US embassy cable - 05AMMAN6496

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006496 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ AND GAZA WITHDRAWAL 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, August 15, focuses 
on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with reports about 
preparations for the withdrawal and the start of 
evacuation of settlements.  Another front-page story 
is related to the Iraqi draft constitution and the 
parliamentary deliberations scheduled to begin today. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "The strategic dimensions of the Gaza withdrawal" 
 
Columnist Lamis Andoni writes on the op-ed page of 
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15):  "As Israel 
begins "withdrawing" from Gaza Strip, analyses about 
the importance of this historic moment vary: is a 
victory for the Palestinian resistance or is a 
unilateral Israeli decision designed to overcome the 
Palestinian people's accomplishments?  Ariel Sharon, 
the father of settlers, would not have undertaken such 
a dramatic step as that of evacuating the settlements 
unless he had to.  Despite criticisms against the 
Palestinian Intifada, the Israeli decision was the 
result of all forms of Palestinian resistance, the 
peaceful ones and violent ones.  This is because, at 
no time in the history of mankind has a direct 
occupation ever retreated unless under duress from 
political, material and human losses..  Yet, the 
Israeli decision is also an attempt to abort the 
accomplishments of the resistance, that is to say from 
the standpoint of the Palestinian national liberation 
and the Palestinian people's exercising their national 
rights..  From this viewpoint, the unilateral 
disengagement plan from Gaza marks the most 
significant political and media blow in favor of 
Sharon, in the sense that this step will come a long 
way in covering up the crime of occupation, of 
annexing lands, of keeping settlements in the West 
Bank and Jerusalem, and of belittling the legitimate 
rights of the Palestinian people..  Here lies the 
importance of unilateral disengagement plan: on one 
hand, this plan prevents the Palestinian party from 
legitimizing a very serious step that leads to 
withdrawal from Gaza while Israel continue to close 
its grip on the West Bank and Jerusalem and to keep 
Gaza under the mercy of the political, military and 
economic control; on the other hand, Sharon's refusal 
to hold negotiations about the disengagement with the 
Palestinian Authority exposes the racist colonialist 
core of a policy that does not recognize the presence 
of a people on the land of Palestine.  The decision as 
far as Sharon is considered, despite the fact that it 
came under pressure from the Palestinian resistance, 
remains within the realms of exercising and 
entrenching Israel's power..  In view of the above, 
any internal Palestinian argument that does not take 
into consideration the historical ideas of Zionism or 
that tries to belittle the importance of resistance 
throughout history is doomed to enter a destructive 
cycle of political debate between the Palestinian 
Authority and Hamas about the control over Gaza, and 
this would not serve the concept of the Palestinian 
national liberation." 
 
-- "Weapons to fight the occupation only" 
 
Daily columnist Rakan Majali writes on the back-page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(08/15):  "On one hand, the Palestinian National 
Authority is entitled to insist on maintaining 
security in the Gaza Strip and to manage its affairs 
after the Israeli withdrawal without competition from 
any other force.  On the other, Hamas and other 
factions are entitled to hold on to their weapons and 
their capabilities as resistance movements against the 
occupation so long as the occupation continues to 
exist in the territories of the West Bank..  It is no 
secret that the resistance is in the best interest of 
 
SIPDIS 
the Palestinian National Authority that is going to 
find itself in any future negotiations completely 
helpless and devoid of any bargaining chips and will 
then have to succumb to Israel because Israel does not 
give concessions just for the sake of the Palestinian 
Authority." 
 
-- "Federalism is the antithesis of separation" 
 
Columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman writes on the op-ed page 
of independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (08/15):  "Even if 
we assume that the Iraqi Parliament was able to agree 
on the constitution in time for the deadline of August 
15, it would not mean that dangerous and serious 
scenarios have been averted.  This is for two reasons. 
The first is that the Sunnis are still outside the 
context of the political process that threatens to 
render the entire process a failure, and the second is 
that the draft constitution is based on favoring 
sectarianism over general interests.  The probable 
scenario is that the draft constitution would be 
approved on time with some pending issues remaining, 
and the most significant of the pending issues is how 
willing are the Iraqis to live together and to have 
national unity, and, judging from the current 
indications, this is not going to be supported.  We do 
not expect the Iraqis to be freed from the ghosts of 
the past that instill a tendency for separatism and 
negativity.  What needs to be done, therefore, is to 
postpone the passing of the constitution until that 
time when there is consensus on a wider scale and that 
is by bringing the Sunnis into the political process 
and stressing the concept of co-existence.  This is 
the real guarantee and infrastructure that is 
necessary for any constitution or political arena in 
the new Iraq." 
HALE