Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Israel, Syria/Lebanon,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 003256 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: Syria/Israel, Syria/Lebanon, Syria/Jordan, Palestinian Territories, Iraq (6/29) ¶1. Summary: Syrian papers today featured an official statement reporting that two Israeli military aircraft flew at low altitude near the Syrian coast in the Wadi Qandil area at dawn. Syrian Air Defense Forces fired at the planes, that then left the region. The source said the hostile act was an unjustified provocation. If the aim was to hold HAMAS's political leadership responsible for the abduction of the Israeli soldier, the source said, then Israel is making a grave and illogical mistake. The source said that the Palestinian popular resistance carried out the operation in Gaza and claimed responsibility for it from there. The operation could not be staged by remote control. The source said that the over-flight reflects Israel's failure and crisis at home, a crisis that Israel is trying to export abroad, and this is why it is accusing others. Papers also reported that President Asad and VP Shara met with Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. Talks focused on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, bilateral relations, and the Lebanese national dialogue. Berri visited Damascus a month ago in an attempt to pave the way for Lebanese PM Fua'd al-Saniora to visit Damascus. On Syrian-Jordanian relations, the Syrian press reported that FM al-Mouallem discussed with Jordanian FM Abdul-Elah Khatib ways to boost bilateral relations in light of the current meetings of the Syrian-Jordanian Higher Committee in Damascus. The two sides reviewed current developments in the region, including the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people in the occupied Arab territories and the necessity to exert all efforts to stop them. Papers also reported that Jordanian PM Ma'ruf al-Bakhit arrived in Damascus on an official visit to Damascus, chairing the Jordanian delegation to the meetings of the Higher Syrian- Jordanian Joint Committee. Al-Bakhit was accompanied by an official delegation comprising the ministers of foreign affairs, interior, energy and mineral resources, transport, industry and trade, agriculture, and water and irrigation, in addition to the official Jordanian government spokesman. End of summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "President Asad receives a letter from King Abdullah II of Jordan and receives Berri. Talks touch upon recent Lebanese developments and bilateral relations. Berri: Talks with President Asad are positive" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/29) "President discusses with Jordanian officials agenda of the Syrian-Jordanian Joint Committee and bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries. The Syrian-Jordanian Joint Committee, headed by both Syrian and Jordanian Prime Ministers, starts activities. Ottri and Bkheit reiterate the importance of developing joint cooperative relations and establishing joint projects" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/29) "Information Ministry source: Syrian air-defenses repel two Israeli airplanes near the Syria coast.... This hostile act is an aggressive and unacceptable provocation" (Government-owned Al- Thawra, 6/29) "Al-Mouallem and Khatib discuss the Israeli aggression against Gaza" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/29) "Information Minister Bilal to an Austrian delegation: Western media is giving a misleading image of Syria" (Government-owned Al- Thawra, 6/29) "Israel invades Gaza Strip and destroys its infrastructure. HAMAS official in Lebanon to Al-Thawra: The Israeli aggression against Gaza aims at ending the resistance" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/29) "The Duma holds Washington responsible for the killing of the Russian diplomats. Putin gives order to liquidate killers of the Russian diplomats" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/29) Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "Al-Bayanuni's Out-Stretched Hand" -------------- As'ad Abbud, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, commented (6/29): "In brazen clarity, Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, General Director of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, announced that his hand is stretched out to Israel. This is yet another hand presenting its credentials to the United States to join the American plan. "Stretching a hand out to Israel is the first required document in these credentials. Had we headed Al-Bayanuni off and said that the road he was taking would lead him to stretching a hand out to Israel, they would have blamed us and said that we are advocates of the conspiracy theory. Exactly as in the case of Walid Jumblatt, the announcement of an end to hostility toward Israel was associated with an announcement of hostility toward Syria. In the same interview, Al-Bayanuni offered himself as a false witness: He anticipated the results of all investigations and accused Syria of killing Al-Hariri. Of course no one forgets the meeting between Al-Bayanuni's delegation and Walid Jumblatt in Beirut; What do they have in common? Either a hand stretched out to Israel or a declaration of hostility toward Syria. I believe that all reasonable politicians know very well that the two roads are one and the same thing, although they have two different names. "In his lust for power, Al-Bayanuni stretched his hand out in different directions. He stretched it out, first of all, to terrorism, thus shedding Syrian blood. He then stretched it out to Syria, concealing an undeclared repentance. But Syria could not ignore the stains of blood on the stretched-out hand and the dagger in the other hand. "So he stretched his hand out to every enemy of Syria, and he held his 'super' meeting with Abdul-Halim Khaddam: each hiding behind the other and each with the complex of being exposed by the Syrian people. "Al-Bayanuni, who imagines he can draw strength from the hand he is stretching out to Israel, greatly underestimates Syria. But he deceives himself and sees things upside down, or maybe he turns things upside down so that he can understand them. "There is no doubt that the flagrant American and non-American hostility toward Syria and the aggressive pressure on it disturb its economic situation and delay the reform plan. But, on the other hand, this pressure itself strengthens Syria as it helps it earn the love and support of all those who oppose and resist the American policy, and they are numerous, as the Americans themselves admit. This, consequently, strengthens Syria on the front of the Arab street. "Al-Bayanuni should know history well. This is not the first time pressure on Syria has reached a peak. Syria did not, and will not, fall." -------------- "Rule and Exception" -------------- Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, commented (6/29): "Since its independence, Syria has faced many ordeals, conspiracies, and threats that often reached the point of direct military aggression and various forms of pressure, sanctions, and interference. This is due to Syria's decisive role in the issues of the region and its rejection of foreign plans against it.... "It stresses that Syria has always succeeded in overcoming these ordeals, thanks to its strong national unity. It says that the Syrian people, with their spontaneous national and pan-Arab sense, have always understood the plots against their country and reacted with political decision. "We do not claim that there have been no exceptions to this rule. But the exceptions throughout Syria's history have been rare, temporary, and ineffective. Popular awareness has always managed to neutralize, end, and overcome them." "It is natural for Syrians to ridicule those who have deviated from the right path and tried to encroach upon the homeland under attractive slogans whose promoters claim to be patriots concerned about freedom and democracy while they contribute, in a way or another, to the campaign of pressure against Syria. "Those opponents and their activities are soap bubbles that have no substance on the Syrian street.... We do not doubt that some are trying to portray these bubbles as having the power, the ability, and the importance to play the role that the foreigners want them to play, a role that the Syrian popular base strongly rejects and firmly opposes." -------------- "Playing in Stoppage Time" -------------- Shawkat Abu-Fakhr, a commentator in government-owned Al-Ba'th, wrote (6/29): "Despite the discovery of a terrorist network linked to the Israeli Mosad, some Lebanese officials continue to target the Lebanese resistance and travel the world to draw strength from foreigners against their partners in the homeland and to torpedo the dialogue table. "Some ministers and parliamentarians have become regular customers in Washington, New York, Paris, and other European cities, discussing there the smallest Lebanese details. Some of them are not even embarrassed to visit Zionist institutes, especially after they honored John Bolton. "Ahmad Fatfat, Acting Lebanese Interior Minister, has visited the Brookings Saban Center and met with Martin Indyk, the engineer of the dual containment policy and one of the strongest supporters of Israel among the neoconservative hawks.... Walid Junblatt visited the same center earlier and Defense Minister Ilyas al-Murr will visit it later. "What is the secret behind this rush toward the Israeli decision and lobbying centers in the United States? Doesn't this activity raise questions and suspicions at a time when the investigations into the actions of the terrorist network, which is involved in many assassinations in Lebanon, continue...?" -------------- "What Will Palestinians Lose?" -------------- Hanan Hamad, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (6/29): "Israel's reaction to the Palestinian attack in Kerem Shalom was blind and illogical.... "Other parties, including some Arab parties, rushed to blame and condemn the operation and to express concern over the abducted soldier.... "These same parties did nothing when they saw limbs of children flying through the air in Gaza and successive kidnappings from safe houses in the West Bank and Gaza taking place.... "The most surprising thing, however, is the argument by critics that the operation will bring negative consequences for Palestinians. The question is: Do the Palestinians still have anything to lose? Should a people be blamed for resisting the ugliest forms of occupation...?" Seche