VZCZCXRO7792
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #0145 0151341
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151341Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4206
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS AMMAN 000145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/GNEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: JANUARY 15 MEDIA REACTION TO GAZA 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Beneath sorrowful images from Gaza, banner headlines in 
today's Jordan-based newspapers focused on the apparent disagreement 
among Arab League member states.  King Abdullah's meeting with UN 
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon topped local coverage.  Public 
protests were few as the Islamist community planned large-scale 
demonstrations in coming days.  Op-ed commentary criticized the Arab 
League.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. All dailies today in Jordan continued to publish extensive front 
and inside-page coverage of the latest developments in and around 
Gaza.  Banner headlines and large color photos of sorrowful images 
remained the norm.  Egypt's announcement that Hamas has accepted its 
proposal for a weeklong ceasefire led front-page coverage, along 
with reports that the number of dead and injured in Gaza reached 
1,015 and 4,500 by yesterday evening.  Headlines centered on news 
that various Arab League member states will hold as many as three 
separate "summits" in Doha, Riyadh, and Kuwait City to discuss the 
conflict. 
 
¶3. Relying on a Royal Court statement, the dailies began local 
coverage with King Abdullah's reiteration that the international 
community must shoulder its responsibility, saying "bringing and end 
to the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and assisting the people 
must be a top priority for the world."  His reiteration came during 
a meeting in Amman with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.  The King 
also received a telephone call from Qatar Emir Hamad Al Thani on 
Jordan's participation at the Arab League summit in Doha.  According 
to Al-Ghad, an unnamed Jordanian official stated that Jordan would 
participate in the Doha summit if the number of participating member 
states reaches a quorum. 
 
¶4. Dailies reported that Lower House MPs failed to obtain a quorum 
to allow discussion of the government's policy in connection with 
the crisis in Gaza.  Deputies were able to launch a discussion on 
mechanisms that could be created "to bring Israeli war criminals to 
justice."  That discussion resulted from a petition signed by 37 
lawmakers requesting the House to sue Israeli leaders for war 
crimes, including genocide. 
 
¶5. Public protests yesterday reportedly consisted of a call by the 
Muslim Brotherhood on leading persons in government, professional 
associations, political parties, tribal and civil society 
organizations to participate in a "Public Conference to Support 
Gaza" to be held on Saturday.  Almost 1,000 participants have agreed 
to attend.  The Brotherhood is also planning for a one-million-man 
march to the border with Israel.  Other demonstrations included a 
march at the University of Jordan by 1,000 faculty members. 
University President Khalid Karaki and his deputies led the march 
from the gate of the main library and to the King Hussein 
Auditorium.  The Jordan Construction and Contractors Association 
announced that it is collecting photographs via email and SMS of 
"the crimes in Gaza." 
 
¶6. Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Gaza Should Not Have Happened" 
 
The main editorial in the January 15 edition of the elite, small 
circulation Jordan Times opines, "There is a growing clamor for 
Israel's grotesque aggression on the Gaza Strip to be properly 
examined in a war crimes tribunal.  This is an endeavor the Arab 
world ought to spearhead to mitigate what has been a shameful 
showing by the countries of this region.  The Arab world needs to 
take a long, hard look at itself. For all its feebleness when it 
comes to foreign affairs, one could hardly imagine the European 
Union, a coalition of countries far more varied than those making up 
the Arab world, standing by paralyzed should one of its own be 
subjected to the kind of barbarism that Gaza has been subjected to. 
After almost three weeks, there has not been a unified Arab 
position. There has been no collective political initiative that 
could have turned the screws on Israel long before the unimaginably 
horrific images from Gaza came out, that have slowly forced the West 
to act.  In fact, Arab countries are still squabbling whether to 
convene an emergency summit. After three weeks.  There is of course 
little new in this. The Arab League is a paper tiger if ever there 
was one. But that is not the fault of the league, but of its member 
states. The pompous tussle for diplomatic preeminence and the more 
covert and unseemly tussle for foreign aid by individual countries, 
places Arab countries, by their own volition, in a prisoner's 
dilemma, where cooperation would yield the greatest gains, but the 
promise of individual deliverance makes everyone act selfishly, thus 
yielding the worst outcome for all." 
 
BEECROFT