VZCZCXRO8572
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1380/01 2220955
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100955Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5691
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 7815
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4787
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4635
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6128
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4554
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3132

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001380 
 
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 (08/10): As Fatah Congress Draws 
to a Close, Votes are Cast for Leadership Committees 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
News from the Sixth Fatah Party Congress in the West Bank city of 
Bethlehem continues to receive prominent coverage in the local 
press. Reports highlight news that elections for the Fatah Central 
Committee and Revolutionary Council were held on August 9, with 
results expected today. The reports also note that the elections 
were very competitive and conducted in a professional manner. All 
dailies include photos of Palestinian Authority (PA) President 
Mahmoud Abbas casting his ballot. 
 
All front pages highlight Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak 
criticizing the Congress and the statements made by participating 
Fatah leaders. Al-Quds quotes Barak saying that the "Fatah 
statements are grave and unacceptable for Israel." Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida quotes Barak saying that the "Fatah conference is a 
disappointment." According to coverage, Barak also noted that the 
"Middle East problems will not be resolved with a conference but 
rather with a broad and a comprehensive agreement." 
 
Al-Quds front pages news on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 
remarks during an interview with CNN on August 9 that she hopes to 
see all Middle East parties take steps that will increase the 
likelihood of achieving a two state solution. 
 
All dailies run news on the First National Palestinian 
Entrepreneurship Conference held in Ramallah on August 9. In his 
opening remarks, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad reiterated that the 
international community must be committed to ending the Israeli 
occupation and "not beautifying it" and urged them to unite and work 
towards ending the occupation and achieving an independent 
Palestinian state. 
 
---------------- 
Weekend stories: 
---------------- 
 
Sunday: August 9 
All dailies front page news that President Abbas was elected head of 
the Fatah movement by consensus at the Sixth Fatah Party Congress. 
The conference elected 18 members of the Central Committee by secret 
ballot, in addition to four members who will be appointed upon a 
recommendation from President Abbas and the approval of one-third of 
the new members of the Central Committee and the Revolutionary 
Council. After his election, Abbas said that "this conference should 
be a new beginning for the Fatah movement. In the past we had 
several launches and several setbacks, but we managed always to 
stand up again and be stronger than before." President Abbas also 
denounced Hamas actions and noted that "the conference was held 
despite Hamas attempts to obstruct it." 
 
Al Hayat Al Jadida runs a front page story on the Fatah Party 
Congress' endorsement of the movement's political platform. A Fatah 
leader, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said that "the 
conference approved several main points in the political program, 
the most important of which was the right of the Palestinian people 
to resist occupation by all means." 
 
Al Quds front pages news that a five-member delegation from Hamas, 
headed by Mahmoud Zahhar, was in Cairo to discuss the next round of 
the Palestinian national dialogue. After the visit to Egypt, the 
 
JERUSALEM 00001380  002 OF 003 
 
 
delegation will travel to several Arab countries, including Syria. 
Meanwhile, Khaled Misha'al, the head of Hamas's political bureau in 
Damascus, reiterated Hamas's interest in achieving Palestinian 
reconciliation "on the basis of resistance and national 
fundamentals." 
 
Al Quds and Al Ayyam front page news that settlers continue their 
attacks in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. A 50 
year old man was reportedly injured yesterday when a group of 
settlers attacked him. 
 
Saturday, August 8: 
 
All dailies carry front page news on discussions regarding the 
participation of Fatah leaders residing Gaza in the Fatah Party 
Congress elections. Several of the movement's members in Gaza 
registered to be elected to the Central Committee and the 
Revolutionary Council. 
 
Al Ayyam runs a front page story on Saeb Erekat, Head of the PLO 
Negotiations Affairs Department, revealing that the US is developing 
a set of obligations for the Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, and the 
Quartet to undertake in order to resume peace talks. 
 
Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida cite reports in Israeli newspaper 
Haaretz that well-informed Palestinian sources said that under a new 
plan to achieve peace, the US will require Israel and the 
Palestinians to solve the question of borders first. The sources, 
quoted under condition of anonymity, told Haaretz that the "American 
plan will not offer a detailed solution for the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict, but rather a position on all final status agreement core 
issues: borders, Jerusalem, and refugees." The Americans, according 
to the sources, will present an 18-month time-frame for 
negotiations, and will demand the two parties resolve the question 
of borders first, which in their view will lead to resolving the 
other issues such as settlements and water." 
 
All dailies front page news that several people suffered 
near-suffocation as a result of tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers 
against protestors attending the weekly demonstrations against the 
Israeli security barrier. Meanwhile, the dailies also report that 
settlers and Israeli soldiers opened fire at anti-settlement 
demonstrators in the village of Araq Bourin, south of the West Bank 
city of Nablus. Villages south of Nablus have seen escalating 
clashes for the past several months. 
------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
 
1) Al-Quds independent daily runs an editorial under the title, 
"Peace cannot be attained by hope alone" (08/10): "How does 
Secretary Clinton want the Palestinians to react in light of the 
increased Israeli violations including settlement activity, the 
siege and evictions? Clinton must realize that peace can't be 
achieved by hopes and wishes, or by ignoring the Israeli violations 
or pressuring the Palestinians to make more compromises. It will 
take a solid American and international stance to end the occupation 
and establish a Palestinian state." 
 
2) Veteran Columnist Samih Shbeib opines in Al-Ayyam independent 
daily under the headline "What's after the Fatah Conference?" 
(08/10): "The Fatah conference has been held successfully despite 
all the doubts and obstacles... but the true success now will be in 
 
JERUSALEM 00001380  003 OF 003 
 
 
Fatah's capability to face the challenges on the ground and prove 
its rebirth with a new political program that will unite Fatah as a 
movement again." 
 
WALLES