MEDIA REACTION ON SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN ISRAEL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005601 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 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR JO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN ISRAEL AND IRAQ Summary -- A lead story in all Jordanian papers today, July 14, highlights the Badran government's policy statement that will be presented to Parliament today for a vote of confidence. Other major lead stories highlight the suicide bombing in Baghdad yesterday that killed 27 children, and the aftermath of the Palestinian suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel, two days ago. Editorial Commentary -- "A suspicious and condemnable operation" Daily columnist and former Jordanian Minister of Information Saleh Qallab writes on the back-page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/14): "Whoever made the decision to carry out the suicide operation in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, is either ignorant, stupid, or impetuous. It is unbelievable that a sane person would do something like that when the entire world is still cursing those who perpetrated the heinous crime in London last Thursday. Even if the people who were responsible for the Netanya bombing present all types of justifications to prove their good intentions, one can only question what they did, because their actions have forced the Palestinian people into a corner. Is it coincidence? That would be hard to believe. And even if it is coincidence, ignorant people have no right to claim that they are leaders of a people who are party to a complicated struggle, whose cause is like no other in the rest of the world, and whose cause needs people of wisdom and open-mindedness.... The truth is that the harm inflicted by this desperate operation reflects thousands of times more against the Palestinian people than the Israeli people. Most certainly, the extremists in Israel, who reject the withdrawal from Gaza or any part of the West Bank, have been waiting for such a terrorist-suicide action in order to push the Israeli people against the idea of withdrawing.... This attack strengthens the Israeli viewpoint of denying the existence of a Palestinian party capable of controlling the status on the ground following an Israeli withdrawal. There is worldwide popular movement against terrorism and there is an expected Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and some parts of the West Bank. So, when a certain party sends a naive young man to carry out a suicide bombing that targets Israeli civilians, the party hurt would be the Palestinian people and the loser would be the Palestinian cause, and the one to benefit from it would be the one who wants to keep the Palestinians on the list of terrorists and their image shaded by Al- Qaeda and Osama bin Laden." -- "The independent Palestinian decision" Daily columnist Tarek Masarweh writes on the back-page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/14): "The Netanya attack takes matters all the way back to square one. Israel and Islamic Jihad fight and the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people end up paying the price.... Ariel Sharon is trying to convince the world public opinion that he is a man of peace. Why would we want to make a martyr of him? He says that he can accept Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority as peace partners. Why would we want to give him the opportunity to put Abbas in the position that Yaser Arafat had reached?" -- "What is justification for the massacre of children in Baghdad?" Semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/14) editorializes: "The massacre of children in Baghdad yesterday comes as one of the most heinous terrorist operations going on in Iraq. It is a despicable operation that has no religious moral justification whatsoever. It has put forth once again questions about the purpose of these suspicious attacks and their true objectives.... Even if this was a genuine resistance attack that targeted an American military convoy, whose soldiers were giving out candy to the children, could the price that the Iraqis paid - 27 dead children, dozens wounded, destruction to homes - be equal to the price that the American military paid - one dead soldier and three wounded? What is the true formula? Were the American soldiers the real target or were they the bait? It is time to put a stop to these crimes. It is time to speak out in condemnation of these low-handed actions that have no purpose other than to kill and to breed hatred among the people of the country." HALE