Damascus Media Reaction: Golan, Lebanon, Palestinian

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000291 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S: STHIBEAULT AND JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC CENTCOM FOR CCPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Golan, Lebanon, Palestinian Elections, Iraq, Iran (1/26) ¶1. Summary: Syrian papers featured a statement by citizens of the Golan emphasizing that they are part of the Syrian Arab people and confirming adherence to national unity and genuine accord with their leadership in Syria. They announced their clear stands against all "conspiracies" against their motherland and leadership. They praised "resistance" in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. They called on the Lebanese people to remember the sacrifices offered by Syria for Lebanon and the blood of Syrian martyrs, noting that this has restored to Lebanon its civil peace. Further in the Lebanese arena, papers reported that the Amal Movement and Hizbollah boycotted a Lebanese cabinet meeting, linking their boycott to characterization of Hizbollah as "resistance" not as "militia". End summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "Political dispute over characterization of Lebanese resistance as militia continues in Lebanon. Lebanese circles: Israel is our enemy; Lebanon's future is in sticking to its Arabism. Amal and Hizbollah boycott a cabinet meeting today" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/26) "People of the Golan confirm adherence to national unity" (Government-owned Syria Times, 1/26) "Rice calls for accelerating UNSC resolution 1559. Al-Saniora heads to Cairo" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/26) "AL SecGen Amr Mousa: Dispatch of Arab forces awaits a request by a sovereign Iraqi government and the departure of occupation forces" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/26) "Al-Sadr calls for formation of an independent Iraqi government: We took part in the election to support the process of driving occupiers out of Iraq" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/26) "An explosion in Baghdad. A clergyman is killed in Samurra. US forces attack Fallujah. Arrests in Basra" (Government-owned Al- Ba'th, 1/26) "Palestinian elections proceed smoothly. Abbas is confident of the role of the elections in a settlement with Israel. Observers laud the process of Palestinian elections. US-Israeli worry about the election results" (Government-owned Tishreen, 1/26) "Nablus votes to restore security and end chaos. Hamas: No contradiction between resistance and joining the Legislative Council. Olmert orders construction of the separation wall to continue" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/26) "Iran agrees to enrich uranium in Russia. Washington warns India and China: We will not allow any nuclear weapons within the world oil center" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 1/26) ¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "Alliance with the Devil" -------------- Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, commented (1/26): "The accusation that Syria is Lebanon's enemy is the peak of moral and political degeneration.... It is a serious ethical scandal.... The accusers, who constitute a small group in Lebanon, have revealed their cards and roles through their alliance with the devil.... "We tell these people: Enough lies, deception, recklessness, and departure from Lebanese and Arab sacred principles. Enough underestimation of the Lebanese people's intelligence and tampering with their emotions. The last fig leaf on your body has fallen and your cards are totally exposed. The Lebanese public knows your affiliations and the objectives for which you are 'struggling' in the media. They are the same as the objectives of Israel and the United States, from disarming the resistance and leaving Lebanon without protection to applying pressure on Syria, which stands in the face of all the plans of hegemony, despotism, and colonialism...." -------------- "Strange States" -------------- Omar Jaftali, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (1/26): "One cannot explain the positions of the ill-intentioned people who are publicly colluding with the American-Zionist project as they jump from one side to another in a way that the Arab public finds disgusting.... "These people are casting doubts on every national principle and value, and, in order to serve their personal interests, they are being pushed by a suspicious plan that harms Lebanon before anyone else and returns the country to a climate of sedition and sectarian fighting.... "What does accusing the Lebanese national resistance of treason mean? What does the gratuitous acquittal of Israel of the crimes that were committed in Lebanon mean if it does not mean involvement in the Israeli plan? How can we claim to be patriots when we say that Israel is not an enemy and that Syria is the enemy and should be occupied? Aren't these things alien to the feelings of the majority of the Lebanese, who hold the national resistance in high esteem and see it as a source of national and pan-Arab pride?" -------------- -------------- "Their Actions Say No to the Arabs, Yes to the Americans" -------------- -------------- Ali Nasrallah, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, commented (1/26): "This is a result that any observer of the statements by Lebanese Prime Minister Fu'ad al-Saniora and his main partner Walid Jumblatt would reach. "The two reject the Saudi-Arab initiative and insist on bringing in Americans and handing the country and the instruments of command over to them, thus turning the country into a base and platform for them to tamper with the region and push the plans designed for the region to serve their interests, which they share with Israel. "The Saudi initiative, and before it the initiative by Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa, are rejected and attacked. Intensive media and political campaigns are being organized to shoot down these initiatives. In the meantime, US officials (Welsh and Abrams) are cheered and welcomed.... "After all this, they still talk about sovereignty, freedom, independence, and relations based on mutual respect with Syria. Whom do they think they can fool with such twisted logic? Do they have any credibility left to earn the trust of even the naive among the Lebanese people, who know very well how to differentiate between friend and enemy, and whose memory about Jumblatt's history and the roles he has played and continues to play to serve the US and Israeli interests is still fresh? "The issue is very clear and does not need much thinking or analysis. They wish to take Lebanon to the other side, a plan that will be resisted by the Lebanese people and their national forces, who believe in Lebanon's Arabism and its affiliation, in terms of culture and history, to the Arab nation. Lebanon cannot be isolated from its Arab nation and the organic and historic ties linking it to this nation cannot be severed.... "Prince Talal's call on some of those living in the mountains [Jumblatt and his group] to be silent sends more than a message to Jumblatt, who no longer feels ashamed of declaring his hostility to Syria and the nation and revealing his relations and role in service of the Zionist and US plans. So much so that he has ignored the reminder by his interviewer on Future Television to correct his statement that Syria, not Israel, is his enemy. He refused to correct himself. After all this, is there any doubt left that he and Al-Saniora believe in the slogan `no to the Arabs and yes to the Americans' and that they have already crossed to the other side of the river?" Seche