US embassy cable - 05AMMAN7525

UNCLAS AMMAN 007525 
 
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 MIDDLE EAST 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Papers published today, September 20, are dominated 
by various reports related to the dialogue and 
reaction to the Jordanian government's decision to 
raise fuel price in the Kingdom in order to deal with 
its extreme budget deficit.  Other lead stories 
continue to highlight continuing violence in Iraq. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Containment through inclusion" 
 
Centrist daily Jordan Times (influential among the 
elite English speakers) (09/20) editorializes: 
"Israel is giving Hamas the biggest boost ever by 
seeking to deny it the opportunity to participate in 
the January Palestinian legislative elections..  At a 
time when there is determined effort to engage Hamas 
and other Palestinian extremist groups in the 
political process as an integral part of the new 
Palestinian order, any attempts to exclude them from 
such participation willingly drives them even further 
into extremist and radical positions vis--vis Israel 
and peace efforts.  While it is true that Hamas made a 
strong showing in recent municipal elections, it is up 
to the Palestinian people, and to them alone, to 
decide whether Hamas can be a partner in the political 
establishment..  As long as the Israeli withdrawal 
from Gaza works and the Palestinians can begin to feel 
the difference in their lives and reap the fruits of 
peace in Gaza, there is a high probability that they 
will opt to build on what has been painstakingly 
constructed by giving peace a chance in the rest of 
the Palestinian territories." 
 
-- "Condoleezza Rice: from 9/11 to 9/16" 
 
Columnist Yaser Abu Hilaleh writes on the op-ed page 
of independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (09/20): 
"Condoleezza Rice cannot imagine Hamas' participation 
in the next elections and, at the same time, she 
receives Sharon with warm hospitality.  The problem 
with Condoleezza Rice is not her ignorance of the 
importance of the Hamas movement on the Palestinian 
street, but rather her ignorance of Sharon's nature. 
Let us assume that Hamas is a terrorist movement that 
blows up cars in civilian areas.  What about Sharon 
then, particularly when the anniversary of the Sabra 
and Shatila massacres on September 16 is lost amidst 
the world's marking of the 9/11 attacks?  By the way, 
the September 16 Sabra and Shatila massacres are much 
uglier than the 9/11 massacre in New York and 
Washington.  In Sabra and Shatila, the pro-Israel 
Christian militia intentionally killed children right 
before the eyes of their mothers . and this does not 
compare to a random explosion that kills without 
discrimination..  Condoleezza Rice must remember well 
that there is September 16 memory that the world has 
forgotten but the victims have not."  RUBINSTEIN