JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (11/19): PALESTINIANS SEE NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002058 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 (11/19): PALESTINIANS SEE NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN OBAMA'S "PARTNERSHIP" POLICIES -------------- Main Stories: -------------- Coverage of tensions in Gaza dominates front pages. Al Quds and Al Ayyam lead with news of Israel arresting three foreign human rights activists and 16 Palestinian fishermen. Coverage also highlights that Gaza crossings remain closed, while homemade Palestinian rockets continue to fall on the Israeli town of Sderot, following a November 18 Israeli incursion into Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Al Quds adds that Hamas has called on Palestinian factions to meet "immediately" to review the truce with Israel and runs front page statements by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay calling for an immediate end to the Israeli "blockade" of Gaza. Al Ayyam cites Israeli daily Ma'ariv in news that the Israeli military has issued a one week ultimatum to Hamas to halt the fire of homemade rockets on Israel. Al Hayat Al Jadida's front page focuses on humanitarian suffering in Gaza and notes that Gazans lined up to receive UNRWA assistance, after Israel allowed some U.N. supplies to enter the Strip on November 18. Photo coverage on front pages includes a photo in Al Quds of Palestinian women receiving kidney dialysis in a Gaza hospital via electric generator power, due to fuel shortages. Al Ayyam's lead photo shows a Gazan woman waiting for her share of a humanitarian distribution. Al Hayat Al Jadida's front page shows an Israeli bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Essawiya, noting that a second demolition order for a Palestinian home in Jerusalem's Jabal Al Mukaber neighborhood has been postponed. The same page carries a photo of Palestinian Authority President Abbas and Consul General Jake Walles meeting in Ramallah on November 18 to discuss the peace process. The three papers front page news of a November 18 telephone call from president-elect Obama to Palestinian Authority President Abbas. Obama assured continued U.S. commitment to the Palestinian-Israel peace process and thanked Abbas for his letter of congratulations on his election as U.S. President, the papers note. According to coverage, PLO chief negotiator Sa'eb Erekat commented on November 18 that Obama has been in contact with Abbas even before U.S. elections, showing Obama's, "strong commitment to solving the Middle East conflict." Al Ayyam leads with five conditions set by Hamas to resume dialogue with Fatah in Cairo. The paper cites Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum stating, in a Gaza press conference on November 18, that Hamas would resume dialogue if 1) its comments regarding Egypt's proposal are accepted; 2) Palestinian Authority(PA) President Abbas attends dialogue sessions; 3) the Hamas West Bank delegation can join the dialogue; 4) Hamas activists are released from PA prisons, 5) "equal protocol arrangements" are made for Fatah and Hamas in Cairo. Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida front page official British statements from November 18, denying that the UK has had contact with Hamas, but adding British readiness to dialogue with the group if it denounces violence and accepts the peace process. The statements also call for Palestinian unity, describe Israeli settlements as an obstacle to peace and demand the reopening of Gaza crossings by Israel. Al Quds front pages statements made by Deputy Speaker of the EU Parliament Luisa Morgantini calling for a freeze of the EU-Israeli partnership agreement in the wake of Israel's forced eviction of a Palestinian family from their Jerusalem home. The daily continues that Israeli demolitions of Palestinian houses and settlement JERUSALEM 00002058 002 OF 002 construction continue on a daily basis in the Palestinian Territories. Al Hayat Al Jadida's front page and inside pages of Al Ayyam and Al Quds, report on a USAID-Palestinian Authority (PA) inauguration of a public park and cornerstone laying for a multi-purpose hall in Zababda village near Jenin on November 18. USAID Director Sumka is quoted stating that USAID carries out these projects with the vision of empowering the Palestinian people and organizations to establish an independent state of Palestine. Sumka reminded listeners that two weeks ago Secretary Rice visited a Palestinian government hospital that was renovated by USAID. Al Quds and Al Ayyam run photos of the inauguration that was also attended by PA Premier Fayyad. -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: -------------- 1) George Jaqaman of Birzeit University writes in Al Ayyam under the title, "Is there a new role for the Arabs and Europe in the Middle East, now that Obama is here?"(11/19): The international financial crisis that started in the U.S.... resulted in European demands for greater "partnership" in decision making, including economic decisions that might impact political decisions related to the Middle East... in light of Obama's declared policy calling for greater partnership with Europe... there is still time for Arab states... to condition their financial contributions to solving the Euro-American economic crisis on political demands related the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Clearly, this is a golden opportunity - will Arabs take advantage of it? Herein lies the future of solving or not solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... will Arab weakness, once again, be one of the reasons for the continuing conflict?" 2) Columnist Hani Habib writes in Al Ayyam under the title, "The lost dialogue"(11/19): "Without the creation of a supportive Arab environment, the Palestinian national dialogue will remain tied to the political interests and polarizing effects of one Arab regional party or another. The Arab League Secretary General, if he wants to prepare well for the League's Council meeting on Palestinian dialogue, should remember that, above all else, this issue is not an internal Palestinian one, but rather, a purely Arab issue with regional and international implications." Walles