MEDIA REACTION: ASSASINATION OF SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000824

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA;
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR O'FRIEL
LONDON ALSO PASS TO MOC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ASSASINATION OF SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN


1. SUMMARY: THE ASSASSINATION OF SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN, THE
SPIRITUAL LEADER OF HAMAS, YESTERDAY AT DAWN DOMINATED COVERAGE
IN ALL ELECTRONIC AND PRINT MEDIA. AN "AL KHALEEJ" EDITORIAL
NOTED THAT ALL ARABS ARE THREATENED AND NOT ONLY PALESTINIANS.
AN "AL BAYAN" EDITORIAL POINTED OUT THAT SHARON IS NOT THE ONLY
KILLER, BUT ALSO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN AND STILL ARE SILENT ARE
ALSO THE KILLERS. ABU AWAD, COLUMNIST IN "AL ITTIHAD," NOTED
THAT THIS IS THE END SHEIKH YASSIN HOPED FOR AND DESIRED AND THAT
ISRAEL ACHIEVED HIS DREAM WITHOUT REALIZING IT. END SUMMARY.


2. NOTING THAT ARABS SHOULD START REALIZING THAT NOT ONLY
PALESTINIAN, BUT ALSO ARAB BLOOD IS GOING TO BE SHED BY SHARON,
SHARJAH-BASED PAN-ARAB DAILY "AL-KHALEEJ" EDITORIALIZED 03/23:

"WHEN WILL THE ARABS BELIEVE THAT THE ZIONIST CRIMINAL GROUP LED
BY SHARON WILL SHED ALL THEIR BLOOD FROM WATER TO WATER AND NOT
ONLY PALESTINIAN BLOOD?. THE BLOOD OF THE SHEIKH, OF MARTYRS AND
OTHER MARTYRS SHOULD BE A WATERSHED IN THE HISTORY OF THE ARAB
REGION. THIS CRIME OF ASSASSINATING SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN SHOULD
NOT PASS AS OTHER CRIMES HAVE PASSED, IT SHOULD HOIST THIS NATION
FROM ITS STUMBLING, BEFORE SHARON, WHO IS BACKED UP BY THE U.S.,
STARTS A NEW ERA OF ESCALATIONS. THE BLOOD OF THE SHEIKH OF
MARTYRS AHMAD YASSIN IS YOUR BLOOD, ARABS! DEFEND YOUR BLOOD
BEFORE THE KNIVES OF BUTCHERS REACH YOU. IT IS AN ERA OF
HUMILIATION, SO WAKE UP TO PUT AN END TO IT!"


3. UNDER THE HEADLINE "A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY," ABU DHABI-
BASED SEMI-GOVERNMENT "AL ITTIHAD" EDITORIALIZED 03/23:

"THE CRIME THAT WAS COMMITTED BY THE TERRORIST SHARON IN COLD
BLOOD YESTERDAY AT DAWN BY ASSASSINATING THE CRIPPLED, 76 YEAR
OLD SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN, HAMAS'S SPIRITUAL LEADER, WILL LEAD THE
REGION TO MORE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED AND WILL DESTROY ALL HOPES
OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHICH SHARON DOES NOT WANT TO
SUCCEED, IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIS GOALS OF EXPANSION NOT ONLY IN
PALESTINE, BUT ALSO IN THE REGION THAT IS GOING THROUGH DIFFICULT
AND DANGEROUS TIMES. THE INTERNATIONAL FAMILY HEADED BY THE
COUNTRIES SUPERVISING THE PEACE PROCESS IS REQUESTED TO MOVE AND
STOP THE ZIONIST ORGANIZED TERRORISM, WHICH HAS A TARGET OF
DEMOLISHING THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. AS FOR OUR BROTHERS IN THE
ARAB WORLD, SHARON IS ANSWERING THEM EVERY DAY BY ACTION,
ANNOUNCING HIS REJECTION OF PEACE THROUGH HIS BLOODY OPERATIONS."


4. NOTING THAT SHARON IS NOT THE ONLY KILLER OF SHEIKH AHMAD
YASSIN, DUBAI-BASED BUSINESS-ORIENTED "AL BAYAN" EDITORIALIZED
03/23:

". ALTHOUGH THE ASSASSINATION OF THE MARTYR SHEIKH YASSIN WAS
COMMITTED BY THE ISRAELI TERRORISM SIDE, SOME OTHER SIDES ARE
RESPONSIBLE TOO. THE SILENCE OF THESE SIDES TOWARDS THE CRIMES
COMMITTED BY THE TEL AVIV BUTCHERS IS CONSIDERED TO PROVOKE THE
CONTINUATION OF THESE MASSACRES COMMITTED AGAINST OUR CHILDREN
AND BROTHERS IN PALESTINE. THESE SILENT PEOPLE ARE NOT ONLY THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO THE ARABS WHO LEFT THEIR
BROTHERS IN PALESTINE IN THE JAWS OF AN ENEMY WHO HAS NO
HUMANITY. SHARON HAS STARTED THE FIRE, SOONER OR LATER HE WILL BE
BURNT IN IT BECAUSE RESISTANCE WILL NOT DIE AND ITS MEN ARE ALL
YASSIN."


5. POINTING OUT THAT THE WINNER IN THE ASSASSINATION OF SHEIKH
YASSIN IS THE SHEIKH HIMSELF, COLUMNIST ABU AWAD WROTE IN "AL
ITTIHAD" ON 03/23:

". SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN IS THE WINNER IN THIS OPERATION, SINCE
EVERY PALESTINIAN LIVING ON THE LANDS OF PALESTINE DREAMS OF THIS
END, AND ISRAEL HAS ACHIEVED THE MOST PRECIOUS DREAM FOR THIS MAN
WITHOUT REALIZING IT..SHEIKH YASSIN, WHO WAS VERY SICK, WAS
HONORED TO DIE THIS HEROIC DEATH..AS FOR ISRAEL, THAT DREAMS
ABOUT SECURITY AND ACHIEVING MORE AND MORE BENEFITS OUT OF THIS
CRIME, IT SEEMS THAT IT DOES NOT LEARN FROM ITS MISTAKES. PEACE
UPON SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN..PEACE UPON SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN..PEACE
UPON SHEIKH AHMAD YASSIN..PEACE UPON ALL ARABS"


6. UNDER THE HEADLINE "ASSASSINATING A WHEELCHAIR," UAE
COLUMNIST NASSER AL DHAHERI WROTE IN "AL ITTIHAD" ON 03/23:

". WILL THE ASSASSINATION BURY HAMAS AND MAKE IT CONCENTRATE ON
AGRICULTURE AND USING UP THE OIL PRODUCTS EVERY SEASON? IN
ASSASSINATING SHEIKH YASSIN, ISRAEL, WHICH IS DESCRIBED AS A
DEMOCRATIC AND FREE COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WAS SHOWING ITS
OLD HISTORIC COWARDLINESS, IN ADDITION TO ITS HATRED. WHAT WAS
ASSASSINATED YESTERDAY WAS ONLY THE WHEEL CHAIR, NOT THE SHEIKH."

WAHBA