Cablegate: Jerusalem Media Reaction (8/13): Palestinian Insistence On

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TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (8/13): Palestinian insistence on
Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders

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Main Stories:
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All dailies report that the body of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud
Darwish will be buried today in Ramallah. Al-Quds writes, "the body
of Mahmoud Darwish will be buried today [August 13] in the
homeland," while Al-Ayyam leads with the headline, "Ramallah is
getting ready to embrace Darwish's body...today", and Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida writes in large black letters, "Ramallah is holding today
the funeral of the great poet Mahmoud Darwish." The three dailies
report that the body of Darwish will arrive first in Jordan and will
then be brought to the Presidential compound in Ramallah at noon.
Palestinian officials will attend the funeral, which will be open to
the public. The Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, travelled
to Jordan to receive Darwish's body and escort it to Ramallah.
Al-Ayyam leads with a photo of Darwish's burial site near the
Cultural Palace in Ramallah. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida shows a photo of
Darwish's body being placed on an airplane at Houston airport for
repatriation to the West Bank.

All dailies report that Israel plans to establish Jewish synagogues
at the Al-Maghrabi Gate in Jerusalem's Old City and to take control
of the area around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and turn it into a public
square. The Head of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah,
reportedly submitted original documents revealing these Israeli
plans to the Presidential Counselor for Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem
Abdul Qader, during a press conference in Jerusalem on August 12.

All the dailies carry news of a peace proposal reportedly offered to
President Abbas by Prime Minister Olmert during their meeting last
week. According to this proposal, reported in the Israeli daily
Ha'aretz, Israel would withdraw from 93% of the West Bank once the
Palestinian Authority (PA) regained control over the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli suggestion also reportedly addresses the issue of
Palestinian refugees [although no details are provided] but defers
the question of Jerusalem to a later time.
The Palestinian Authority has denied the Ha'aretz report and the
Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Dr. Sa'eb Erekat, said in a phone
interview with Al-Quds from London that the information is untrue
and that the Palestinians want an Israeli withdrawal from 100% of
the West Bank. When asked about the visit of the U.S. Secretary of
State on August 20, he confirmed that the meeting would take place
on that date and added that the Palestinians are trying to arrange
an Israeli-American-Palestinian meeting on August 21 to confirm the
Palestinian commitment to comprehensive peace and fulfillment of the
Roadmap. The official spokesperson of the PA Presidency, Nabil Abu
Rudayna, said on August 12 that the Palestinians would not accept
anything less than the 1967 borders.

Al-Quds reports that Egypt will start inviting the Palestinian
factions to Cairo next week to start a [Palestinian] national
dialogue, according to remarks made by an Egyptian official in an
interview with Al-Quds on August 12. In related coverage in
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO,
Dr. Zakariya Al-Agha, called on Hamas, in a TV interview with
Ramattan on August 12, to sit at the negotiating table and start a
dialogue with President Mahmoud Abbas.

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BLOCK QUOTES:
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Al-Quds ran its daily editorial entitled, "This Israeli deceitful

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'proposal'"(8/13): "The report that captured the front page of the
Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz yesterday, about a map that Olmert
submitted to the Palestinian Authority in order to draw the final
borders between the future Palestinian state and Israel, has no
basis according to reliable Palestinian sources and is meant to
launch a game of holding Palestinians responsible for not accepting
the 'generous offer' of 93% of the West Bank in addition to 5.5% of
the Negev Desert close to the Gaza Strip. The report is full of
deceitful tricks. For example, this plan will not be implemented
unless the Palestinian Authority regains control over the Gaza
Strip, while these big settlement units will remain part of Israel
as soon as the plan is agreed upon. The expansion of these
settlements will be allowed...and the safe crossing between the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip will be included in the portion that will be
returned to the Palestinian Authority even though Israel will retain
legal and security authority over the crossing. The Palestinian
response to this report was quick and definite. The withdrawal of
the Israeli military and Israeli settlements from the Palestinian
territories of 1967 should be comprehensive and complete. And there
is no possibility whatsoever [for Israel] to annex these lands for
settlements ... It is better for Israel and the peace process to
respond to the Palestinians' just demands and to international
legitimacy...because a just peace cannot be based on imposing facts
by force, but on solutions that the Palestinians agree to..."

WALLES

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