VZCZCXRO9389
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1491/01 2260943
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130943Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2493
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 7262
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4251
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4104
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5598
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4017
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2585

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001491 
 
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 (8/13): Palestinian insistence on 
Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
All dailies report that the body of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud 
Darwish will be buried today in Ramallah.  Al-Quds writes, "the body 
of Mahmoud Darwish will be buried today [August 13] in the 
homeland," while Al-Ayyam leads with the headline, "Ramallah is 
getting ready to embrace Darwish's body...today", and Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida writes in large black letters, "Ramallah is holding today 
the funeral of the great poet Mahmoud Darwish."  The three dailies 
report that the body of Darwish will arrive first in Jordan and will 
then be brought to the Presidential compound in Ramallah at noon. 
Palestinian officials will attend the funeral, which will be open to 
the public.  The Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, travelled 
to Jordan to receive Darwish's body and escort it to Ramallah. 
Al-Ayyam leads with a photo of Darwish's burial site near the 
Cultural Palace in Ramallah.  Al-Hayat Al-Jadida shows a photo of 
Darwish's body being placed on an airplane at Houston airport for 
repatriation to the West Bank. 
 
All dailies report that Israel plans to establish Jewish synagogues 
at the Al-Maghrabi Gate in Jerusalem's Old City and to take control 
of the area around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and turn it into a public 
square.  The Head of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, 
reportedly submitted original documents revealing these Israeli 
plans to the Presidential Counselor for Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem 
Abdul Qader, during a press conference in Jerusalem on August 12. 
 
All the dailies carry news of a peace proposal reportedly offered to 
President Abbas by Prime Minister Olmert during their meeting last 
week.  According to this proposal, reported in the Israeli daily 
Ha'aretz, Israel would withdraw from 93% of the West Bank once the 
Palestinian Authority (PA) regained control over the Gaza Strip. 
The Israeli suggestion also reportedly addresses the issue of 
Palestinian refugees [although no details are provided] but defers 
the question of Jerusalem to a later time. 
The Palestinian Authority has denied the Ha'aretz report and the 
Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Dr. Sa'eb Erekat, said in a phone 
interview with Al-Quds from London that the information is untrue 
and that the Palestinians want an Israeli withdrawal from 100% of 
the West Bank.  When asked about the visit of the U.S. Secretary of 
State on August 20, he confirmed that the meeting would take place 
on that date and added that the Palestinians are trying to arrange 
an Israeli-American-Palestinian meeting on August 21 to confirm the 
Palestinian commitment to comprehensive peace and fulfillment of the 
Roadmap.  The official spokesperson of the PA Presidency, Nabil Abu 
Rudayna, said on August 12 that the Palestinians would not accept 
anything less than the 1967 borders. 
 
Al-Quds reports that Egypt will start inviting the Palestinian 
factions to Cairo next week to start a [Palestinian] national 
dialogue, according to remarks made by an Egyptian official in an 
interview with Al-Quds on August 12.  In related coverage in 
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, 
Dr. Zakariya Al-Agha, called on Hamas, in a TV interview with 
Ramattan on August 12, to sit at the negotiating table and start a 
dialogue with President Mahmoud Abbas. 
 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
Al-Quds ran its daily editorial entitled, "This Israeli deceitful 
 
JERUSALEM 00001491  002 OF 002 
 
 
'proposal'"(8/13): "The report that captured the front page of the 
Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz yesterday, about a map that Olmert 
submitted to the Palestinian Authority in order to draw the final 
borders between the future Palestinian state and Israel, has no 
basis according to reliable Palestinian sources and is meant to 
launch a game of holding Palestinians responsible for not accepting 
the 'generous offer' of 93% of the West Bank in addition to 5.5% of 
the Negev Desert close to the Gaza Strip.  The report is full of 
deceitful tricks.  For example, this plan will not be implemented 
unless the Palestinian Authority regains control over the Gaza 
Strip, while these big settlement units will remain part of Israel 
as soon as the plan is agreed upon. The expansion of these 
settlements will be allowed...and the safe crossing between the West 
Bank and the Gaza Strip will be included in the portion that will be 
returned to the Palestinian Authority even though Israel will retain 
legal and security authority over the crossing.  The Palestinian 
response to this report was quick and definite.  The withdrawal of 
the Israeli military and Israeli settlements from the Palestinian 
territories of 1967 should be comprehensive and complete.  And there 
is no possibility whatsoever [for Israel] to annex these lands for 
settlements ... It is better for Israel and the peace process to 
respond to the Palestinians' just demands and to international 
legitimacy...because a just peace cannot be based on imposing facts 
by force, but on solutions that the Palestinians agree to..." 
 
WALLES