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DE RUEHJM #0281/01 0471109
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O 161109Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7588
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8084
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5041
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4883
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6371
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4805
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3406

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000281 
 
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 (02/16): Palestinian press report 
on US officials' visits to the region this week 
 
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Main Stories: 
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Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and Al-Ayyam run front page stories on US 
officials' visit to the region this week. The two dailies quote 
Secretary Clinton in their headlines saying that she hopes that 
serious peace negotiations will resume. Headlines also highlight 
Vice President Biden's visit to the region in March. 
 
The dailies highlight Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud 
Abbas chairing the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday. The cabinet 
approved a law that bans settlement goods in the PA-controlled 
cities. Reports quote Abbas saying that the PA is waiting for the US 
response on PA suggestions to resume negotiations. Al-Ayyam 
highlights the Ministers' vote to alter the penal code on "family 
honor killings", upgrading the crime to murder. 
 
The dailies highlight reports from the group Peace Now that claim 
construction in the West Bank settlements continues despite the 
temporary freeze. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reports that construction 
continues in 25 percent of all settlements, while Al-Ayyam reports 
that it continues in 34 settlements. Al-Quds highlights an "intense 
rivalry between wings in the Jerusalem Municipality and the extreme 
right to demolish the largest possible number of houses in 
Jerusalem." 
 
The three dailies highlight news that the Dubai police accused 11 
Europeans of being involved in the assassination of Hamas leader 
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month in Dubai. Reports note that Fatah and 
Hamas are exchanging blame for the murder. 
 
Sunday, February 14 
 
The dailies front page stories on Ahmad Rwaidy, head of Jerusalem 
Unit within the Office of the Palestinian President, stressing the 
seriousness of pending legal cases against demolishing multi-story 
residential buildings in Jerusalem that the municipality is 
increasingly targeting. Rwaidy added "we are aware of the current 
Israeli campaign against the Palestinian presence in the city. We 
are consistently and relentlessly addressing this issue with the 
owners of houses and buildings, providing them with legal and 
engineering support and consultation." Hatem Abdel Qader, the Fatah 
official responsible for Jerusalem, told Al-Quds that the Israeli 
Minister of Interior continues to obstruct six structural plans for 
Jerusalem which the various Municipality committees have already 
approved. "The continued obstruction of these plans puts hundreds of 
residential units in various neighborhoods in Jerusalem under risk 
of demolition" added Abdel Qader. 
 
Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam run front page stories on a number of merchants 
and shop owners at the entrance of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem 
saying that they received notices from the Municipality markets' 
inspectors last Wednesday ordering them to evict the shops by today. 
The Municipality decision came following reports about their 
intention to seal off the Damascus Gate for two years starting next 
April under the pretext of renovating the infrastructure inside the 
Old City. Reports note that this could lead to the closing of more 
than 400 shops, thus exerting indirect pressures on the residents 
and merchants to leave the Old City. 
 
The three dailies also front page stories on Egypt informing the 
Palestinian factions in Gaza that all of their comments on the 
 
JERUSALEM 00000281  002 OF 002 
 
 
reconciliation plan will be taken into consideration at the time of 
implementation. Reports note that the factions are searching for 
creative solutions to overcome the question of signing the plan 
without undermining the positions of the political factions, 
particularly those of Hamas and Fatah. Egyptian Foreign Minister 
Aboul Gheit stressed that Egypt did not change the reconciliation 
plan and that the current document reflects accurately what was 
agreed upon. Gheit added, "Egypt offered Hamas a lot and convinced 
the other factions to accept several of Hamas' demands, particularly 
in terms of the election system." 
 
Saturday, February 13 
 
The three dailies run front page stories on a series of visits by 
senior US officials this week to help restart the peace process and 
mobilize support for US policies towards Iran. Reports note that 
Secretary Clinton will meet Sunday in Doha with Prince Hamad bin 
Khalifa Al-Thani and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani. Clinton will also meet on 
Monday in Riyadh with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Saud Al-Faisal. Reports quote State 
Department Spokesman Phillip Crowley saying that Iran will be the 
most prominent topic in Clinton's discussions in Doha and Riyadh, in 
addition to efforts for ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
 
The dailies also run front page stories on the death of a 
Palestinian man near Hebron who was shot by Israeli soldiers who 
claim that he attempted to stab them. Palestinians who were close to 
the site questioned the Israeli claims about the man's attempt to 
stab the soldiers. In related news, several Palestinians and foreign 
peace and solidarity movement activists were injured during the 
weekly anti-wall protests in several villages in the West Bank. In 
Jerusalem, dozens of Palestinians, solidarity activists, and Israeli 
left-wing activists participated in the weekly anti-settlement and 
anti-house eviction policies in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in 
the presence of large numbers of Israeli police who sealed off the 
entrance to the neighbourhood. 
 
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BLOCK QUOTES: 
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1) Hadeeth Al-Quds' Column in Al-Quds daily says under the title 
"America and the Islamic World...and Contradictory Positions": 
"[Secretary] Clinton does not talk about sanctions and threats or 
even warnings for Israel, but she tries to resume negotiations even 
if it's indirect despite everything happening, including demolition 
orders and closures of homes and stores inside and outside the Old 
City...This is certainly in total contradiction to the promises made 
by President Obama when he came to office." 
 
2) Adli Sadeq opines in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida under the title "Hillary 
and the Pyramid of Myths" saying: "Hillary Clinton wasn't shy about 
expressing what she thinks is a fair position towards the 
Palestinians, saying that she supports sending humanitarian 
assistance to Gaza. Everyone who listened to her knows that such 
sentiments are natural in any situation, even if she said it about a 
prison because sending humanitarian goods to a prison is natural. 
Those who make it sound like a privilege or use it as a position to 
justify an injustice are revealing a hidden bias. 
 
 
RUBINSTEIN