MEDIA REACTION ON U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007400

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR,
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS,
RUSSIA, LEBANON


Summary

-- Lead story in all papers today, September 7,
focuses on the "Israeli massacre" in Gaza, wherein the
Israeli military reportedly bombed a summer camp of
alleged Hamas followers. Front-page reports continue
to highlight developments in Iraq.

Editorial Commentary on U.S.-Arab Relations

-- "America's information about the Arab world"

Columnist Yaqoub Jaber writes on the op-ed page of
center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(09/07): "In an interview with the New York Times,
U.S. President George Bush admitted that he did not
plan well for Iraq's management after the invasion.
This acknowledgement is proof of the lack of
information that the U.S. administration and its
intelligence apparatus had about the situation in Iraq
and its ethnic and sectarian complexity.. We tend to
believe that this American ignorance applies to the
entire Arab world, with which America is dealing on
the basis that the region's support is evident in the
lack of popular protest and so long as Arab leaders
dare not criticize American policies. This American
ignorance of the status of the Arab world leads to one
major question: where does the United States get its
information about the Arab world and how are important
decisions regarding the U.S. policy in the Middle East
being adopted? We have no doubt that Israel, its
allies and its operatives in influential American
institutions are the ones that are passing the wrong
information about the status of the Arab world.
Israel makes a point of not including even a simple
sign in this information about its role in inflaming
feelings of hatred against the United States and its
policy of aiding Israel's aggression against the
Palestinian people. That is why sometimes, the United
States acts foolishly when handling pivotal issues
such as the Palestinian issue and the aggression
against Iraq."

-- "A long-term struggle of ideology"

Daily columnist Yaser Za'atreh writes on the op-ed
page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-
Dustour (09/07): "In his interview with the Time
Magazine when he arrogantly said that he is the one
who is making history, President Bush described the
war launched by the United States against so-called
terrorism as a long-term struggle of ideology. In
previous remarks, the President had described it as a
"crusade" and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld described
it as a war of ideas. What we can conclude from all
this, without unfairness to the President or his
aides, but in light of the behavior of the President
and the neo-conservatives in the U.S. administration,
is that these people have found a real problem, namely
Islam.. What is happening on the ground, in terms of
media campaigns, pressure to change the curricula,
pursuing charity organizations, talk of a larger
Middle East, only indicates one thing: Islam as a
religion is now targeted.. It is a long-term war of
ideology, one that must be waged with consciousness,
not only by the people in this nation, but also by the
regimes, who would be mistaken if they align
themselves with this war on the pretext of fighting
terrorism. It is a situation that will yield more
domestic problems, particularly when Islam is not a
passing ideology of this nation, but the main
component of its culture, not to mention the fact that
many are going back to religion because they feel that
the United States and its Zionist allies are targeting
it."

Editorial Commentary on Russia

-- "The lesson from a tragic event"

Daily columnist Mahmoud Rimawi writes on the op-ed
page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(09/07): "The tragedy to which the hostage-taking
situation in the south of Russia ended regrettably
shows that many mistakes are being made in the
handling of the phenomenon of terrorism, in the sense
that force, and excessive force at that, is being
resorted to, which in turn threatens the lives of
innocent people on a massive scale.. Instead of being
sensitive to criticisms, it would be better for the
Russian authorities to admit that they made serious
mistakes, going beyond that to the need to find a
political solution to the Chechens issue, which is an
issue being used by some extremists to perpetrate
abhorring actions.. In all circumstances, the
requirement is to solve problems of a nationalistic
and historical nature, rather than resorting to short-
term solutions that only lead to more problems."

-- "The crime of killing children"

Columnist Bassam Umoush, an Islamist, views Islam's
specific position against the killing of children and
writes on the op-ed page of semi-official, influential
Arabic daily Al-Rai (09/07): "The crime of the Beslan
school is completely rejected by the Islamic Sharia
and all others, and is only acceptable by the rule of
the jungle, the Nazis, the Zionists or warlords.
Those who commit such acts have nothing to do with
Jihad, because the battles of Jihad are clear and
honorable. We are the first to denounce the principle
that the end justifies the means. Those who killed
the children in that school are the kidnappers and,
with them, the Kremlin that proves its failure in
handling crises, thus leading to the death of hundreds
of victims of a crooked policy."

Editorial Commentary on Lebanon

-- "Internationalizing the Lebanese presidency"

Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(09/07): "The French-American decision that was
approved by the Security Council with regard to
Lebanon has two aims. The first is French designed to
safeguard Lebanon's interest and sovereignty, and the
second is American designed to defy Syria and prepare
for the imposition of international sanctions. It is
difficult to protest against the content and the text
of the international decision; after all, who could
stand against Lebanon's sovereignty and respect for
its constitution.. The protest is therefore against
the hidden intentions that lie behind such a decision,
namely targeting Syria, be it through a direct Israeli
aggression or an American siege similar to the one
imposed on Iraq after 1990. The protest is also
against the double standard. If foreign occupation is
rejected, why the decision not ask Israel to withdraw
from the Golan Heights and the rest of the land it
occupied in 1967.. If the Syrian military presence in
Lebanon is illegitimate, then why is the American
military presence in Iraq legitimate, given that the
Syrian forces went into Lebanon pursuant to an
agreement, while America imposed itself on Iraq by
force? Syria has always acted wisely and carefully so
as not to give its enemies any pretexts for attacking
it, but it has, for some reason, made it easy for
these enemies when it pressured so clearly for
renewing the presidency of the Lebanese president and
amending the constitution. President Bush needed such
a conduct on Syria's part in order to be able to pass
an international decision calling for Syria's
withdrawal from Lebanon, just as his father passed a
similar decision calling for the Iraqi army's
withdrawal from Kuwait."
HALE