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