JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (9/04): INTERNATIONAL CHANGES AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001640 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 (9/04): INTERNATIONAL CHANGES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE REGION -------------- Main Stories: -------------- The three dailies highlight news that Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, declared in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV on September 3 that a future Palestinian state could have parts of Jerusalem as its capital. According to Barak, Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem could make up the future capital of a Palestinian state. The papers quote Barak telling Al-Jazeera "We can find a formula under which certain neighborhoods, heavily-populated Arab neighborhoods, could become, in a peace agreement, part of the Palestinian capital that, of course, will include also the neighboring villages around Jerusalem." The papers note that Barak did not mention whether these neighborhoods will include neighborhoods in the old city of Jerusalem, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Quds reports that the Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz said that Egypt and Jordan object to an Israeli- Palestinian agreement which does not bring the conflict as a whole in the region to an end. Jordan in particular expressed worries that such an agreement may force the country to absorb hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The papers note that the Palestinian Authority agrees with the position of Egypt and Jordan. Accompanied by photos of the Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the President of Iceland, Olafur Grimsson, the three dailies lead with news about their meeting at the presidential compound in Ramallah on September 3. Following the meeting, the papers note, Abbas confirmed the need to reach a comprehensive and complete peace agreement with the Israelis regarding all final status issues. Al-Ayyam reports that the Hamas leader, Mahmoud Az-Zahar, confirmed, in an interview with a Qatari newspaper, that the negotiations with Israel to broker a prisoners' exchange are frozen. Az-Zahar said that Hamas did not receive a letter from the Egyptian mediator asking Hamas to reduce their conditions to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: -------------- ¶1. Independent Al-Quds editorialized in "Special Damascus Summit," (9/4): "Today in Damascus a special quartet summit (which includes French President Sarkozy, President Assad of Syria, Amir of Qatar Al Thani, and Turkish PM Erdogan) is held... The convening of this summit by itself is considered a win for Syria and a certain end to the international isolation against it... Although the American position remains distanced from the progressive position led by Sarkozy, the fact that the French President has very strong relations with the U.S. indicates that the U.S. is not opposed to or completely far-off from this Sarkozy's effort." ¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam runs an editorial by daily columnist Abdul Majid Sweilem entitled, "The New International Plan: Primary Features" (9/04): "[T]he most important question is how the new international situation [i.e. the crisis between Georgia and Russia] will impact this region's crisis and opportunities for a solution? The biggest loser is Israel and the second biggest lose is Palestine!!! Israel's loss is clear because the United States is retreating from playing the role of international police, direct military use is no longer acceptable and international alliances are being redrawn...[This] means a deterioration in Israel's capacity to JERUSALEM 00001640 002 OF 002 impose its [unilateral] plans and programs in the region...as for Palestine, the loss is due to the fact that the current internal [Palestinian] situation does not allow [Palestinians] to make use of this new historical chance to benefit Palestine's higher national interests...if I were in Hamas' place, I would have put the Palestinian cause and the unity of the Palestinian people and homeland on top of my priorities. And if I were in place of the Palestinian left wing, I would have studied the new situation and revived the national program in order to pave its way." WALLES