UNCLAS AMMAN 006867

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 TERRORISM

Editorial Commentary

-- "The Roman Amphitheater crime"

Columnist Yaser Abu Hilala writes on the op-ed page of centrist,
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (09/06): "Our causes in Palestine,
Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon are just causes. The eyes of tourists
in our region is in our favor not against us. They did not come
here to spy.... They are going to see that we are human beings who
deserve to live. They will change the stereotypical image that says
we are terrorists who do not value people's lives. Unfortunately,
this image has been entrenched by the Roman Amphitheater crime....
The problem with the Roman Amphitheater crime is that it is that
type of crime that cannot be stopped. Inspection points cannot be
set up in open spaces. Tourist sites are not a plane to inspected
from the inside. Putting an end to this type of crime requires a
societal culture that rejects that crime, and to be able to
establish this culture, there must be an open-minded society."

-- "No security problem"

Chief Editor Ayman Safadi writes on the back-page of centrist,
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (09/06): "The government did well
not to increase security measures in the aftermath of the crime that
committed by a citizen against tourists at the Roman Amphitheater.
The country is safe and there is not security problem in the
Kingdom. The performance of the security forces was exceptional and
what happened in downtown Amman could happen in any city in the
world. The problem is not with security measures. The crisis is
that intellectual obscurantism has found its way to the minds of
some people in the society.... Yet, not needing intense security
measures does not nullify the need to be alert to the danger lurking
within the fact that wrongful concepts have infiltrated some parts
of society that have abandoned their humanity and rejected the value
of life. There is a need to intensify efforts to stop the expansion
of the extremists Takfiri trend and its exploitation of people
feelings of desperation and frustration, brought forth by the
injustice that Arab are suffering in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and
other countries.... The society must fortify itself against these
forces by providing an enlightened intellectual and civilized
alternative that opens the horizons for participation,
accomplishment and life. This is the only way to stop the expansion
of the Takfiri trend: freedom, democracy and institutionalism that
accommodate and address people's pains and stand fast in the face of
the barbarism that obscurists are trying to entrench as a culture
and to mask it with concepts of Jihad and resistance."
HALE