King Abdullah Publicly Declares His Optimism About

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 004409 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/GNEA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: JO KPAO KMDR PREL SUBJECT: King Abdullah Publicly Declares His Optimism About Annapolis, But Jordanian Pundits Skeptical ¶1. Summary: Jordan's King Abdullah has publicly expressed his full support and hope about the Annapolis conference on three different occasions recently. The first came following his October 18 meeting with the Secretary in London, followed by statements he made October 28 in Bahrain and October 29 in China. These expressions were widely covered in the Jordanian media. He also emphasized the need for U.S. and international support for the Palestinian Authority. Despite the King's public backing, however, media pundits and other contacts continue to voice more skeptical and negative expectations for the coming meeting. End Summary. -------------- Royal Optimism -------------- ¶2. King Abdullah has gone public on at least three different occasions recently to register his strong backing for the proposed meeting in Annapolis, expressing hope coupled with calls for more U.S. and international support to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The King's statements received extensive front-page coverage in all Jordanian papers. Following his October 18 meeting with the Secretary in London, a Royal Court statement was issued, hailing SIPDIS Jordan's "strong support" for the Annapolis meeting and stressing the King's "hope that the meeting would mark a major milestone towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state." The statement also said that the King "emphasized the importance of achieving positive outcome" at the meeting and described the Secretary's efforts in the region as "encouraging and reflected the SIPDIS U.S. administration's commitment to achieve a peace settlement." ¶3. Ten days later, on October 28, the King's statement in Bahrain about the Annapolis meeting was also a lead story. An identical Jordan News Agency report featured in all papers reiterated the King's "support" for peace efforts, stressed the need for the peace meeting to "discuss final status issues," and urged the U.S. and the international community to "extend assistance to the Palestinian Authority." ¶4. The next day, during the his first day of an official visit to China, the King offered optimistic remarks about the Annapolis meeting during an interview with the Xinhua News Agency: "...what we have been hearing back from the U.S., the E.U. and the Quartet has given us some reason for optimism," he said, adding that the Annapolis meeting is "especially important right now ... as it creates a significant opportunity to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict." -------------- Initial Media Optimism -------------- ¶5. Recent Jordanian media commentary on the upcoming meeting began on a positive note, but has since reverted to predictable skepticism and pessimism. Taher Odwan, influential columnist and chief editor of independent daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm, described the meeting between the King and the Secretary on October 18 as "an important and major event for the Palestinian cause." In a rare reflection on the Arabs' role in the entire peace process, Odwan blamed Arabs for lacking the ability to use such meetings "in marketing a solid and strong stand vis-`-vis the cause of peace." And while he proffered that Arabs do not expect the meeting to "bring in the head on a silver platter" in reference to a Palestinian state, he also wrote he had hopes the meeting could "at least achieve something that would convince decision-makers in America and Israel that there cannot be peace unless the Arabs regain their occupied lands and their usurped rights." ¶6. Similarly, Al-Rai Arabic daily (semi-official) in its editorial on October 16 reflected on the political significance of the Secretary's earlier remark in Ramallah that the time had come for SIPDIS the establishment of a Palestinian state, arguing that this is "cause for more optimism" and an indication of the U.S.' "serious intent" towards the peace process. The editorial averred that the Secretary's remark "could constitute a vital turning point if SIPDIS Washington were able to rein in Israel." -------------- Back to Pessimism -------------- ¶7. The initial, somewhat hesitant optimism in the press soon gave way to pessimism, however, following reports in regional media that the U.S. was allegedly refusing to exercise any pressure upon Israel. Editorial commentary fell back to the customary position of criticizing Israel for its allegedly harsh and uncompromising policy, disparaging the United States for supporting Israel in an unbalanced fashion, and chastising the Arabs for not doing more. ¶8. The semi-official newspaper Al-Rai's editorial on October 18 AMMAN 00004409 002 OF 002 said the Secretary's trip to the region did not achieve "any worthwhile success." The same editorial lamented that the Secretary's comment about the propitiousness of a Palestinian state SIPDIS "stirred up false optimism." ¶9. An equally pessimistic tone predicting no possible breakthrough in Annapolis came in a column by the independent Al-Ghad's Editor-in-Chief, Ayman Safadi, who, on October 17, termed the meeting "a new crisis instead of a new step towards a solution." Like others writing in Jordan, Safadi stated that the American "approval" not to include an agenda and a timeline for the meeting's main issues was "a compromise that has rendered the meeting void of meaning." ¶10. Perennial critic of U.S foreign policy and senior columnist Oraib Rantawi, in the October 30 issue of Ad-Dustour, argued that while the peace negotiations seem to be advancing, actual peace on the ground is backtracking. He concluded his column with the comment: "Most likely the fall conference will be the beginning of the fall for peace and will inaugurate a period of confrontation, violence and wars." ¶11. Other informed contacts of ours also voiced skepticism regarding any positive outcome of Annapolis. The head of a leading NGO told us the planned meeting is "American camouflage" that is part of a plan to distract the Arab world from the coming American attack on Iran and Syria. He felt the meeting wouldn't accomplish anything, both because the US and Israel aren't approaching it with real proposals and because the Bush administration won't have enough time to adequately follow through. Reflecting a commonly heard opinion, the NGO leader said Jordan had seen this before - peace conferences come and go, but there is never any real progress. "You don't return to a snake's hole after being bitten" he summed up. ¶12. Another contact, the director of a local think tank, described his views as "90 percent negative", spoke of very high distrust by Arabs of the U.S., contrasted current efforts unfavorably with the end of apartheid in South Africa (which, he opined, required both goodwill on the part of leaders and significant external pressure to force a deal),and argued that Israel has neither real will or interest in making the conference a success. The U.S. desire for peace - which he said he appreciated - was not matched by a willingness to put pressure on both Palestinians and Israelis. "A conference without an agenda will serve as a public relations photo opportunity and be a waste of time." ¶13. Comment: Among the majority of local pundits and opinion leaders, years of dashed hopes have raised the degree of cynicism and skepticism over new talks or initiatives to a high level. The King's strong statements of support for the current rounds of diplomacy and upcoming meeting, coming concurrently with renewed Israeli measures against Hamas in Gaza, have not, so far, done much to alleviate this public skepticism. They are undoubtedly helpful, however, in the effort to convince other regional leaders of the real opportunity for progress that Annapolis represents. End Comment. HALE