US embassy cable - 02HARARE2732

UNCLAS HARARE 002732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA, AF/PDPA 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION MEP; HARARE 
 
  1.   Under headline "Solidarity with the people of 
      Palestine" the pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" 
      dedicated its December 1 editorial to accusing the United 
      States of throwing spanners into the Middle East peace 
      process.  "The main stumbling block seems to be the U. S. 
      A., which has supported Israel unreservedly over the years. 
      . .," the editorial observed.  Excerpts: 
 
      "On Friday 29 November 2002, Southern Africa joined 
      the rest of the world to sadly mark the United 
      Nations International Day of Solidarity with the 
      Palestinian People.  The current situation in the 
      occupied territories is really tragic, with towns 
      reduced to rubble, with the Palestinian Authority 
      and its head, Yasser Arafat, virtually under siege, 
      with curfew and restrictions of movement for the 
      Palestinian population.  The destruction of property 
      and the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives have 
      been catastrophic and the whole region has been in 
      crisis for over two years.  Despite the more than 
      1000 U. N. resolutions demanding the end of 
      hostilities and a creation of the State of 
      Palestine, there has been little action to achieve 
      the same.  The main stumbling block seems to be the 
      United States of America, which has supported Israel 
      unreservedly over the years, and this has given the 
      Jewish State the courage to occupy more Palestinian 
      land and to treat Arabs as second-class citizens. 
      Therefore, the repeated calls for peace in the 
      Middle East should be preceded by even stronger 
      calls for justice, for without reversing the unjust 
      occupation of Palestinian land by Israel, it is 
      futile to call for an end to hostilities. 
 
      "The people of Palestine deserve a state of their 
      own and we in Southern Africa lend our support to 
      the Palestinian cause. . .Palestinians have the 
      right to demand the establishment of the State of 
      Palestine as spelled out in U. N. Security Council 
      resolution 1397 of 2002.  Although the U. N. has 
      tried to effect a solution that addresses the needs 
      of both Israel and Palestine, the truth is that, 
      Israel and the U. S. A. have acted as bullies and 
      they have done so with impunity.  Unfortunately 
      therefore, the U. N. pronunciations have not brought 
      any peace to the region.  It is important for Israel 
      and the Americans to realize that peace in the 
      Middle East depends on the establishment of a 
      Palestinian state.  All progressive forces should 
      therefore work to lend more support to its 
      establishment. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN