Damascus Media Reaction: Israeli Operation in Lebanon,

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 003658 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: Israeli Operation in Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Iraq (7/25) ¶1. Summary: The Israeli military operation in Lebanon remained the major topic in the Syrian press. Papers reported that President Asad received telephone calls from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Greek Socialist Party leader George Panadreou, which focused on latest developments in Lebanon and ongoing contacts to end the continuing Israeli aggression there. Papers also reported that Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said during a meeting with Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal that his country will work with Syria at the upcoming Rome Conference to revive the peace process as one package deal including Shebaa Farms and the occupied Syrian Golan. Papers also reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Mouallem received a phone call from Malaysian Foreign Minister Sayed Hamid Albar, who expressed his country's support to the steadfastness of the Lebanese and Palestinian people in confronting Israeli aggression. The Malaysian Minister, whose country is the current president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), briefed Minister al-Mouallem on the Malaysian government's efforts, on behalf of the NAM and the OIC, to reach a ceasefire and pave the way for diplomatic efforts to establish a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East as the only way to bring about security and stability in the region. Papers also reported that the United Nations Organization in Syria filed an urgent petition for donors to provide more than $ 13.6 million as part of the financial aid needed to continue extending humanitarian aid to displaced Lebanese civilians in Syria. In a statement issued in Damascus, the UN group said "the needed contributions would meet the increased demands of the Lebanese who have fled to Syria, and will boost the organization and the other humanitarian organizations in doing their relief duties with more effectiveness." It hoped the appeal would draw a "quick response," and thus spur donors to do their duties in meeting persistent and urgent humanitarian needs. The announcement said the number of Lebanese who have fled to Syria is about 160,000, and is increasing by the hour. End of summary. ¶2. Selected Headlines: "President Asad receives two telephone calls, from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and President of the Greek Socialist Party George Papandreau on current contacts to stop the Israeli aggression against Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/25) "Syrian-Spanish talks on the explosive situation in the region. Foreign Minister Moratinos: The package of Syrian ideas will be raised at the Rome Conference" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/25) "Foreign Minister al-Mouallem reviews with Malaysian Foreign Minister AlBar efforts of the Non-Aligned Countries and Islamic Conference for a ceasefire in Lebanon" (Government-owned Al- Thawra, 7/25) "Lebanese national resistance receives US Secretary of State Rice by destroying 5 Israeli tanks and downing an Apache. The resistance shells Haifa, killing and injuring 27 Israelis. US Secretary of State Rice holds a strained meeting with Speaker of SIPDIS Lebanese Parliament Berri" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/25) "Nasrallah: The Enemy has failed to achieve its goals; the Maroun al-Ras battle showed its weakness before the national resistance" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 7/25) "The UN calls for urgent humanitarian aid to Lebanon. Over 160,000 Lebanese refugees are in Syria" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/25) "Syria provides Lebanon with electricity around the clock. Over 120 tons of additional Syrian aid dispatched to Lebanon" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/25) "Six Palestinians killed in Israeli shelling of Gaza. Israel shells Lebanese village Kafer Shouba with phosphorus bombs" (Government-owned Tishreen, 7/25) "Scores of Iraqis victimized by terrorist attacks. Academy of Moslem Scholars holds the occupation responsible for the deteriorating security situation" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 5/25) ¶3. Editorial Block Quotes: -------------- "Theory of Adventure" -------------- Abdul-Fattah al-Awad, Chief Editor of government-owned Al- Thawra, wrote (7/25): "Isolating Syria is not at all possible.... It is impossible to ignore the Syrian role because this role is associated with a vision that proved right.... "The new Middle East that Washington is promoting is a Middle East without resistance against Israel.... But the logic of history does not accept an occupation without resistance.... Relying on force to draw new maps using Israeli pencils is doomed to failure because similar experiences have brought dire consequences for the advocates of this logic.... "The US still insists on continuing the Israeli destruction of Lebanon.... Until recently, the American band was playing the tunes of Lebanon's 'sovereignty and independence', but today it is beating the drums of war and dancing to their tune.... Those who accept the American positions agree, in fact, to work as paid laborers in the new Middle East project, which carries within itself the seeds of failure because it is based on unethical and unrealistic principles. "Instead of talking about a solution that would end the pains and suffering of the Lebanese, they promise us a new Middle East, while insisting on the continuation of the barbaric aggression that Israel is launching amid international hypocrisy and a defeatist Arab position. Therefore, all meetings, conferences, and emissaries that do not place the end of the Israeli aggression at the top of their agendas will be useless. The beginning point is the end of the aggression and the exchange of prisoners. The genuine, realistic, and final solution is the one that discusses the core of the conflict in the region, represented by the arrogant and American-backed Israeli occupation." -------------- "US Illusion" -------------- Muhammad Khair al-Jamali, an editorialist in government-owned Al- Thawra, said (7/25): "Washington still harbors the illusion of redrawing the Middle East map despite the failure of this illusion in Iraq.... "The new Middle East that Rice is promising is a deformed, fragile, and flimsy Middle East that is open to the hegemony of Zionist-American power. In this new Middle East there is no place for the will of countries or the resistance of nations. It must remain silent on the occupation and believe the lies that Israel and the United States promote about terrorism and the attempts they make to obliterate the facts of the conflict and disregard the reasons of its explosion in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, foremost among which are the American occupation of Iraq and the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the Golan, and parts of south Lebanon.... "Rice is wrong in her belief that the barbarism of the Israeli aggression can lead to a new Middle East.... The tragic results of this aggression will turn the entire Arab people into a resistance believing that resistance is their only way to end the occupation and confront the policy of hegemony.... Israel's involvement in the implementation of the American new Middle East plan makes the United States a stable partner of Israel in its aggression against Arabs, which will heighten Arab hatred towards the US and its policy and, consequently, further endanger American interests in the region." -------------- "Partners in Crime and Aggression" -------------- Charles Kamleh, a columnist in government-owned Tishreen, wrote (7/25): "When the US provides Israel with laser-guided bombs to destroy targets deep underground, it effectively enters the battle and becomes a party to the aggression and the crime. This being the case, there is no meaning in any US diplomatic action.... "If the international conference, that will be held in Rome on July 26 to discuss the Lebanese crisis, intends to discuss the crisis of the aggression and at the same time excludes central countries that cannot be passed over and without whose participation and approval no lasting and comprehensive solution can be reached, then the most that such a conference can do is strengthen the position of the aggressor or try to bring him out of his crisis through the imposition of the conditions that the aggression failed to impose by force...." Seche