Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN6187
2006-08-15 09:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #6187 2270915 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 150915Z AUG 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3181 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0417 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1337 RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS AMMAN 006187
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 MIDDLE EAST
Editorial Commentary
-- "The challenges that Arabs face"
Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15): "Hardly any speech by an Arab
leader is void of talk about the challenges that face his country
and the region. There is the challenge of the Iranian influence in
the Arab area; there is the challenge of the Israeli expansion and
aggressiveness, and there is the danger that is represented by
extremism and terrorism. There is also non-stop talk about
economic, social, cultural and political challenges. Let us forget
for one moment that only few are talking about the danger of the
fact that most Arab regimes are cocooned in archaic dictatorial
systems and almost alone bear the responsibility of the failure for
which the Arabs have paid in backwardness, degradation and
marginalization.... Let us agree that these challenges that the
general Arab regime has not stopped talking about are priorities.
Let us then ask about the plans that the Arab decision-makers are
setting to deal with these challenges. The answer is catastrophic.
The Arab regime has turned into a lamenting entity mourning a
present and doing nothing to change it.... The Arab political
action is at best a reaction to events imposed on the region.
Dealing with the Israeli war on Lebanon was a bright example of
that."
-- "Hizbollah's victory"
Columnist Yaser Abu Hilala writes on the op-ed page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15) says: "The victory that was
achieved by Hizbollah in Lebanon is going to have earthshaking
repercussions on the regional level and not just in Lebanon. The
upcoming generation of young Arabs have witnessed a model that is
attractive as opposed to other models that are not. They view the
party's victory without sectarian or political barriers: young men
of few numbers and few weapons stood fast in the face of the most
fierce force ever known in the region.... What Hizbollah did is an
extension to what the resistance did in Palestine, Iraq and
Afghanistan. The Arab and Muslims persons see one battle, exactly
as Bush sees it, and they see themselves in the trench opposite a
president who does not hesitate to use the description of 'Muslim
fascists' to describe the accused in the plane plot. The Arab and
Muslim youth do not see in Hizbollah's battle a Farsi Shiite battle,
although many opponents of the party tried to describe it like that.
It is the battle of the nations of Arabs and Islam against the
nation of Israel and America.... The lost dignity is not an
occupation by a foreign enemy, it is also a repression from an
inside enemy. The arena of the next battle in the nation of Arabs
and Islam is internal, without even having complete the war with the
foreign enemy." 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 MIDDLE EAST
Editorial Commentary
-- "The challenges that Arabs face"
Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15): "Hardly any speech by an Arab
leader is void of talk about the challenges that face his country
and the region. There is the challenge of the Iranian influence in
the Arab area; there is the challenge of the Israeli expansion and
aggressiveness, and there is the danger that is represented by
extremism and terrorism. There is also non-stop talk about
economic, social, cultural and political challenges. Let us forget
for one moment that only few are talking about the danger of the
fact that most Arab regimes are cocooned in archaic dictatorial
systems and almost alone bear the responsibility of the failure for
which the Arabs have paid in backwardness, degradation and
marginalization.... Let us agree that these challenges that the
general Arab regime has not stopped talking about are priorities.
Let us then ask about the plans that the Arab decision-makers are
setting to deal with these challenges. The answer is catastrophic.
The Arab regime has turned into a lamenting entity mourning a
present and doing nothing to change it.... The Arab political
action is at best a reaction to events imposed on the region.
Dealing with the Israeli war on Lebanon was a bright example of
that."
-- "Hizbollah's victory"
Columnist Yaser Abu Hilala writes on the op-ed page of independent,
centrist Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15) says: "The victory that was
achieved by Hizbollah in Lebanon is going to have earthshaking
repercussions on the regional level and not just in Lebanon. The
upcoming generation of young Arabs have witnessed a model that is
attractive as opposed to other models that are not. They view the
party's victory without sectarian or political barriers: young men
of few numbers and few weapons stood fast in the face of the most
fierce force ever known in the region.... What Hizbollah did is an
extension to what the resistance did in Palestine, Iraq and
Afghanistan. The Arab and Muslims persons see one battle, exactly
as Bush sees it, and they see themselves in the trench opposite a
president who does not hesitate to use the description of 'Muslim
fascists' to describe the accused in the plane plot. The Arab and
Muslim youth do not see in Hizbollah's battle a Farsi Shiite battle,
although many opponents of the party tried to describe it like that.
It is the battle of the nations of Arabs and Islam against the
nation of Israel and America.... The lost dignity is not an
occupation by a foreign enemy, it is also a repression from an
inside enemy. The arena of the next battle in the nation of Arabs
and Islam is internal, without even having complete the war with the
foreign enemy." HALE