VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #0952/01 1131128
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231128Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4935
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS AMMAN 000952 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/GNEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: MEDIA REACT TO KING'S U.S. VISIT 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Wednesday's newspapers in Jordan led with extensive 
coverage of the President's meeting with King Abdullah at the White 
House Tuesday.  Beneath banner headlines reading "Jordan, U.S. See 
Eye To Eye On Peace," reports stressed the two leaders' commitment 
to moving the Middle East peace process forward.  Initial op-ed 
commentaries lauded the President's expression of strong support for 
the two-state solution.  As additional op-ed commentaries appear in 
coming days, post will transmit further media reaction reports.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. All newspapers published Wednesday in Jordan led with extensive 
front-page coverage of the President's meeting with King Abdullah. 
Beneath banner headlines and sub-headlines summarizing the major 
points of the two leaders' discussion, coverage appeared alongside 
several color photos conveying a tone of friendship and rapport 
between the two leaders.  The headline by the Jordan Times was 
representative: "Jordan, U.S. See Eye To Eye On Peace."  The content 
of the reports on the White House meeting relied heavily on the 
official version provided by the Jordan News Agency. 
 
¶3. News reports carried extensive quotes from the two leaders' joint 
press availability, highlighting their emphasis on "the importance 
of moving within the framework of effective steps to end the 
conflict and establish comprehensive and just peace in the region." 
The King is quoted as stressing the President's "full commitment" to 
Jordan and the Arab countries to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli 
conflict.  The President is quoted as praising the King's peace 
efforts in the region and the world.  Reports also highlighted the 
President's description of the Arab Peace Initiative as "a 
constructive beginning," as well as his "strong support for the 
two-state solution." 
 
¶4. (U) Initial editorial commentary: 
 
-- "The Jordanian-American Summit Meeting" 
 
Chief editor Taher Odwan comments in the April 22 edition of the 
independent, opposition Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm, "Obama's clear 
reference to the two-state solution at this point in time represents 
a response to remarks made by Netanyahu and Lieberman who do not 
conceal their objection to the establishment of a Palestinian state 
and to the Arab initiative, as well as their rejection of peace 
process mechanisms, which the former U.S. administration had 
adopted, such as the Roadmap and the Annapolis meeting.  Yet, the 
pan-Arab mission of the King in Washington is not the end of the 
road, but rather it opens the doors wide for Arab countries to 
shoulder their responsibilities towards the Palestinian cause and 
the restoration of occupied lands.  This requires a speedy Arab 
action to put in place mechanisms for the Arab action and to follow 
up on the important outcomes of the King-Obama meeting, as well as 
to follow up on developments in the American stand and the 
American-Israeli relationship." 
 
-- "The King Is Best to Represent the Nation" 
 
The main editorial in the April 22 edition of the government-aligned 
Arabic daily Ad-Dustour opines, "President Obama's emphasis on the 
two-state solution correlates with the Arab stance and the 
international decisions, and constitutes a decisive response to 
Netanyahu's attempts to evade and bypass the international 
decisions....  The importance of the American position stems from 
the dangerous nature of the stage through which the region is going 
after the victory of the Israeli right-wing party and its rejection 
to acknowledge the Palestinian partner and the Annapolis agreements 
that call on Israel to stop the settlement activity and for 
establishing two states.  This [position] needs to be translated 
into action on the ground with effective steps....  By carrying the 
Arab stand vis-`-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the 
American President, the King proved to be the best to represent the 
nation and the best to adopt its causes, especially the Palestinian 
cause, which is considered the Arabs' central cause whose fair 
solution on the basis of the two states and the return of the 
refugees is the only way out of the dark tunnel." 
 
-- "The King's Meeting with Obama: Dotting Difficult Words" 
 
Senior columnist Sultan Hattab in the April 22 edition of the 
leading, government-owned Arabic daily Al-Rai observes, "Personal 
relations and admiration achieved by chemistry or joint convictions 
may not be enough to overcome the great difficulties when the 
persons concerned are responsible for countries and peoples and when 
the pending issues are as major and complex as the Middle East 
issue.  Yet, personal relations do play an important role....  The 
royal mission is not easy.  It helps Obama answer the question of 
what the Arabs want from the United States in this conflict.  The 
answer that the King is providing might be one of its kind in terms 
of coherence, specificity and summary.  Obama will find help in 
this, because for a long time the Arab parties would differ....  The 
Arabs now agree on a solution that is based on the establishment of 
two states, which they believe is necessary for the security and 
stability of the region and for U.S. interests....  Obama can also 
help the King ... by exercising the pressure that is capable of 
establishing the two-state solution, because this solution does not 
only ensures the establishment of the Palestinian state, but also 
supports the Jordanian national security by moving it away from the 
Zionist schemes and from threats of going back to the 'transfer' 
policy." 
 
-- "The King in America: the True Face of Challenges": 
 
Columnist Abdullah Abu Rumman in the April 22 edition of Al-Rai 
asserts, "The King's move towards the United States comes amidst 
complex situations and contexts.  It is a move that did not target 
the new U.S. administration alone, but also the American society, 
its organizations, and lobbying and influential centers in order to 
rally support for the Palestinian cause, to re-establish its maximum 
priority, and to remind everyone that it is the 'core of the 
conflict' in the Middle East, and that the absence or 
procrastination of a just solution is the thing that feeds the 
challenges and dangers in areas where the new U.S. administration 
sees the maximum priorities." 
 
-- "A Message of Peace" 
 
The main editorial in the April 22 edition of the elite, 
small-circulation English daily Jordan Times opined, "Bilateral 
ties, going from strength to strength after 60 years since first 
initiated, were part of the discussions between the two heads of 
state, as were Iran, Afghanistan, terrorism in the region, the 
impact of the economic crisis on the two countries and international 
cooperation.  But, above all, in the U.S. as a representative of the 
Arabs, first and foremost, King Abdullah made it clear that "we 
believe that it is important for all of us to keep our eyes on the 
prize, and the prize is peace and stability for all the people of 
our region".  The first Arab ruler to meet the new US president at 
the White House, the King carried with him the offer of the entire 
Arab world: comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for the 
return of lands occupied by force and a just settlement to the 
Palestinian refugee problem....  It is laudable that Obama considers 
the Arab initiative a very constructive start. But this peace offer, 
which was formulated at the Beirut Arab summit of 2002, cannot be 
expected to be forever valid. Israel will have to respond to it if 
it is serious about peace.  Obama, who remains committed to the 
two-state solution, is well aware that the parties cannot "talk 
forever, that at some point steps have to be taken so that people 
can see progress on the ground. And that will be something that we 
will expect to take place in the coming months"....  He, however, 
sees, "not just in Israel, but within the Palestinian territories, 
among the Arab states, worldwide... a profound cynicism about the 
possibility of any progress being made whatsoever", a bleak 
assessment, indeed, of the state of affairs.  His determination, 
then, is not enough to revive the deadlocked peace process, 
especially now that intransigent right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu is 
prime minister of Israel.  Obama made it clear that neither Jordan 
nor the United States can do things instead of the Israelis and the 
Palestinians, but that the two parties involved in the conflict will 
have to make decisions not to perpetuate the conflict "in which 
generations of Palestinian and Israeli children are growing up 
insecure, in an atmosphere of hate". 
 
BROWN