Cablegate: Jerusalem Media Reaction (12/23): President Abbas Says He

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STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
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LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO

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TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS

SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (12/23): President Abbas says he
will not allow another uprising to take place

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Main Stories:
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The lead stories in the Palestinian media today focuses on the
reported lack of progress in the prisoner exchange deal between
Hamas and Israel. The German mediator is quoted in the press urging
Israel to reconsider its reservations regarding the deal.

Independent dailies Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam front page news citing
Israeli TV Channel One that the Israeli cabinet approved the release
of 125 out of 170 prisoners from Hamas' list of names. The German
mediator will meet with Hamas leaders today in Gaza to pass them the
Israeli response. Independent news outlet Maan reports that Abu
Mujahid, spokesperson for the Popular Resistance Committees, said
that the Palestinian armed groups holding Shalit will meet today as
soon as the groups receive the Israeli response from the German
mediator.

The dailies run headlines accusing Israel of obstructing the deal by
its insistence on expelling a number of prisoners after being
released.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' interview with the
Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday receives front page
coverage in the dailies. Abbas is quoted saying that he stopped a
third Palestinian intifada from occurring during the Israeli war in
Gaza last winter and said he will not allow another uprising to take
place as long as he is in office.

Abbas also reiterated his call for a complete settlement freeze in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem prior to holding direct talks with
Israel, and warned of the increased depression among Palestinians
due to the continued settlers' attacks and stalled negotiations.

The dailies front page news and photos of the third European
humanitarian aid convoy for Gaza arriving in Amman yesterday from
London with hundreds of British, Syrian, Turkish, Jordanian and
European volunteers.

Al-Quds reports on the Al-Aqsa Institute for Cultural Heritage
condemning Israel's widespread excavations under the mosque,
including stealing stones and monuments from the Ummayad palaces
near the mosque. The paper runs a front page photo of Israeli
workers stealing the stones from the Ummayad palaces.

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BLOCK QUOTES:
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Al-Quds runs an editorial under the title "Why is Israel Hesitant to
Conclude the Prisoner Exchange Deal?" questioning why the right wing
in Israel is not willing to make a decisive decision in the prisoner
exchange deal three and a half years after Shalit was kidnapped. The
writer finds no justification for the Israeli hesitance in
concluding the deal after all these years and questions why the
government would allow Israeli right-wing extremists to have the
final say in such a deal. The writer also believes that in addition
to the limited number of prisoners that would be released in this
deal, all Palestinian prisoners should be freed if a genuine peace
process is to start.

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