VZCZCXRO3514
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1998/01 3101134
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051134Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3179
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 7388
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4368
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4221
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5715
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4137
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2702

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001998 
 
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 (11/05): PALESTINIANS ARE LEADERS 
OF THEIR OWN FATE 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
Al Quds and Al Ayyam lead with an almost identical red-font 
headline: "Unprecedented voter turnout places Obama at the White 
House gates."  Al Quds runs a front page photo of Obama casting his 
vote, while Al Ayyam runs a front page photo of Obama supporters 
celebrating and smaller, inset photos of Obama and McCain both 
casting their ballots.  Al Quds report says that the economy was a 
decisive factor for 62 percent of American voters. Al Hayat Al 
Jadeeda quotes Abbas telling the media in Hungary yesterday that he 
hopes the new U.S. president will achieve more success in efforts to 
achieve peace in the Middle East.  "We wait for change and hope it 
can make peace possible," Abbas said.  Abbas advisor Nimr Hamad 
denied alleged statements that Obama promised East Jerusalem to 
Abbas during Obama's visit to Ramallah.  Al Quds reports on an AFP 
story that Hamas chief Khaled Misha'al has said Hamas is ready for 
dialogue with the new U.S. President.  Israel's PM Olmert is also to 
Israel. 
 
Al Quds reports that Egypt has informed Hamas that Egypt's proposal 
for a Palestinian dialogue is a general outline and that any 
proposed amendments should be raised within the specialized 
committees.  The report also states that Fatah agreed to a bilateral 
meeting with Hamas only after the inauguration of the official talks 
in Cairo. Al Quds quotes Assistant Arab League Secretary General 
Mohammed Sbaih calling for the inclusion of Hamas in the PLO and 
noting there is Arab consensus on supporting Egypt's efforts to 
achieve Palestinian unity. The paper also quotes Sbaih saying that 
the American Congress should be clear that the Arab countries will 
not allow Israel to change the Arab Islamic character of Jerusalem. 
 
Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadeeda report on their front pages that six 
Hamas Al-Qassam Brigade activists were killed on Tuesday evening by 
Israeli fire in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and in Juhr 
Ad-Dik in the central Gaza Strip.  The report also notes that Egypt 
opened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and that it will remain 
open through Thursday. 
 
Al Quds highlights Prime Minister Fayyad's visit to Hebron to 
participate in a campaign calling for an end to Israel's closure of 
the old city. Fayyad called for the Palestinian people to show 
solidarity with Hebron in light of escalating Israeli settler 
attacks there. Fayyad is also quoted saying that the PA is committed 
to ensuring security for its citizens. 
 
Al Quds and Al Ayyam report on their front pages that the Fatah bloc 
won Hamas-boycotted An-Najah student elections, adding that the 
Fatah bloc won 58 senate seats, followed by a bloc of leftist 
Palestinian parties' with 10 seats.  The Leftist bloc represented 
both the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of 
Palestine, as well as the People's Party. Islamic Jihad gained eight 
seats, the Palestinian National Initiative took three and the FIDA 
bloc gained two. Hamas's student bloc boycotted the election in 
response to an alleged PA arrest campaign, which the PA denied. 
 
Al Hayat Al Jadeeda reports on its front page that the Israeli High 
Court is looking into a Palestinian appeal to change the route of 
the separation wall that takes away 27000 donums of Palestinian land 
between Tulkarem and Qalqiliya in northern West Bank. 
 
Al Hayat Al Jadeeda reports that Israel is concerned about a 
possible show-down with Britain over settlements in the West Bank in 
 
JERUSALEM 00001998  002 OF 002 
 
 
light of British pressure to prevent EU tax exemptions on EU imports 
of Israeli settlement products. Al Quds quotes British Foreign 
Office officials saying that the Israeli settlements are "illegal 
and an obstacle to peace." 
 
On an inside page, Al Quds reports that Michael Schreuder from the 
U.S. Consulate General Economic Section at visited the Expotech 
exhibit in Ramallah and tested the technology present by making a 
call to his family in the US using VoIp technology.  He is quoted 
expressing the Consulate's readiness to enhance networking between 
Palestinian and American technology and telecommunications 
companies. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
1)  Al Quds ran an editorial under the title "No...we haven't 
forgotten that wicked promise" that argues "It's a pity that the 
Arab nation, with all its resources and capabilities still waits for 
the White House and its resident to draft its future and set the 
policies of its states. The question is when would this nation turn 
into a doer instead of being satisfied with passiveness, monitoring 
events and accepting the actions of others and being affected by 
their decisions?" 
 
2) Regular columnist Hani Habeen opines in Al Ayyam under the title 
"A new American President: He... and us" that "it would be a mistake 
to interpret the American vision of the new president based on 
intentions, statements or even actions by that president as an 
unavoidable destiny.  We believe ... that it is up to us as Arabs 
and Palestinians to affect the American stand, if we successfully 
used the many tools that we have, ... only then we can force the 
American President to take the stand that is the least hostile 
towards pressuring Israel to reach a just solution. Otherwise, any 
American President, whoever he might be, won't take the Arab stand 
into consideration, and Israel shall remain the pilot and minaret 
for his policies". 
 
3) The Palestine Chronicle editor Ramzy Baroud writes in Ma'an under 
the title "A Third Palestinian Intifada in the Making" that 
"Palestinian uprisings are often a collective response to hard 
questions. Chances are that the next Intifada - as there will surely 
be one as long as the occupation continues - will once again find a 
popular rejection of the ills which have afflicted the Palestinian 
cause.  It would once again reassert the relevance, if not the 
leading role of the Palestinian people as the real owners of their 
fate, and guardians of their own struggle." 
 
Walles