MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ ELECTION AND MIDDLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 000810 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 IRAQ ELECTION AND MIDDLE EAST Summary -- Lead stories today, February 2, highlight the Israeli Palestinian conflict and domestic political issues. Although reporting on the aftermath of the Iraq election seems to have moved to the inside pages of all papers, editorial commentary on the election continues and has broadened to encompass the state of democracy in the Arab world. Editorial Commentary -- "The road to Iraq's future" Columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman writes on the op-ed page of independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (02/02): "In light of the Iraq election and the nature of the present formula, we would better to leave behind our previous line of thinking and read the scene with more objective analysis. The reading I refer to starts with the following questions: why did the various Iraqi sects, with the exception of the Sunnis, take part in the elections and accept democracy under American occupation? Will the current path of the resistance lead to the liberation of Iraq and (serve) its national interests? I see no difference among the Iraqis of the various sects in terms of defining the resistance as a national and religious duty and the occupation as a despicable action. Yet there are calculations behind the political conduct of the Kurds and Shiites that push them towards appeasing and supporting the occupation and widening the gap between them and the Sunnis. The Shiites have suffered from repression and oppression, their religious and political freedoms were banned, and the `Saddam era' committed major massacres and killings against them.. We, the Arabs of neighboring countries, created a feeling of political, religious and social alienation among the Iraqi Shiites. This is because Arabs supported Saddam on the pretext of halting the Iranian revolution while failing to say one word against the massacres and crimes that were being committed against these sects.. When the Iraqi resistance began it was not accompanied by a political agenda that would distance Sunnis as a whole from the events of the previous era. On the contrary, the resistance was defined as a resistance linking Sunnis with the Baath party and remnants of the former regime.. Meanwhile, 
the American occupation appealed to the Shiites, stressing to them that the outcome of the Iraqi political process would reformat the political arena in a manner that guarantees the rule of the majority, namely the Shiites.. The western and American media at the beginning of the occupation tended to hold the Sunnis responsible for the heritage of the `Saddam era', although the Sunnis were as much victims as the other sects. Iraq, in reality, was not ruled by the Sunnis, but by a class of corrupt officials, dictators, and a repressive police system. Like it or not, the Iraqi elections actually succeeded, and sooner or later the American occupation is on its way out. As for the armed Iraqi resistance, if it is not accompanied by a sound political agenda that goes beyond Zarqawi and his group and that understands the previous era and the aspirations of the other sects, it will not lead to liberation but rather to civil war. As much as we are proud of the national resistance, the priority of the Sunnis today must shift to the political arena." -- "Iraq: what next?" Former Cabinet Minister Mohammad Halaiqah writes on the back-page of independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (02/02): "We are trying to be optimistic about what is going on in Iraq in terms of a semi-democracy that is taking place, just as we were previously optimistic about the Palestinian elections, which were close to being an advanced form of democracy. The Palestinian and Iraqi people are both under occupation but the difference between them is striking. One is trying to get rid of the occupation and to establish an independent state, and the other is seeking the help of the occupation to rebuild its institutions and regain control of the country's capabilities. We are trying to be optimistic despite the small room that exists for such optimism, and that is because we believe in the Iraqi people." -- "The problem is with us" Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (02/02): "The sad outcome that we see in the reality on the ground is that the most democratic elections these days have taken place under two occupations: the American occupation in Iraq and the Israeli occupation in Palestine; that is in the absence of a local authority that controls the decision!" -- "One fact and deceiving details" Daily columnist Rakan Majali writes on the back-page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (02/02): "When talking about the Iraq election under occupation, we forget the basic fact, namely that the military occupation of any country is the highest form of aggression and an expression of revenge, murder and destruction.. The Iraqi people know that they have been subject to a vicious colonial conspiracy and the elections are not going to derail their attention from the resistance of injustice and conspiracy.. Any claims that the United States is keen to exercise democracy are false claims, because America uses slogans of freedom to strike against freedom, nullify sovereignty and cancel independence." -- "If I had the chance, I would visit Auschwitz" Daily columnist Bater Wardam writes on the op-ed page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (02/02): "I am personally and categorically convinced about rejecting normalization with Israel. I have never visited the Zionist state. I have never been in direct contact with Israelis in a political or media dialogue and I have never taken part in any research project with members of an Israeli organization. I have never been in a place with any Israelis except in some European airports and international conventions. I will maintain this stand until Israel restores the rights of the Palestinian people, until a peace agreement is reached, until the independent Palestinian state is established, and until Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people are stopped. Having said that, I stick to making a differentiation between Jews and Israelis, and I find no problem with dealing with non-Zionist and non-Israeli Jews.. European Jews who fell victim to the Nazis in the forties suffered a tremendous human slaughter, something never seen in history except in the crusaders slaughter of Muslims in the middle ages, the Turks slaughter of the Armenians, the Israeli slaughter of the Palestinians, the Serbs slaughter of the Bosnians, the Russians slaughter of the Chechens, and the American slaughters against Japan, Vietnam and Iraq. These are ugly records in the human history of mass annihilation and racial extermination. One cannot deal with them selectively. We cannot reject the slaughters committed against Muslims but ignore the ones committed against peaceful Jews and Armenians.. It is clear that the Zionists learned nothing from the Holocaust. They continue to exercise the same Nazi measures against the Palestinians and pile up nuclear weapons in the region in preparation for a holocaust that wipes away everything. Meanwhile, the Europeans celebrate getting rid of the mark of the holocaust, since they resolved their problem by creating a huge problem in the heart of the Arab world and moving the holocaust into our homes and our lands. I would go to Auschwitz if I had the chance. After all, the victims of the holocaust are victims of the Zionist movement at the end of the day. It would be better for Muslims to be part of rejecting racism in all its forms and to distinguish between the victims of the holocaust on one hand and the Zionists and Israelis on the other hand, because merging the last two would be serving exactly what Israel and the Zionist movement want. That is why visiting Auschwitz by Muslims and Arabs would a type of fighting normalization with Israel and the Zionists." HALE