VZCZCXRO8056
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0522/01 0831114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241114Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4448
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 7599
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4584
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4433
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5926
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4348
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2922

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000522 
 
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 (03/24):  PALESTINIANS SEE 
"SUFFERING IN JERUSALEM" 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
All dailies front page news of the assassination of the deputy PLO 
Representative in Lebanon, Brig. Kamal Midhat, who was killed in an 
explosion along with three others yesterday afternoon near the Miya 
Miya refugee camp. The papers describe Midhat as the most senior PLO 
official assassinated in Lebanon since 1982.  Al Quds notes that PLO 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas denounced the assassination as a criminal act 
targeting all Palestinians in Lebanon. The PLO Representative in 
Lebanon Abbas Zaki is quoted as refusing to accuse anyone so as to 
"give Lebanese security the chance to investigate the crime". 
All dailies run front page coverage of statements by Palestinian 
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday in which he said that 
the while the initial round of Palestinian national dialogue in 
Cairo had served to define ideas and differences, the upcoming round 
will be able to attain agreement between the parties. 
All dailies front page AP and Reuters reports quoting a UN report on 
human rights abuses during the recent Gaza conflict, noting that the 
UN report reveals that Israel violated a number of humanitarian laws 
during the conflict, including using a Palestinian child as a human 
shield.  Citing DPA, Al Quds adds that the Israeli human rights 
group "Doctors for Human Rights" claimed in a report that Israel 
violated medical ethics during the Gaza war by not allowing for the 
evacuation of injured Palestinians and attacking medical rescue 
teams. 
All dailies lead with reports of Israel's "suppression" of cultural 
activities surrounding the inauguration of Jerusalem as "The Capital 
of Arab Culture" for 2009. The papers note that Israeli police 
arrested and beat 12 Palestinians including prominent journalists, 
clerics and social activists. 
All papers cite Israeli daily Haaretz in reporting that Israeli 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has suspended the demolition of 
settlement houses in the Israeli settlement of Ofra near Ramallah. 
Al Quds inside page also reports that the Israeli military removed 
an iron gate, installed five years ago, along the main 
Nablus-Qalqilyah road in the West Bank, allowing for easier access 
between the two cities. 
Al Ayyam and Al Quds run a Reuters report revealing that Israel has 
promised to allow the entry of most foodstuffs into Gaza following a 
U.S. protest.  The report notes that the Israeli-US differences over 
food shipments into Gaza started after Israel stranded convoys of 
trucks carrying noodles and cheese at the Gaza crossings. 
Al Quds reports that an Israeli female settler leader, speaking at a 
New York synagogue, called for the assassination of Palestinian 
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the abrogation of the Oslo 
Agreement. The settler, who chairs the Israeli settlers "Women in 
the Green" movement, said that "we have to destroy all the terrorist 
organizations, all the leaders must be killed starting with 
President Abbas".------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
1) Independent daily Al Quds' editorial is titled, "Inhuman 
suffering at Qalandiyah crossing"(03/24):  "The Qalandiyah crossing 
is the major route for the movement of Palestinians from Jerusalem 
to Ramallah and from Ramallah to Jerusalem... the suffering of 
Jerusalemites at the crossing is part of a series of unjust Israeli 
harassment and policies, including intensified settlement 
activities, attempts to evacuate citizens from their houses for 
invalid reasons, heavy taxes or separating the city's neighborhoods 
from Jerusalem by the separation wall.  The reason is known, and 
almost openly declared and causes despair and misery among 
Jerusalemites who then feel forced to leave Jerusalem and become 
easy catch for settlers." 
 
JERUSALEM 00000522  002 OF 002 
 
 
2)  Mohannad Abdul Hamid wonders in independent daily Al Ayyam under 
the title, "Are we closer to an internal agreement?"(03/24):  "What 
is the alternative if [national Palestinian] dialogue fails?  Should 
it fail, decision makers must return to the people and agree on 
early legislative and presidential elections to allow the people 
their say.  The people's will must be respected regardless of the 
outcome..." 
 
WALLES