strip beach took place. Mutual accusations [between 
Fatah and Hamas] began, as well as [arrest] campaigns against each 
other in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Then [Hamas'] security 
campaign in the Al-Shaja'iya neighborhood took place and this 
indicates that Hamas' authority...chose to oppress its enemy [Fatah] 
and reinforce its power instead of showing flexibility ... If Hamas 
and Fatah want to achieve the national interest, they should both 
stop the internal fight over authority under occupation ... Hamas, 
who regularly threatens to use military force to reach a solution, 
forgets that the use of violence to resolve internal fights is not 
acceptable and should be condemned, regardless of the justification, 
because it is destructive to the Palestinian cause ... Unless the 
national project [national dialogue, an end of all infighting 
between factions] is revived, the need for national unity remains 
hidden." 
 
 
WALLES