SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION REPORT: EVENTS IN GAZA

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000909 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ELA, INR/IC/CD, INR/R/MR VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD, IIP/G/NEA-SA MRUSSELL WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC CENTCOM FOR CCPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION REPORT: EVENTS IN GAZA DECEMBER 28 - 29, 2008 Summary: For the past two days, all Syrian media focused coverage on the "Israeli aggression in Gaza and the Arab silence and collaboration in this crime." Headlines emphasized the magnitude of human suffering in Gaza. Syria's only private newspaper published on 12/29 a special section dedicated to Gaza, dominated by graphic photos of the dead and injured. Syrian TV cancelled all entertainment programming to provide minute-by-minute coverage of the Gaza incursion. Of particular note was that public statements by the Syrian government, opposition (banned and permitted),and human rights community were almost identical in their condemnation of the Israeli incursion. Also noteworthy was the rare congruity between Syrian media statements and actual public opinion. End Summary. -------------- Government and Opposition in Agreement -------------- In a statement carried by the official SANA news agency, an unnamed official source said that Syria "follows, with deep concern, the brutal Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in Gaza and stresses that what is going on is a heinous crime and convicted terrorist act." "Syria condemns this appalling crime and calls on the Arab nations and the international community to use all available means to pressure Israel to stop this aggression immediately, allow the transfer of the injured and insure them medical care, and open all crossings to allow access of foodstuffs and health needs to the besieged Palestinian people." An editorial in government-owned daily Tishreen accused "certain Arab leaders" of considering Israel a strategic ally and helping it to annihilate the resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon. The pro-government Champress website accused Egyptian and Saudi leaders of collaborating with Israel. Papers and Syrian private TV station al-Dunya carried extensive coverage of Hassan Nasrallah's speech in Beirut on 12/28 in which he called on all Arabs and Muslims to adopt a unified position on Gaza and called on the Egyptian people and military to open up the Rafah crossing. Syrian media highlighted President Bashar al Assad's diplomatic efforts as the current chair of the Arab League. Print and electronic media reported that Assad called for an emergency Arab summit to discuss Gaza and spoke by phone with the leaders of Qatar, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Algeria. Syrian opposition websites and media also condemned the "Israeli massacre" in Gaza. The Damascus Declaration (DD),the major opposition group inside Syria, was the first to issue a strong statement on December 27 condemning the aggression in Gaza and calling upon all Palestinian factions to unite in the face of these attacks. The National Salvation Front (NSF),an opposition group based in Paris and headed by former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, issued a statement 12/28 condemning the aggression and calling on Arab governments to intervene to end the Israeli aggression. The Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Syria) also issued a separate statement on its website condemning the "brutal massacre which has been committed by the Zionist enemy." The statement called upon the Arab peoples and the Syrian people "in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo" as well as "in the plains, mountains and countryside" to take to the streets to express solidarity with "our people" in Gaza. All human rights groups in Syria issued statements condemning Israeli actions in Gaza and calling on the international community to intervene to "pressure Israel to halt its aggression." The statements also demanded that Arab governments "end their silence and impartial position on the aggression and have a unified position vis-`-vis what is happening in Gaza." -------------- An End to Syrian-Israeli Indirect Talks -------------- Semi-independent Al Watan reported that according to an unnamed senior Syrian official, Syria has suspended indirect peace talks with Israel in response to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. "The Israeli aggression on Gaza closes the door to the movement for a peaceful political settlement ," the official said. -------------- Protests in Syria -------------- Thousands of Syrians staged a mass demonstration Sunday in Damascus to protest the Israeli raids. The demonstrators, who came from a variety of political, economic, social and religious backgrounds, carried banners and chanted slogans of support for the Palestinian people, the official SANA news agency reported. The protestors urged those Arab countries with diplomatic relations with Israel to sever their ties and expel Israeli ambassadors. They burned American and Israeli flags and called on the international community to force Israel to "end the bloodshed and lift the unjust siege imposed on the Gaza Strip." "Victory belongs to heroic Gaza," one banner said. "Until when will the Arab silence continue?" read another. Papers reported also that large crowds of Palestinian refugees in Yermouk and al-Neirab Camps in Damascus and Aleppo demonstrated on Saturday in protest against Israeli actions. Protestors marched through the two camps, calling for Palestinian national unity and solidarity and chanting slogans against what they termed "this crime against humanity." The demonstrators condemned Arab and international silence over the "ferocious crime" and called on the international community to stop "these hostile practices." CONNELLY