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DE RUEHJM #1769/01 2790800
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 060800Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6214
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 7883
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4855
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4705
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6196
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4622
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3213

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001769 
 
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 (10/06): Palestinians question why 
the PA agreed to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report 
 
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Main Stories: 
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News on the confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli 
police at Al-Aqsa Mosque continues to receive prominent coverage in 
the local press. The dailies report that the police closed the main 
entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque for the second day, denying all 
Palestinians, except the elderly, entrance to pray. Photos on the 
front pages show the Israeli police arresting young Palestinian boys 
who were at the demonstrations against the closure. In related news, 
the dailies report on solidarity demonstrations taking place in most 
of the Palestinian cities in protest of the Israeli actions. 
Condemnations of the attack against the mosque from Arab and Muslim 
countries continue. In its weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, the 
Council of Ministers condemned the Israeli attacks. 
 
Al-Quds front pages news on yesterday's interview of Palestinian 
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas with Yemeni TV during his 
visit to Yemen. When asked about the Goldstone report, President 
Abbas noted that the PA doesn't have the right to postpone the vote 
of any report since the PA is an observer at the UN and in the Human 
Rights Council. Abbas reiterated that the postponement was made 
after the US, Europe, Russia and China found that the report needed 
more time to be studied. 
 
The dailies report on Palestinians' reaction to the postponement of 
the vote on the Goldstone report. National and civil society 
organizations demonstrated yesterday in Ramallah against the action. 
In a separate coverage, Al-Quds reports that the Palestinian 
Liberation Organization's (PLO) response to US pressure to postpone 
the vote has created a severe internal crisis, leading to the 
formation of a committee to investigate in the implications. Some 
Palestinian officials, particularly Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, 
opposed the demands of the US Consul General in Jerusalem asking the 
PA to postpone the vote. According to coverage, Fayyad aggressively 
rejected the request of the US Consul and noted after hitting the 
table "you are weakening the authority of President Abbas and the 
PA, the same way you did with the settlements issue." The report 
notes that one official, however, responded positively to the US 
request and convinced Abbas to accept it. 
 
The dailies report on the national reconciliation efforts expected 
to resume in Cairo this month. The dailies quote Egyptian Foreign 
Minister Aboul Gheit noting that the Palestinian national 
reconciliation agreement will be signed in Cairo on October 25. He 
also noted in a press conference in Amman that the Palestinian 
elections will take place sometime between March and June 2010, not 
in January as was previously planned. 
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BLOCK QUOTES: 
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1) Yunis Amouri opines in Al-Quds independent daily under the title 
"The official Palestinian position from Goldstone's report" (10/06): 
"The official Palestinian justifications that we've heard concerning 
the postponement of the vote on the Goldstone report are 
unreasonable and weak. We all know about the relationship between 
the US and Israel, and we don't need proof to convince us and the 
whole world that Washington imposed pressure to postpone the vote. 
But an admission by the Palestinian Authority that it agreed to 
postpone the vote due to US pressure, this by itself is a scandal". 
 
2) Muhannad Abdel Hamid opines in al-Ayyam under the title 
 
"Investigating in the Goldstone's report and beginning of the 
Change?" (10/06):"In his Cairo speech and media interviews, 
President Obama promised to achieve a two state solution. However, 
he reversed his position when he exerted pressure on the PA to 
resume negotiations with Israel without the cessation of 
settlements, and when he pressured the PA to agree to postpone the 
vote of the Goldstone report to the International Court ... If the 
US is only going to impose the Israeli solution ... how feasible is 
it to abide by Obama's, Clinton's and Mitchell's advice? How 
feasible it is to go back to the negotiations table? 
 
RUBINSTEIN