JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (9/12): Heightened Speculation

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001698 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 (9/12): Heightened Speculation about the Closed-Door Negotiations -------------- Main Stories: -------------- All front pages lead with reaction to statements made by US Consul General Jake Walles in a September 9 interview with Al-Ayyam daily. The three dailies report that Israeli Premier Olmert's office issued a statement on September 11 denying that Israel and the Palestinians agreed to negotiate on the future of Jerusalem and possible adjustments to borders. Al-Ayyam notes that several Israeli media outlets distorted Walles' statements regarding negotiations on Jerusalem, at times attributing comments to Walles that he did not make. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reports that the State Department confirmed on September 11 that, "the topic of Jerusalem has not been addressed during negotiations headed by Israeli Foreign Minister Livni and Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Quray." Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds highlight that the State Department confirmed that the U.S. has not taken a position on the borders of a future Palestinian state, and that a senior U.S. official who participated in relevant discussions denies that the Israeli side, led by chief negotiator Foreign Minister Livni, has been willing to negotiate concerning Jerusalem. Both papers add that Secretary Rice participated in the negotiations in a way that respected the Israeli position. Al-Quds runs official Palestinian reaction in an unattributed statement that, "the shortest way to peace in the region is through an end to occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state." Quoting PA Council President Nimer Hammad, the paper further explains that Secretary Rice has proposed a trilateral meeting of all parties to assess progress in negotiations and clarify each party's position on the current status of negotiations. In photo coverage, the three dailies lead with photos of September 11 commemorations in New York. The papers run pictures of U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain paying tribute to victims of the attack at Ground Zero. President Bush is shown observing a moment of silence at the Pentagon memorial for the victims of September 11. The three dailies cite different news agencies' reports on Israeli actions in the West Bank. Al-Quds cites a Wafa report on the injury of 58 Palestinians and the arrest of 9 others in Ni'lin village, near Ramallah, over the past three days. In Jenin, Al-Quds reports that Israeli soldiers went door-to-door, inspecting Palestinian homes. In related coverage, Al-Ayyam cites a report produced by the Areej Research Institute in Bethlehem, stating that Israel continues to distort reporting about "facts on the ground." According to the report, the separation barrier will "isolate" 13% of West Bank land from Palestinian populations. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reports on its inside pages that PLO negotiator Sa'eb Erekat met with Consul General Jake Walles on September 11 in the West Bank city of Jericho. The paper lists the topics that were discussed as: the peace process; Israel's lack of commitment to implementing the first stage of the Roadmap, including a halt to Israeli settlement activities; the separation barrier; removal of checkpoints; West Bank crossing closures; the "siege" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and a halt to West Bank incursions and arrests by the Israeli military. -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶1. Under the title, "The Seventh Anniversary of September 11" (9/12),the independent Al-Quds argues in its main editorial: JERUSALEM 00001698 002 OF 002 "Against the background of the September 11 attacks, the Palestinian issue remained on the margins of developments for the first seven years of the Bush administration, despite his having launched, for the first time in the history of American administration, the motto of a Palestinian state. Despite Bush's vision of a two-state solution, which was announced in 2002 and later took shape in the Roadmap, the American administration did not actively attempt to stir the peace process until 2007, when the Annapolis Conference was held and resulted in the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, frozen since 2000. No one can deny that the American administration, represented by its President and Secretary of State, has shown interest in the peace process through visits and interventions, but the negotiations have not achieved any worthy progress and it seems that the target of reaching a Palestinian Israeli agreement [by the end of the year] will not be met." ¶2. Samih Shbaib, a regular columnist with the independent Al-Ayyam, writes under the title "Negotiations Away from the Media!!!" (9/12): "Palestinian-Israeli negotiation sessions continue and occasionally take very serious dimensions, at least in appearance, without available information for the media, which leads to speculation and even fabrication on the side of the media to add some glamour and charm to their media product... If we attempt to generalize anything about the ongoing negotiations, we can say that they are genuinely being conducted away from the media, as was the case with the secret negotiations prior to Oslo, which equally surprised the Palestinians and the Israelis... It is true that the ongoing negotiations are taking place hidden from the media and media leakages, but the context of the negotiations is crystal clear to both Palestinians and Israelis, and it vividly indicates that reaching a final agreement is like a work of magic and witchcraft. And if it happened, it would require a public and general announcement to both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. So has the situation matured such that the Israeli and Palestinian publics can accept a solution that would satisfy both populations? WALLES