JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (03/09): PALESTINIANS ANALYZE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 000399 SIPDIS STATE PASS BBG STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM NSC 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 (03/09): PALESTINIANS ANALYZE CLINTON VISIT FOR CLUES ON DIRECTION OF U.S POLICY -------------- Main Stories: -------------- Al Quds and Al Ayyam lead with the Palestinian Authority (PA) government decision to step down on the last day of the month. Al Hayat Al Jadida also front pages the news. Continuing weekend reporting, papers note that the "Fayyad government" has also pledged to pay this month's salaries and has put in place a hiring and promotion freeze until a new government is formed. The three papers run inside comments and reports about PA Premier Fayyad, calling him popular with the international community, successful, and a person who resigned in order to pave the way for a national consensus government. The papers run statements by Fayyad calling for support for PA President Abbas' efforts to ensure the success of Palestinian internal dialogue and formation of a national consensus government. Al Ayyam's front page highlights statements by a NSC spokesman stating on March 8 that the White House hopes for continuous progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process despite the resignation of the Palestinian Authority government. The statements are also covered on inside pages of the Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida. Al Hayat Al Jadida leads with news that Palestinian Authority President Abbas has given instructions to the Fatah delegation attending Palestinian unity talks in Cairo, "to do their utmost to achieve unity." The talks begin on March 9, according to reporting. An official U.S. protest has been issued over remarks by Israeli Jerusalem Mayor Barakat regarding his criticism of Secretary Clinton's March 4 remarks regarding Israeli house demolitions in Jerusalem and "settlement" activities. The report adds that the U.S. has made several additional protests through its Embassy in Tel Aviv against Israeli settlement activities and house demolitions. The report quotes a senior Israeli source revealing that U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell is expected to discuss the issues with Israeli authorities upon his return to the region. Al Ayyam runs an inside report on Secretary Clinton's "extended hand" policy, citing an unnamed Irish media source. The report analyzes the Secretary's first international tour, stating that she demonstrated "clear vision" in dealing with friends and opponents throughout the world, and showed hesitation only in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She limited her comments about Israeli settlement activities to calling them, "not helpful" and justified her silence by stating that she awaits the new Israeli government, according to the report. Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida front page wire reporting on the delay of a British humanitarian convoy at the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. According to coverage, Egypt demanded that the convoy's passage be "coordinated with Israel" and clashes broke out between "convoy activists" and Egyptian police. In other Gaza news, weekend front pages reported that Israel is "readying itself for delivering a harsh response," to rockets fired from Gaza. All front pages note that Israel has imposed a total closure of Palestinian Territories' crossings with Israel until March 18, due to the Jewish holiday Purim. All front pages report that Palestinian Authority President Abbas signed the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on the occasion of the International Women's Day, March 8. In other Abbas news, the front pages note that Abbas issued a statement welcoming Pope Bendictus XVI to the Holy Land on May 8-15 2009. JERUSALEM 00000399 002 OF 003 Al Ayyam's front page runs an AFP story about the Israeli Ambassador being ordered by Mauritania to leave the country one month after Mauritania froze relations with Israel in response to events in Gaza. -------------- WEEKEND STORIES: -------------- Sunday, March 8, 2009 Secretary Clinton's op-ed about activating the full potential and energies of women appeared on Al Quds' front page. The piece was introduced by a photo of Clinton and paragraph about the Secretary's recent visit to Jerusalem and the West Bank. In other news, Al Quds and Al Ayyam ran headlines that, "Clinton encourages contacts between Syria and Israel and announces Ankara's and Washington's commitment to a two-state solution." News of Palestinian Authority (PA) Premier Fayyad's resignation dominated front pages. All papers reported that PA President Abbas asked Fayyad and his cabinet to remain in office, pending the results of reconciliation talks. Abbas was quoted stating that Fayyad submitted his resignation in order to strengthen intra-Palestinian dialogue and move efforts forward on forming a new consensus government. He also denied rumors that he had forced Fayyad to resign over "disagreements." The papers further report on Hamas reaction to the announcement. Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum stated that the resignation of Fayyad's government is irrelevant to national dialogue and reconciliation efforts, also noting that the government never was legitimate. Israel is using settlement expansion, house demolitions, and restrictions on construction as part of a strategy to illegally annex Jerusalem, according to a "secret" EU report that featured on all front pages. The report, submitted by the heads of EU missions, states that Israel has accelerated its plans for annexing East Jerusalem and highlights that the Israeli actions undermine the credibility of the Palestinian Authority and weaken support for peace negotiations. Related reporting on all front pages, noted that the PLO's Executive Committee warned of the dangerous implications of Israeli plans for Jerusalem, asserting that negotiations with Israel will not resume as long as settlement expansion continues and that Israel should withdraw to the September 28, 2001 line. Saturday, March 7, 2009 Front pages carried several articles about Israeli "settlement expansion" and plans for house demolitions in the Jerusalem area. Reporting focused on plans to add 2,670 housing units to the Gilo settlement and plans to, "change the characteristics of the Old City of Jerusalem including its gates, wall, markets, and lighting," and historic sites. Papers also reported that heavy police protection was provided to Jerusalem municipality officials who distributed orders for the destruction of 254 houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan, Sheikh/Abassiyyah, Beit Hanina, Al Ashqariyyah, Shu'fat, Anata refugee camp, and As Salam. Residents in the affected neighborhoods set up protest tents over demolished houses and near houses threatened with demolition and organized themselves, "to engage in a large-scale popular campaign against the Israeli demolition orders," papers highlighted. Palestinian officials visited the protest tents and commented that they came, "to activate efforts to exert public pressure on everyone, the Israelis in particular, to stop these arbitrary orders," according to coverage. JERUSALEM 00000399 003 OF 003 -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: -------------- 1) Adli Sadiq opines in official daily Al Hayat Al Jadida under the title, "A look at Hillary's steps"(03/09): "During her recent visit, Hillary Clinton didn't say much... about how she plans to deal with the issues of the region and the world. Nevertheless some principles did surface: the priority of solving the domestic economic crisis... soothing foreign fronts, especially Moscow and Beijing, and engaging a few traditional opponents, particularly Tehran, thereby abandoning the carrot and stick policy for which the Bush administration was famous. [Clinton will also] deal comprehensively with regional crises all of which share a common component - the Israeli-Arab conflict." 2) Khaled Hroub writes in Al Ayyam under the title, "Where on the agenda is the opening of the Erez [Gaza] crossing?"(03/09): "The opening of the Erez crossing, [between Israel and Gaza], must be at the heart of all ongoing political efforts. Any international or Palestinian initiative must address this issue. If real, rather than superficial Palestinian unity is desired, it must include facilitating communication between Palestinian parties." WALLES