VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0909/01 3641143
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291143Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5721
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 7480
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 5042
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 3785
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8035
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 2268
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5671
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1628
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 7650

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000909 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ELA, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR VOA NEWS CA, 
NEA/PPD, IIP/G/NEA-SA MRUSSELL 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION REPORT: EVENTS IN GAZA 
DECEMBER 28 - 29, 2008 
 
Summary: For the past two days, all Syrian media focused coverage on 
the "Israeli aggression in Gaza and the Arab silence and 
collaboration in this crime." Headlines emphasized the magnitude of 
human suffering in Gaza. Syria's only private newspaper published on 
12/29 a special section dedicated 
to Gaza, dominated by graphic 
photos of the dead and injured.  Syrian TV cancelled all 
entertainment programming to provide minute-by-minute coverage of 
the Gaza incursion. Of particular note was that public statements by 
the Syrian government, opposition (banned and permitted), and human 
rights community were almost identical in their condemnation of the 
Israeli incursion. Also noteworthy was the rare congruity between 
Syrian media statements and actual public opinion.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Government and Opposition in Agreement 
-------------------------------------- 
 
In a statement carried by the official SANA news agency, an unnamed 
official source said that Syria "follows, with deep concern, the 
brutal Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in Gaza and 
stresses that what is going on is a heinous crime and convicted 
terrorist act." 
 
"Syria condemns this appalling crime and calls on the Arab nations 
and the international community to use all available means to 
pressure Israel to stop this aggression immediately, allow the 
transfer of the injured and insure them medical care, and open all 
crossings to allow access of foodstuffs and health needs to the 
besieged Palestinian people." 
 
An editorial in government-owned daily Tishreen accused "certain 
Arab leaders" of considering Israel a strategic ally and helping it 
to annihilate the resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon. The 
pro-government Champress website accused Egyptian and Saudi leaders 
of collaborating with Israel. Papers and Syrian private TV station 
al-Dunya carried extensive coverage of Hassan Nasrallah's speech in 
Beirut on 12/28 in which he called on all Arabs and Muslims to adopt 
a unified position on Gaza and called on the Egyptian people and 
military to open up the Rafah crossing. 
 
Syrian media highlighted President Bashar al Assad's diplomatic 
efforts as the current chair of the Arab League. Print and 
electronic media reported that Assad called for an emergency Arab 
summit to discuss Gaza and spoke by phone with the leaders of Qatar, 
Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Algeria. 
 
Syrian opposition websites and media also condemned the "Israeli 
massacre" in Gaza. The Damascus Declaration (DD), the major 
opposition group inside Syria, was the first to issue a strong 
statement on December 27 condemning the aggression in Gaza and 
calling upon all Palestinian factions to unite in the face of these 
attacks. 
 
The National Salvation Front (NSF), an opposition group based in 
Paris and headed by former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim 
Khaddam, issued a statement 12/28 condemning the aggression and 
calling on Arab governments to intervene to end the Israeli 
aggression. 
 
The Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Syria) also issued a separate 
statement on its website condemning the "brutal massacre which has 
been committed by the Zionist enemy."  The statement called upon the 
Arab peoples and the Syrian people "in Damascus, Homs, Hama and 
Aleppo" as well as "in the plains, mountains and countryside" to 
take to the streets to express solidarity with "our people" in 
Gaza. 
 
All human rights groups in Syria issued statements condemning 
Israeli actions in Gaza and calling on the international community 
to intervene to "pressure Israel to halt its aggression." The 
statements also demanded that Arab governments "end their silence 
and impartial position on the aggression and have a unified position 
vis-`-vis what is happening in Gaza." 
 
----------------------------------------- 
An End to Syrian-Israeli Indirect Talks 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
Semi-independent Al Watan reported that according to an unnamed 
senior Syrian official, Syria has suspended indirect peace talks 
with Israel in response to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. "The 
Israeli aggression on Gaza closes the door to the movement for a 
peaceful political settlement 
," the official said. 
 
-------------------- 
Protests in Syria 
------------------- 
 
Thousands of Syrians staged a mass demonstration Sunday in Damascus 
to protest the Israeli raids. The demonstrators, who came from a 
variety of political, economic, social and religious backgrounds, 
carried banners and chanted slogans of support for the Palestinian 
people, the official SANA news agency reported. 
 
The protestors urged those Arab countries with diplomatic relations 
with Israel to sever their ties and expel Israeli ambassadors. They 
burned American and Israeli flags and called on the international 
community to force Israel to "end the bloodshed and lift the unjust 
siege imposed on the Gaza Strip."  "Victory belongs to heroic Gaza," 
one banner said. "Until when will the Arab silence continue?" read 
another. 
 
Papers reported also that large crowds of Palestinian refugees in 
Yermouk and al-Neirab Camps in Damascus and Aleppo demonstrated on 
Saturday in protest against Israeli actions.  Protestors marched 
through the two camps, calling for Palestinian national unity and 
solidarity and chanting slogans against what they termed "this crime 
against humanity." The demonstrators condemned Arab and 
international silence over the "ferocious crime" and called on the 
international community to stop "these hostile practices." 
CONNELLY