VZCZCXRO7583
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2180/01 3381008
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041008Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6853
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 7977
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4944
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4794
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6282
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4713
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3317

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002180 
 
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 (12/04):  Will the EU Break Under 
Pressure from the U.S. and Israel? 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
A confidential EU report condemning Israeli policies that sever East 
Jerusalem from the West Bank, continues to receive front page 
coverage in the dailies. Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam both quote Palestinian 
Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's encouragement of EU 
countries to proceed with efforts to recognize East Jerusalem as the 
capital of the Palestinian State. Al-Ayyam also reports on Israel's 
continued criticisms of the EU's statements. 
 
Reports in the Palestinian dailies continue to focus on the 
rejection of the settlement moratorium by Israeli settlers in the 
West Bank. Lead photos in the independent daily Al-Quds, and the 
independent daily Al-Ayyam, depict a settler as he watches the 
construction of a new synagogue in the northern West Bank settlement 
of Kidumim.  According to reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu is urging settlers to be patient - that 
settlementconstruction may be pursued at the end of the ten-month 
moratorium. 
 
Citing reports in the Hebrew daily Maariv, Independent News outlet 
Ma'an reports that Knesset members from Israel's Likud and Kadima 
parties will be drafting a resolution to exclude large settlement 
blocs from Netanyahu's partial settlement freeze. 
 
 
Reports that Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit was transferred to Cairo 
with Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar was denied by Abu Mujahid, Popular 
Resistance Committees spokesman.  According to Ma'an news and the 
dailies, Mujahid issued a statement saying that Israel is 
"propagating" false information about Shalit, in order to force the 
hand of Palestinian negotiators.  Abu Mujahid also added that the 
ball is in Israel's court and noted that "a deal is not done yet." 
------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
1) Al-Quds, "There Has To Be International Support to the European 
Move" (12/04):  "The EU proposal for recognizing East Jerusalem as 
the capital of the Palestinian state is a historical step from the 
EU that needs to be supported by the international community in 
order to succeed... The international community shouldn't let the 
opportunity go." 
 
 
2) Samih Shbib, Al-Ayyam, "The European Position!" (12/04), 
comments on the fears that Israel, with support from the U.S., will 
exert pressure on some European countries not to vote for the EU's 
decision to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. 
 
---------------------- 
Palestinian Cyberspace: 
---------------------- 
Netanyahu's settlement moratorium speech has been the subject of 
postings by many Palestinian bloggers.  Loai Madoun, a member of the 
Fida party, poses a rhetorical question and then responds to it, in 
an article entitled, "What Peace is Netanyahu Pursuing?"  Madoun 
asks, "(w)hat peace is Netanyahu seeking with his last speech... 
undermining the International community and the American 
Administration."  Rajeh Khoury, in his article, "Netanyahu Fighting 
Obama Inside the Congress Castle," asks:  "Is this a fight between 
two men, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu?  Or is it a 
 
JERUSALEM 00002180  002 OF 002 
 
 
crisis between two states:  Israel and America?" 
 
The Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap-deal is also under scrutiny.  David 
Kuttab, in "Under "The Prisoners' Case:  A Reflection on the 
Conflict," writes:  "If you ever want to have a single case that can 
illustrate all the sources of disagreement in the Middle East all 
you need to do is look at the Shalit prisoner-exchange deal." 
 
In his article, "Why Does America Hate Us?" Haidar Eid writes:  "The 
Palestinians have realized, thanks to Hillary Clinton, that the US 
is biased toward Israel." 
 
The following videos are also circulating on Palestinian social 
media sites, depicting Israeli soldiers' and settlers' practices 
against Palestinians: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl_vIZg1zwI 
http://bit.ly/7iMni1 
http://bit.ly/607QNk 
 
---------------------- 
Cartoons of the Week: 
---------------------- 
This illustration appeared in Al-Quds on December 3.  The cartoon 
portrays the difficulty faced by Palestinians in establishing the 
Palestinian state:  a Palestinian man attempts to push a huge rock 
in the shape of the world, up a steep slope, as in the Greek myth of 
Sisyphus, in the direction of the arrow reading "The Palestinian 
State." 
 
 
 
 
The following cartoon appeared in Al-Ayyam on December 3, the day 
after Palestinian and Pan Arab outlets ran a video of an Israeli 
settler repeatedly running-over a wounded Palestinian with his car. 
In this cartoon, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is depicted at the 
wheel of a Mercedes,  running over the peace pigeon in much the same 
way.  The caption reads, "an intentional accident." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MARCHESE