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DE RUEHJM #1627/01 2461013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021013Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2668
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 7298
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4280
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4133
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5627
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4047
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2614

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001627 
 
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 (9/02):  WHITHER INTERNAL 
PALESTINIAN DIVISION? 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
The three dailies' front pages highlight news from the weekly 
session of the Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet:  Public employees 
will receive last month's salary and an additional 415 USD on 
September 4, according to PA Information Minister Al-Maliky.  In 
related coverage, Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam report that the World Bank 
transferred almost $121 million to the Palestinian Government on 
September 1, to be used for social services including in the areas 
of education and health. 
 
Al-Quds leads with news of an upcoming meeting to discuss 
intra-Palestinian dialogue between Egyptian Intelligence Chief 
Sulayman and a delegation of members from the Democratic Front for 
the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian Popular Struggle Front 
in Cairo on September 2.  Related coverage in Al-Quds cites German 
wire service DPA in reporting on Hamas leader Ismail Radwan's 
refusal, in a September 1 Gaza press conference, to deny or confirm 
a possible meeting between Palestinian Authority President Abbas and 
Hamas leader Masha'al next month.  Radwan did, however, confirm that 
there are Egyptian efforts underway to arrange a meeting between 
Fatah and Hamas members in Cairo in October. 
 
Palestinian Authority President Abbas would win new presidential 
elections according to poll results showcased on Al Quds' front page 
and an inside page of Al-Ayyam.  The poll conducted by the 
Palestinian Center for Political and Survey Research on August 28 to 
August 30 shows that 53% of respondents in the West Bank and the 
Gaza would vote for Abbas and 39% would vote for Hamas leader Ismail 
Haniyyah if new elections were held today. 
 
Al-Quds reports on its front page that Jordanian King Abdullah II 
said in a recent interview with French weekly "L'Express" that he is 
unconvinced that Israel is interested in solving the Arab-Israeli 
conflict.  The report characterized the comment as an "unusual" 
attack by Abdullah on Israeli policy. 
 
The severe injuring of a Palestinian by Israeli soldiers in Ni'lin 
village near Ramallah on September 1 is front page news in all 
dailies.  According to reporting, the soldiers "invaded" the 
Palestinian's home and arrested his brother for unspecified reasons 
on September 1.  Dailies also report that two Gaza fishermen were 
injured by rockets fired from an Israeli military ship. 
 
The World Bank wants to rescue the Dead Sea, according to an 
exclusive interview by World Bank experts with Al-Ayyam.  The 
experts explained that they are studying the possibility of 
connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in order to replenish the 
water level of the shrinking Dead Sea. 
 
Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida provide front page updates on 
prisoner exchange talks between Hamas and Israel.  Al-Ayyam cites 
German wire DPA in reporting on a letter from Israel asking Hamas to 
retreat from its "exaggerated" demands.  Al-Hayat Al-Jadida also 
reports that Israeli Minister of Interior Dichter said on September 
1 that Hamas in hindering efforts to finalize the prisoners' 
exchange deal, which would include the release of Israeli soldier 
Shalit. 
 
--------------- 
Weekend stories 
--------------- 
 
 
JERUSALEM 00001627  002 OF 003 
 
 
Monday, September 1, 2008 
 
The three dailies led with a read-out of the Olmert-Abbas meeting 
held on August 31 at Olmert's Jerusalem home.  All dailies report 
that Palestinian Authority President Abbas and Israeli Premier 
Olmert agreed to continue negotiations and reach a comprehensive 
agreement by the end of this year.  The agreement would provide 
detailed solutions, not a "mere mention of good will or the 
[negotiation] principles of each side". 
 
Sunday, August 31, 2008 
 
The top story in Al-Quds and lead pictures in all dailies 
highlighted the August 30-31 opening of the Gaza-Egypt Rafah 
crossing point.  Reporting noted that 1,500 travelers, including 
stranded Egyptian residents and "humanitarian cases" on the Gaza 
side crossed into Egypt on August 30.  The reports expected that 400 
Palestinians in need of urgent medical care will cross into Egypt on 
August 31. 
 
Palestinian Authority (PA) Fayyad's call for forming a transitional 
PA government as the "logical" way to "reunite the homeland" 
received highlighted coverage in all dailies.  Leading with the 
story, Al-Ayyam quoted Fayyad reiterating the PA's "readiness" to 
manage the Gaza Strip crossings immediately in accordance with the 
Agreement on Movement and Access signed with Israel in 2005.  In 
related developments, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida highlighted that the 
deployment of Arab forces in Gaza is supported by Egypt, but fully 
rejected by Hamas. 
 
Israeli authorities intend to expand the Jerusalem area Giv'on 
Hadasha settlement by confiscating 25 acres of land belonging to the 
Palestinian town of Beit Ijza, the front pages reported.  Quoting 
Hatem Abdul Qader, advisor to Palestinian Authority President Abbas 
on Jerusalem affairs, Al-Ayyam reported that three Jerusalemite 
families will file a petition in the Israeli court system to prevent 
the confiscation of their land. 
 
Al-Ayyam's and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida's front-pages reported that 
Palestinian Authority intelligence services raided two mosque in the 
West Bank city of Hebron, seizing "caches of Hamas' weapons and 
incitement pamphlets."  Ten people were also arrested on suspicions 
of illegal possession of weapons, according to the same reports. 
 
 
Saturday, August 30, 2008 
 
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida's front page highlights remarks by Palestinian 
President Abbas in a recent interview with Al-Arabiyya, explaining 
that Secretary Rice informed the Israelis and Palestinians on her 
last visit, that the "occupied West Bank" includes East Jerusalem, 
the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.  Abbas added that the Israelis 
"did not object" to Rice's position.  In related negotiations 
coverage, Al-Ayyam quoted PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat refuting 
reports that an agreement can be reached with the Israelis by 
September.  Erekat underscored that "a huge gap" still exists 
between the two sides' positions on all final-status issues. 
 
Al-Quds carried President Bush's Ramadan greeting as published by 
AFP. 
 
 
Al-Quds ran a page 2 interview with Christine Griffin of the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission, who was visiting Palestinian 
 
JERUSALEM 00001627  003 OF 003 
 
 
areas on a PD-coordinated program regarding equal employment and 
disability issues.  The coverage, which also includes Griffin's 
picture, quoted her call on Israel to ease the movement of the 
disabled through Israeli checkpoints. 
 
U.S. presidential elections continued to capture front-page coverage 
in all dailies, highlighting reports on reactions to Obama's speech 
before the Democratic National Convention and McCain's "surprise" 
pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
¶1.  Independent Al-Quds runs an editorial by Gaza political 
scientist Dr. Naji Sadiq Sharab, entitled, "Whither the [Internal] 
Division..." (9/02): "[T]his internal division [between Fatah and 
Hamas]...will mean the disappearance of the possibility of 
establishing a Palestinian state ... it strips the main issues of 
their political meaning and human rights implications.  For example, 
there is no need to talk about Jerusalem as a political capital. 
Instead, [the discussion will] focus on its religious and spiritual 
importance.  Everybody is forgetting about the importance of its 
borders and geographic definition ...this [internal] division could 
also be dangerous if it means that Palestinians will no longer have 
the power to determine their [political] options ..." 
¶2.  Al-Ayyam runs an editorial by regular columnist Hasan Asfour 
entitled, "Hamas' Refusal of Arab Forces..." (9/02): "[H]amas' 
refusal to study the idea of Arab forces [in the Gaza Strip] is a 
refusal to end the [internal] division and instead keep Gaza as a 
bargaining chip for the future... Hamas' position [on Arab forces] 
is an indicator of its seriousness about national dialogue..." 
 
WALLES