O 041114Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4352
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ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 
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UNCLAS BEIRUT 000255 
 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA - LAWSON, NEA/ELA - IRWIN, NEA/PPD, R, 
INR/R/MR, INR-PARENT, 
NSC - SHAPIRO, MCDERMOTT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL KMDR OPRC KPAO KISL KPAL LE
SUBJECT:  Lebanon: Media Reaction - March 4, 2009 
 
Atmospherics: 
------------- 
 
Most media outlets front-paged that Acting Assistant Secretary 
Jeffrey Feltman and National Security Council Senior Director Daniel 
Shapiro will be visiting Lebanon soon.  The Central News Agency 
reported that the visit may take place "within the coming few 
hours."  Several media outlets noted that the visit is meant to 
reaffirm continued U.S. support for Lebanon, its institutions and 
its Army.  One newspaper characterized Secretary Clinton's decision 
to "send" Acting A/S Feltman to Lebanon as an indication of the 
U.S.' "heightened interest in Lebanon."  A few media outlets noted 
that Acting A/S Feltman is visiting Beirut "before" Damascus. 
 
Selected Headlines 
------------------- 
 
"A More Adamant American 'Syria Accountability' Project for Its 
Constant Interference in Lebanon and Support for Terrorist 
Organization" Pro-Hariri Al-Mustaqbal 
 
"Hillary Clinton To Send Feltman to Damascus" Independent Al-Anwar 
 
"Clinton Sends Feltman to Beirut and Damascus and Arab and 
International Welcome of the Tribunal" Pro-Sunni Al-Liwa' 
 
"Washington Elevates the Degree of Its Interest in Lebanon So It 
Sends Feltman to Beirut En Route to Damascus" Independent Al-Bayraq 
 
"U.S. Outreach towards Damascus is Being Carried Out via Beirut" 
French-language, Beirut-based L'Orient - Le Jour 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Clinton, Instead of Promising Us Palestine, Create an Israeli 
State," an unsigned editorial in English-language, Beirut-based The 
Daily Star (3/4): 
 
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's pledge to 'vigorously' 
pursue a peace process that will lead to the creation of a 
Palestinian state is not likely to generate huge excitement among 
Arabs in the Middle East.  Even though we would like to believe in 
the change promised by President Obama's administration, many of us 
have grown disillusioned with a lengthy peace process that has 
produced few tangible results.  ...Instead of building our hopes 
again, Clinton should focus on an easier achievement:  create an 
Israeli state.  Yes, the United States formally recognized Israel 
just 11 minutes after Zionists declared its creation on Palestinian 
land in 1948, and most other nations have since followed suit, but 
the Jewish state remains a nebulous entity because its exact borders 
have not yet been drawn.  ...We have long heard promises that a 
Palestinian state is within reach.  ...Clinton would do well to 
avoid repeating the mistakes of Bush and his predecessors by raising 
- and then crushing - the hopes of yet another generation of Arabs. 
Instead she should work with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to 
nail down the exact borders of the state of Israel.  Then at least 
Israel's egregious acts of expansion would be defined as taking 
place outside the Jewish state's borders.  Maybe then the world 
would finally put an end to this crime." 
 
Grant