VZCZCXRO1916
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0389/01 0651116
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061116Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4272
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 7572
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4557
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4405
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5899
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4321
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2895

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC 
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 (03/06):  PALESTINIANS QUESTION 
U.S. RESOLVE TO HALT SETTLEMENT EXPANSION 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
Al Quds leads with Israeli police restrictions on access to 
Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque Friday prayers.  The report that also 
appears on Al Ayyam's front page and an inside page of Al Hayat Al 
Jadida, adds that the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality ordered on 
March 5, that two apartment buildings in East Jerusalem housing 250 
Palestinians, be destroyed within 10 days.  Al Ayyam further adds 
that Israeli authorities in Hebron ordered the demolition and halt 
to construction of eight Palestinian houses and four water tanks. 
The papers quote Palestinian sources in Jerusalem and Hebron 
describing the orders as political in nature, not administrative, 
and tantamount to ethnic cleansing and displacement of 
Palestinians. 
Al Ayyam and Al Hayat Al Jadida lead with the March 5 killing of 
three Palestinian militants and injury of three others in the Al 
Maghazi area of the Gaza Strip.  Al Ayyam cites AFP when quoting an 
Israeli military spokesman revealing that military strikes have been 
conducted against smuggling tunnels near Rafah, at the Gaza-Egypt 
border. 
The three papers run a second lead story with photographs of the 
killing by police in Jerusalem of a Palestinian bulldozer driver who 
ran into an Israeli bus and police car on March 5.  Papers run 
comments by the driver's brother, disagreeing with the Israeli 
police assessment that the incident was a "premeditated" attack. 
The brother calls it a traffic accident, stressing that the driver 
was not politically active nor affiliated with any political groups. 
 He added that Israeli police raided the family home after the 
incident and arrested his father and two brothers, according to 
reporting. 
Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida front page a Reuters report on 
extending the term of U.S. Security Coordinator General Dayton for 
an additional two years to continue work on assisting Palestinian 
Authority (PA) security forces.  The report quotes, unnamed U.S. and 
Western officials revealing that the Obama administration is 
planning an increase in support to the PA security forces.  The 70% 
funding increase would total $130 million in assistance in 
comparison to the 2008 amount of $75 million.  No State Department 
response is included in reporting. 
 
Al Ayyam and Al Quds front page an AFP report on the non-binding 
resolution sponsored by U.S. Congressman Steve Rothman demanding 
tighter oversight of U.S. assistance to Palestinians in order to 
ensure that no assistance is diverted by terrorists.  The report 
includes a demand that the U.N. better monitor UNRWA activities in 
the Gaza Strip. 
Al Quds' front page runs a Reuters report on plans by U.S. President 
Obama to attend the G-20 summit meeting to discuss the global 
financial crisis and security issues next April. 
Al Quds runs front page coverage of statements by Palestinian 
Authority Premier Fayyad, speaking during a March 5 cabinet meeting 
in Ramallah, thanking countries for their participation in the Gaza 
reconstruction conference in Egypt.  Fayyad is also quoted 
highlighting the strong international support for ending the Israeli 
occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian 
state.-------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
-------------- 
1)  Al Quds' editorial is titled,"The Israeli onslaught and absent 
Arab response"(03/06):  "The [Israeli settlement and demolition] 
campaign increased during U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 
visit to the region, during which she announced opposition to 
[Israeli] settlement activities and their danger to the peace 
 
JERUSALEM 00000389  002 OF 002 
 
 
process... if the new U.S. administration were really serious, 
Israel would not be bold enough to issue wholesale demolition orders 
and construct wholesale settlement units, as American envoys smile 
at the cameras and announce the continuation of peace efforts." 
 
2) Fakhri Al Haj Mohamad opines in Al Quds under the title, 
"President Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (03/05): 
President Obama will go down in history as the first U.S. president 
of African origin, but the question remains if President Obama will 
also go down in history as the president who solved the world's most 
complicated conflict... [and succeeded] where other U.S. 
administrations failed." 
 
WALLES