VZCZCXRO4024
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1336/01 2160846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040846Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5629
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
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7808
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4780
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4628
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6121
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4547
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3125

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001336 
 
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 (08/04): Fatah Party Congress Seen 
as Significant Junction in Palestinian Political Situation 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
All dailies lead with coverage of the Sixth Fatah Party Congress set 
to convene in Bethlehem on August 4, highlighting remarks by 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stating that launching 
the Congress in the homeland is "historic." Al-Quds quotes Marwan 
Barghouthi, a senior Fatah leader currently in an Israeli jail, 
calling on Congress organizers to hold accountable every member 
responsible for the downfall of the movement. The dailies also quote 
Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub saying that the Congress will aim to 
patch up the internal state of affairs of the movement. Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida reports that Nabil Amr has been named the official 
spokesman of the congress. 
 
Reactions to the evacuation of Palestinian families from Sheikh 
Jarrah in East Jerusalem continue to capture coverage on the front 
pages of the dailies. All papers spotlight Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton's remarks describing the evictions as "deeply 
regrettable," and "not in keeping with Israeli obligations," while 
urging Israeli officials to "refrain from such provocative actions." 
The coverage also includes international condemnations of Israeli 
actions in East Jerusalem, including by the UN, the EU and several 
individual European countries, many of which described the evictions 
as "illegal" and "unacceptable." 
 
The dailies report that the Rafah Crossing at the Egyptian-Gaza 
border is open for Palestinian travelers for three days starting 
August 3. In related news, the dailies continue to report on the 
rising number of Palestinians killed in the smuggling tunnels near 
those borders, noting that one more Palestinian was killed yesterday 
and three others were missing.------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
 
1) Veteran columnist Hani Masri commented in independent Al-Ayyam 
under the headline, "Fatah, Where to? A Political Ruling Party or 
Liberation Movement?" (8/4): "Holding the [Fatah] Congress in 
occupied Palestine and with the absence of many of its important 
members from abroad, including one of Fatah's founders Farouq 
q 
Qaddoumi, is a great loss...The unity of the Fatah movement and that 
of the Palestinian people can never be achieved without first 
reestablishing the integrity of the Palestinian national project, 
which includes the right of return, self determination, and 
establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on all 
the land occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem." 
 
2) Independent Al-Quds editorialized in "Challenges Facing Fatah and 
the Nation" (8/4): "As Fatah convenes its Congress today, the eyes, 
hearts and ambitions of all Palestinians from inside the homeland 
and in the Diaspora are all directed toward the participants. 
Palestinians know very well that the great challenges facing Fatah 
are the same challenges facing our nation under occupation and 
facing our people regardless of their political affiliations. This 
is true because Fatah leads the struggle to regain our rights. Fatah 
also gets the credit for putting the Palestinian people and its 
cause on the political map of the Middle East...Fatah is expected 
today to rise to the occasion to confront the challenges facing the 
movement and the Palestinians as a whole. It is compelled to reclaim 
its leadership role in the national effort, especially as we face 
the current fateful political junction." 
 
 
JERUSALEM 00001336  002 OF 002 
 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
WALLES