Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN5537
2006-07-24 09:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toVZCZCXYZ0005 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #5537/01 2050921 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 240921Z JUL 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2525 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0390 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1309 RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS AMMAN 005537
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 TSOU
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON LEBANON
Editorial Commentary
-- "Diplomacy of assistance and assisting diplomacy"
Columnist Oraib Rantawi writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "Every time there is a
conflict or a struggle, the Arab countries rush to send conveys of
assistance to the devastated folk and brethren in Palestine and
Lebanon and, before that, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan. The matter so
far is desired and required.... But when the assistance becomes a
replacement to politics with all its stances, measures and steps and
when the assistance becomes the very beginning and end of politics,
then that is the worst disaster. The Arabs, who no longer have a
designated role or distinguishable presence even when issues have to
do with them, have replaced politics and 'historical stances' with
conveys of assistance. When their conveys call for help as they are
subjected to American-Israeli bombing, the Arabs do nothing and
settle for insisting on exercising the 'diplomacy of assistance'
that has become their 'only strategic option' after the fall of
their only peace option."
-- "A responsible and honorable position"
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24)
editorializes: "Jordan's stances that King Abdullah expresses are
responsible and honorable and do not take to improvisations and
explanations because they are not wordy stands, but rather are
accompanied by action and movement. These days, Jordan's stances
vis-`-vis Lebanon are expressed clearly through beneficial
consultations, effective movement and urgent assistance. That is
the different between those who talk and act and those who just
talk."
-- "Rice bears good tidings of prolonged killing and destruction"
Columnist George Haddad writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "U.S. Secretary of
State, Ms. Condi, told the people of this region, that is afflicted
with aggression, occupation and all forms of random killing, savage
destruction, oppression, displacement and extermination, the good
tidings that all that is happening in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine is
but the 'labor pains of the birth of the new Middle East'! The
strange thing - if there is anything left to be thought of as
strange in the conduct of such 'civilized' barbarics - is that the
'civilized' lady says this without a twitch of remorse. Could any
person of sane mind and body who has even the simplest of
humanitarian and moral standards actually make the destruction of
life a condition for the birth of life?! Why would the killing of
thousands of innocent people and civilians, the burning of children
and the 'civilized' endeavor to exterminate every breath of
non-Jewish life be just 'labor pains' for the birth of the new
Middle East where only the Star of David would be shining in its
sky...? Rice and her 'civilized' boss, as well as the people in his
administration, its gangs and mafias, are not only rejecting a
ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners in Lebanon, but also their
'civilized' humanitarianism is egging them to provide the state of
usurpation and terrorism with a shipment of advanced weapons and
laser bombs ... thinking that such savagery and barbarism is going
to make Lebanon and the Lebanese surrender in fear."
-- "We and Lebanon"
Columnist Basem Sakijha writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "If what is going on
in Lebanon constitutes the labor pain that will give birth to a new
Middle East, then we must all expect the repetition of Lebanese
massacres in our own countries. If Palestine was first, Iraq was
second, Lebanon was third and Syria will be the fourth, then we must
expect that the massacres to reach each and every Middle East
country. It is clear that the American-Israeli project is founded
on the idea of disarming all the countries of the region. They
start with what is called illegal armament and then move on to take
the weapons of armies that might be a threat to Israel some day. We
are not talking about an illusion or political fantasy, and we are
not adopting one of those traditional conspiracy theories. What is
happening on the ground confirms this. The Lebanese experience must
constitute a reality check for everyone. The Israeli-American
advancement cannot be thwarted except by rethinking the stances.
The reality we see before us and experienced since the signing of
the treaties says that Israel is moving on with its plans ... and
that if we have any care or concern for the future for our children
and our homelands, then now is the time to make a stand. Let the
expulsion of the [Israeli] ambassador be the first of the Jordanian
steps, closing the [Israeli] embassy the second, and nullifying the
Wadi Araba treaty the third. After all, we do not want the Israeli
to salute us with his right hand and kill us with his left."
-- "On the state and its sovereignty: the case of Hizbollah"
Columnist Fahd Khitan writes on the inside page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/24): "Of the many
criticisms directed against Hizbollah is that his latest operation
against Israel caused the start of a war between Lebanon and Israel.
These critics argue that the decision of war and peace belongs only
to the state and that no organization or party is entitled to rob
the state of that right. These critics also say that the solution
in Lebanon lies in the prevalence of the state's sovereignty on all
the land and the disarmament of Hizbollah. According to
international and legal logic, this perspective is very correct, but
in the Arab and Lebanese situations it is not accurate at all. The
international powers and the United States in specific do not care
about the state's stature and standing, but rather Israel's
security.... The discrepancy in the theory of the state's
sovereignty is the fact that it is adopted by Arab parties who are
crying over Lebanon and its sovereignty today but who forget that
the sovereignty in their own countries has been completely
usurped.... The forces and the intelligence apparatus of the United
States today control the decision-making process in most of the Arab
countries. Lebanon was actually under Syria's control and has been
set free. Ever since then, the United States and Israel have been
trying to subject it to another hegemony, and the opportune point of
entry for that is the pretext of Hizbollah's weapons and its
influence in the South. That is why it has to be broken so that
that the Lebanese state can prevail and cast its control the
American way and so that Lebanon becomes a northern 'backyard' for
Israel.... The Arabs can accuse Hizbollah of many things, including
its relationship with and role in favor of Iran and its connections
with Syria, but as far as sovereignty and state prevalence are
concerned, then they must beg our pardon."
-- "The Arab option"
Columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (07/24): "Just as the U.S.
administration saw in the Iraq war a point of entry for achieving
'certain' arrangements for the Greater Middle East neatly organized
as Bush and his administration imagined, the same is happening in
Lebanon now according to what Rice said so confidently. She does
not want a ceasefire because it is a 'false promise' and a return to
the old Middle East, when the purpose of this war is to create the
new Middle East! How will that be achieved on the ground? This is
the problem that America and Israel are facing now, just as they had
always starting with the Palestinian situation; namely the lack of
even the smallest level of objective, wise and just vision. The
Arabs must be careful and must not look at Hizbollah as just an
Iranian tool. There is an Arab option that must rebel against the
American foolishness and the Israeli arrogance. This is possible
because the American-Israeli project is not realistic and is going
to lead to neither stability nor peace. There is not a single
moderate Arab that will tow this American-Israeli line."
HALE
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 TSOU
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON LEBANON
Editorial Commentary
-- "Diplomacy of assistance and assisting diplomacy"
Columnist Oraib Rantawi writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "Every time there is a
conflict or a struggle, the Arab countries rush to send conveys of
assistance to the devastated folk and brethren in Palestine and
Lebanon and, before that, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan. The matter so
far is desired and required.... But when the assistance becomes a
replacement to politics with all its stances, measures and steps and
when the assistance becomes the very beginning and end of politics,
then that is the worst disaster. The Arabs, who no longer have a
designated role or distinguishable presence even when issues have to
do with them, have replaced politics and 'historical stances' with
conveys of assistance. When their conveys call for help as they are
subjected to American-Israeli bombing, the Arabs do nothing and
settle for insisting on exercising the 'diplomacy of assistance'
that has become their 'only strategic option' after the fall of
their only peace option."
-- "A responsible and honorable position"
Center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24)
editorializes: "Jordan's stances that King Abdullah expresses are
responsible and honorable and do not take to improvisations and
explanations because they are not wordy stands, but rather are
accompanied by action and movement. These days, Jordan's stances
vis-`-vis Lebanon are expressed clearly through beneficial
consultations, effective movement and urgent assistance. That is
the different between those who talk and act and those who just
talk."
-- "Rice bears good tidings of prolonged killing and destruction"
Columnist George Haddad writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "U.S. Secretary of
State, Ms. Condi, told the people of this region, that is afflicted
with aggression, occupation and all forms of random killing, savage
destruction, oppression, displacement and extermination, the good
tidings that all that is happening in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine is
but the 'labor pains of the birth of the new Middle East'! The
strange thing - if there is anything left to be thought of as
strange in the conduct of such 'civilized' barbarics - is that the
'civilized' lady says this without a twitch of remorse. Could any
person of sane mind and body who has even the simplest of
humanitarian and moral standards actually make the destruction of
life a condition for the birth of life?! Why would the killing of
thousands of innocent people and civilians, the burning of children
and the 'civilized' endeavor to exterminate every breath of
non-Jewish life be just 'labor pains' for the birth of the new
Middle East where only the Star of David would be shining in its
sky...? Rice and her 'civilized' boss, as well as the people in his
administration, its gangs and mafias, are not only rejecting a
ceasefire and the exchange of prisoners in Lebanon, but also their
'civilized' humanitarianism is egging them to provide the state of
usurpation and terrorism with a shipment of advanced weapons and
laser bombs ... thinking that such savagery and barbarism is going
to make Lebanon and the Lebanese surrender in fear."
-- "We and Lebanon"
Columnist Basem Sakijha writes on the op-ed page of center-left,
influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour (07/24): "If what is going on
in Lebanon constitutes the labor pain that will give birth to a new
Middle East, then we must all expect the repetition of Lebanese
massacres in our own countries. If Palestine was first, Iraq was
second, Lebanon was third and Syria will be the fourth, then we must
expect that the massacres to reach each and every Middle East
country. It is clear that the American-Israeli project is founded
on the idea of disarming all the countries of the region. They
start with what is called illegal armament and then move on to take
the weapons of armies that might be a threat to Israel some day. We
are not talking about an illusion or political fantasy, and we are
not adopting one of those traditional conspiracy theories. What is
happening on the ground confirms this. The Lebanese experience must
constitute a reality check for everyone. The Israeli-American
advancement cannot be thwarted except by rethinking the stances.
The reality we see before us and experienced since the signing of
the treaties says that Israel is moving on with its plans ... and
that if we have any care or concern for the future for our children
and our homelands, then now is the time to make a stand. Let the
expulsion of the [Israeli] ambassador be the first of the Jordanian
steps, closing the [Israeli] embassy the second, and nullifying the
Wadi Araba treaty the third. After all, we do not want the Israeli
to salute us with his right hand and kill us with his left."
-- "On the state and its sovereignty: the case of Hizbollah"
Columnist Fahd Khitan writes on the inside page of independent,
mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm (07/24): "Of the many
criticisms directed against Hizbollah is that his latest operation
against Israel caused the start of a war between Lebanon and Israel.
These critics argue that the decision of war and peace belongs only
to the state and that no organization or party is entitled to rob
the state of that right. These critics also say that the solution
in Lebanon lies in the prevalence of the state's sovereignty on all
the land and the disarmament of Hizbollah. According to
international and legal logic, this perspective is very correct, but
in the Arab and Lebanese situations it is not accurate at all. The
international powers and the United States in specific do not care
about the state's stature and standing, but rather Israel's
security.... The discrepancy in the theory of the state's
sovereignty is the fact that it is adopted by Arab parties who are
crying over Lebanon and its sovereignty today but who forget that
the sovereignty in their own countries has been completely
usurped.... The forces and the intelligence apparatus of the United
States today control the decision-making process in most of the Arab
countries. Lebanon was actually under Syria's control and has been
set free. Ever since then, the United States and Israel have been
trying to subject it to another hegemony, and the opportune point of
entry for that is the pretext of Hizbollah's weapons and its
influence in the South. That is why it has to be broken so that
that the Lebanese state can prevail and cast its control the
American way and so that Lebanon becomes a northern 'backyard' for
Israel.... The Arabs can accuse Hizbollah of many things, including
its relationship with and role in favor of Iran and its connections
with Syria, but as far as sovereignty and state prevalence are
concerned, then they must beg our pardon."
-- "The Arab option"
Columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (07/24): "Just as the U.S.
administration saw in the Iraq war a point of entry for achieving
'certain' arrangements for the Greater Middle East neatly organized
as Bush and his administration imagined, the same is happening in
Lebanon now according to what Rice said so confidently. She does
not want a ceasefire because it is a 'false promise' and a return to
the old Middle East, when the purpose of this war is to create the
new Middle East! How will that be achieved on the ground? This is
the problem that America and Israel are facing now, just as they had
always starting with the Palestinian situation; namely the lack of
even the smallest level of objective, wise and just vision. The
Arabs must be careful and must not look at Hizbollah as just an
Iranian tool. There is an Arab option that must rebel against the
American foolishness and the Israeli arrogance. This is possible
because the American-Israeli project is not realistic and is going
to lead to neither stability nor peace. There is not a single
moderate Arab that will tow this American-Israeli line."
HALE