VZCZCXRO6703
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #0125/01 0141146
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141146Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4169
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/GNEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: JANUARY 14 MEDIA REACTION TO GAZA 
 
AMMAN 00000125  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Clashes between Hamas fighters and IDF units competed 
for attention with King Abdullah's statements in Wednesday's 
newspapers published in Jordan.  The King reiterated again the 
urgency of enforcing UNSCR 1860 on Israel and subsequently reaching 
a two-state solution.  Demonstrators numbering in the hundreds 
targeted the Egyptian embassy along with Zionist and American 
products.  Op-ed commentary dismissed Israel's political rationale 
for the Gaza operation as lacking depth.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  All major newspapers kept up their extensive Gaza coverage. 
Much like yesterday's coverage, news of clashes between IDF units 
and Hamas fighters competed for space with statements of strength 
from King Abdullah.  Accounts of events in Gaza were sourced to 
international wire services.  The King stated that "the 
international community should shoulder its responsibilities and 
place pressure on Israel to implement UN Security Council Resolution 
1860 and stop its 'absurd aggression' on the Gaza Strip," and that 
"the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza cannot be ignored anymore." 
 He added, "Once the aggression ends, there is a need for a serious 
and active international efforts to solve the conflict on the basis 
of the two-state solution that leads to the establishment of an 
independent Palestinian state."  The King made the statements during 
a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim in Amman. 
 
¶3. Dailies gave front-page attention to a denial by a military 
spokesman of the claim yesterday by the Israeli Army that shots were 
fired from Jordan on an army patrol near the border.  The spokesman 
said, "No firing took place from Jordanian territory in the 
direction of an Israeli patrol.  The reported information is totally 
unfounded." 
 
¶4. Following a cabinet meeting, Minister of State for Media Affairs 
and Communications Nasser Joudeh stressed that Jordan "supports Arab 
consensus and joint Arab action" in reference to Jordan's position 
on holding an Arab League summit as proposed by Qatar.  He 
explained, "It [Jordan] would support Arab consensus, in case it is 
achieved, on the Arab summit." 
 
¶5. According to the newspapers, yesterday's public protests included 
a sit-in by "hundreds" of demonstrators in front of the Egyptian 
embassy, led by members of the Islamist community.  They called for 
rejecting Egypt's efforts to mediate a ceasefire.  In a separate 
protest, "hundreds" demonstrated in Amman's Sweifieh commercial 
district, demanding a boycott of "Zionist and American" products. 
All papers covered the dispatch of thirteen trucks full of relief 
supplies under the supervision of the Jordan Hashemite Charity 
Organization.  In addition, 20 Jordanian physicians headed for Gaza 
yesterday to volunteer in medical relief efforts there. 
 
¶6. Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "A Recipe for Extremism with No Need for Bin Laden" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Barhoumeh in the January 14 edition of the 
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad comments, "The Israeli behavior 
before us constitutes the best recipe for extremism.  There is no 
need here for a message from Osama Bin Laden or Ayman Al-Thawahiri 
to stir us against any rationality in the context of our struggle 
with the other or with the occupier....  We may say a great deal 
about Hamas' miscalculations and that it gave Israel justifications 
to practice its sadism against the Palestinians, but all this does 
not justify in any shape or form accepting the massacre and 
equalizing between the victim and the victimizer.  All of Hamas and 
Fatah's mistakes must not make us and the world forget that the 
cause of the Palestinians' misery is essentially the occupation, 
which does not mean that we exempt ourselves from responsibility for 
our deteriorating conditions and our division, and that our cause is 
just although we fail most of the time in defending it.  The 
important question in these difficult times is this:  does the 
ugliness of the Israeli aggression and barbarism constitute a reason 
for us to abandon good sense?  Raising morale and spirits must not 
make us forget that the Palestinian dream is one of liberation and 
independence and not one of death and demise.  The Palestinian dream 
is to live in a regular homeland.  The Palestinians, like all other 
people, want to live and not to die....  The real defeat would be if 
we no longer how dear our blood is." 
 
-- "Israel's Failure!" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Hussein Al-Momani in today's Al-Ghad (1/14) 
opines, "Political follow-up of the war confirms that the Israeli 
decision [to go to war] lacks any in-depth political and strategic 
calculations....  I doubt that Israel's decision was put to reason. 
Israel began by declaring that the purpose of this operation is to 
eliminate Hamas.  This reminded us of the mentality of the war on 
terrorism and Al-Qaeda, which is an open-ended and continuous war. 
This is because Hamas constitutes the 'idea' for resistance; it will 
not die except with the death of everyone who believes in Palestine 
as a homeland and in resistance as a methodology....  The result is 
that Israel until now is incapable of specifying a political and 
military objective for its war on Gaza, resulting in increased 
 
AMMAN 00000125  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
international impatience for what is happening, and ultimately 
leading international and internal pressures to end the war.  This 
is impossible, because as long as there is a single Palestinian able 
to launch a rocket, it will be failure for Israel and victory for 
Hamas....  This painful war will not end except with a political and 
not a military settlement." 
 
-- "Deputies and Obama's Inauguration" 
 
Columnist Sameeh Al-Ma'aitah in today's Al-Ghad (1/14) observes, "On 
Friday, a large parliamentary delegation will leave to the United 
States to take part in the inaugural ceremony of the new American 
president, Barack Obama.  The more important aspect is political and 
administrative.  The deputies are the people's representative, and 
the current political stage, in terms of the Zionist aggression and 
the American bias, requires a different parliamentary position.  We 
are not talking about boycotting America, but rather about a 
parliamentary decision to limit the participation....  Since the 
issue is about celebrations and in Washington, let the delegation be 
of two members only." 
 
BEECROFT