JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (8/05): Desperate calls for end

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001422 SIPDIS STATE PASS BBG STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM NSC FOR ABRAMS CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU PARIS ALSO FOR POL ROME FOR MFO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (8/05): Desperate calls for end to Palestinian infighting -------------- Main Stories: -------------- The lead story in Al-Quds is the decision by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to allow an unspecified number of Palestinians who had fled the Gaza Strip in the wake of clashes between Hamas and the Hilles family to enter Jericho. In other front-page coverage, Al-Quds prints a statement by Hamas leader Naser El-Din Asha'er entitled "Clearing all the Palestinian prisons of political prisoners and intellectuals," in which he called for the release of all political prisoners in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Al-Quds also carries remarks made by an Islamic Jihad leader during a local radio interview, encouraging Palestinian factions such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front to help bridge the gap between Fatah and Hamas. In smaller front-page coverage, all the dailies mention that on August 4, Hamas released Zakariya Al-Agha, a Fatah leader who was arrested by Hamas on August 1 in the Gaza Strip. In a story mentioned on the front page but developed on an inside page, Al-Quds reports that in a press conference held in Nablus on August 4, Fatah threatened to carry out attacks and arrests against Hamas in the West Bank. Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida lead with headlines about the Palestinian government's call to support President Abbas' national dialogue initiative. In a large headline, Al-Ayyam writes that the Palestinian government, in a press statement made on August 4 after the weekly ministerial meeting, expressed concern regarding the sad events in the Gaza Strip and called on all Palestinian factions to adopt the PA President's initiative in order to re-unite the Palestinian homeland. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida's headline reads, "Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad calls for a popular and institutional move to support the President's initiative." This news is also mentioned tangentially by Al-Quds. All the dailies highlight news about continuing Israeli actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem. They all report the death, on August 4, of a Palestinian from Ni'lin village, near Ramallah, as a result of injuries sustained during clashes with Israeli soldiers on July ¶31. The dailies also report that Israeli soldiers invaded a number of neighborhoods in Nablus on August 4, searched many houses, and forced their owners onto the street, holding them at gunpoint for several hours. In Jerusalem, dailies report that residents of Sour Baher village in East Jerusalem succeeded, on August 4, in gaining approval for a new housing plan from the Jerusalem Municipality. This plan, which was implemented in cooperation with the International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) and with limited funding from the British Consulate, permits Palestinian families to live in 193 unlicensed houses in the village and allows for the establishment of 500 new housing units for Palestinians. In related coverage in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the Israeli Supreme Court on August 4 gave the Israeli government 45 days in which to implement a previous Supreme Court decision, handed down "about a year ago," which called for the route of the separation wall in Bei'lin village, near Ramallah, to be modified. Coverage in all the dailies highlights that Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of Staff of the IDF, reportedly said during his visit to one of the Israeli military bases in Tel Aviv that Israel knows that kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive. Ashkenazi added that Israeli also knows Shalit's location and the identity of his kidnappers. -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: JERUSALEM 00001422 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶1. Independent Al-Quds carries its daily editorial entitled, "How can we regain our waning confidence?" (8/05): "A lot has been said about the low level to which the Palestinian attitude has fallen due to this destructive division between the two major parties [Fatah and Hamas] in the Palestinian arena. The most negative effects resulting from all this is that the homeland has lost confidence in its leadership, in itself and in its future ... Even if all [Palestinian factions] agree on internal calm and even if the anticipated national dialogue starts, confidence remains unsettled with lots of doubts ... The big question is how to regain this disappearing confidence...? It is clear that the internal division and fighting should stop. And if this is impossible, the least they can do is stop these [negative] media campaigns [against each other], as well as the mutual accusations ... Each party calls for dialogue with the other, and is aware that it cannot live without the other, and [it is clear] that eventually, the two parties will meet, no matter how long it might take. So why all these accusations? ... We call on the two parties to halt their negative media campaigns immediately, and to deal with each other with respect ... By this, we can regain confidence and some honesty in any dialogue or future agreements. In this regard, the almost non-existent Arab role should be mentioned ... The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Mousa, announced that the situation in the Palestinian lands is deteriorating very fast and that Arabs are calling for discussions on the means of halting this deterioration. Amr Mousa's revelation that the situation [in the Palestinian lands] is deteriorating has came too late and these calls that he is talking about are seemingly like a turtle [i.e. very slow]. What is most probable is that the Arab countries ... have less interest and are less capable of influence..." ¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam runs its daily editorial by Hani Al-Masri entitled, "The password to [the solution]: Regaining respect for the national project"(8/05): "The flight of 200 Palestinians from the Hilles family and the Al-Shaja'iya neighborhood in the Gaza Strip to Israel, who received them by arresting their leaders and shooting them, is a big scandal for Palestinians ... At a time when we were waiting for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue, the crime at the Gaza Strip beach took place. Mutual accusations [between Fatah and Hamas] began, as well as [arrest] campaigns against each other in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Then [Hamas'] security campaign in the Al-Shaja'iya neighborhood took place and this indicates that Hamas' authority...chose to oppress its enemy [Fatah] and reinforce its power instead of showing flexibility ... If Hamas and Fatah want to achieve the national interest, they should both stop the internal fight over authority under occupation ... Hamas, who regularly threatens to use military force to reach a solution, forgets that the use of violence to resolve internal fights is not acceptable and should be condemned, regardless of the justification, because it is destructive to the Palestinian cause ... Unless the national project [national dialogue, an end of all infighting between factions] is revived, the need for national unity remains hidden." WALLES