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