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Viewing cable 06DAMASCUS3256, Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Israel, Syria/Lebanon,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06DAMASCUS3256 2006-07-03 13:10 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Damascus
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #3256/01 1841310
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031310Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0121
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 6075
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3924
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2457
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 7123
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1112
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4498
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0720
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA//
INFO RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6859
UNCLAS DAMASCUS 003256 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PA, NEA/ARN, INR/IC/CD, INR/S:STHIBEAULT AND 
JMCCARTER, VOA NEWS CA, NEA/PPD:CBOURGEOIS, DBENZE AND 
AFERNANDEZ, IIP/G/NEA-SA RWINCHESTER 
WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC 
CENTCOM FOR CCPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR PREL KPAO OPRC SY
SUBJECT: Damascus Media Reaction: Syria/Israel, Syria/Lebanon, 
Syria/Jordan, Palestinian Territories, Iraq (6/29) 
 
1.  Summary: Syrian papers today featured an official statement 
reporting that two Israeli military aircraft flew at low 
altitude near the Syrian coast in the Wadi Qandil area at dawn. 
Syrian Air Defense Forces fired at the planes, that then left 
the region. The source said the hostile act was an unjustified 
provocation. If the aim was to hold HAMAS's political leadership 
responsible for the abduction of the Israeli soldier, the source 
said, then Israel is making a grave and illogical mistake. The 
source said that the Palestinian popular resistance carried out 
the operation in Gaza and claimed responsibility for it from 
there. The operation could not be staged by remote control. The 
source said that the over-flight reflects Israel's failure and 
crisis at home, a crisis that Israel is trying to export abroad, 
and this is why it is accusing others. 
 
Papers also reported that President Asad and VP Shara met with 
Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. Talks focused 
on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, bilateral 
relations, and the Lebanese national dialogue. Berri visited 
Damascus a month ago in an attempt to pave the way for Lebanese 
PM Fua'd al-Saniora to visit Damascus. 
On Syrian-Jordanian relations, the Syrian press reported that FM 
al-Mouallem discussed with Jordanian FM Abdul-Elah Khatib ways to 
boost bilateral relations in light of the current meetings of the 
Syrian-Jordanian Higher Committee in Damascus. The two sides 
reviewed current developments in the region, including the 
Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people in the occupied 
Arab territories and the necessity to exert all efforts to stop 
them. Papers also reported that Jordanian PM Ma'ruf al-Bakhit 
arrived in Damascus on an official visit to Damascus, chairing 
the Jordanian delegation to the meetings of the Higher Syrian- 
Jordanian Joint Committee. Al-Bakhit was accompanied by an 
official delegation comprising the ministers of foreign affairs, 
interior, energy and mineral resources, transport, industry and 
trade, agriculture, and water and irrigation, in addition to the 
official Jordanian government spokesman. 
End of summary. 
 
2.  Selected Headlines: 
 
"President Asad receives a letter from King Abdullah II of Jordan 
and receives Berri. Talks touch upon recent Lebanese developments 
and bilateral relations. Berri: Talks with President Asad are 
positive" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/29) 
 
"President discusses with Jordanian officials agenda of the 
Syrian-Jordanian Joint Committee and bilateral relations between 
the two brotherly countries. The Syrian-Jordanian Joint 
Committee, headed by both Syrian and Jordanian Prime Ministers, 
starts activities. Ottri and Bkheit reiterate the importance of 
developing joint cooperative relations and establishing joint 
projects" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/29) 
 
"Information Ministry source: Syrian air-defenses repel two 
Israeli airplanes near the Syria coast.... This hostile act is an 
aggressive and unacceptable provocation" (Government-owned Al- 
Thawra, 6/29) 
 
"Al-Mouallem and Khatib discuss the Israeli aggression against 
Gaza" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 6/29) 
 
"Information Minister Bilal to an Austrian delegation: Western 
media is giving a misleading image of Syria" (Government-owned Al- 
Thawra, 6/29) 
 
"Israel invades Gaza Strip and destroys its infrastructure. HAMAS 
official in Lebanon to Al-Thawra: The Israeli aggression against 
Gaza aims at ending the resistance" (Government-owned Al-Thawra, 
6/29) 
 
"The Duma holds Washington responsible for the killing of the 
Russian diplomats. Putin gives order to liquidate killers of the 
Russian diplomats" (Government-owned Al-Ba'th, 6/29) 
 
Editorial Block Quotes: 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
"Al-Bayanuni's Out-Stretched Hand" 
 
---------------------------------- 
As'ad Abbud, an editorialist in government-owned Al-Thawra, 
commented (6/29): "In brazen clarity, Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, 
General Director of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, announced 
that his hand is stretched out to Israel. This is yet another 
hand presenting its credentials to the United States to join the 
American plan. 
 
"Stretching a hand out to Israel is the first required document 
in these credentials. Had we headed Al-Bayanuni off and said 
that the road he was taking would lead him to stretching a hand 
out to Israel, they would have blamed us and said that we are 
advocates of the conspiracy theory. Exactly as in the case of 
Walid Jumblatt, the announcement of an end to hostility toward 
Israel was associated with an announcement of hostility toward 
Syria. In the same interview, Al-Bayanuni offered himself as a 
false witness: He anticipated the results of all investigations 
and accused Syria of killing Al-Hariri. Of course no one forgets 
the meeting between Al-Bayanuni's delegation and Walid Jumblatt 
in Beirut; What do they have in common? Either a hand stretched 
out to Israel or a declaration of hostility toward Syria. I 
believe that all reasonable politicians know very well that the 
two roads are one and the same thing, although they have two 
different names. 
 
"In his lust for power, Al-Bayanuni stretched his hand out in 
different directions. He stretched it out, first of all, to 
terrorism, thus shedding Syrian blood. He then stretched it out 
to Syria, concealing an undeclared repentance. But Syria could 
not ignore the stains of blood on the stretched-out hand and the 
dagger in the other hand. 
 
"So he stretched his hand out to every enemy of Syria, and he 
held his 'super' meeting with Abdul-Halim Khaddam: each hiding 
behind the other and each with the complex of being exposed by 
the Syrian people. 
 
"Al-Bayanuni, who imagines he can draw strength from the hand he 
is stretching out to Israel, greatly underestimates Syria. But 
he deceives himself and sees things upside down, or maybe he 
turns things upside down so that he can understand them. 
 
"There is no doubt that the flagrant American and non-American 
hostility toward Syria and the aggressive pressure on it disturb 
its economic situation and delay the reform plan. But, on the 
other hand, this pressure itself strengthens Syria as it helps 
it earn the love and support of all those who oppose and resist 
the American policy, and they are numerous, as the Americans 
themselves admit. This, consequently, strengthens Syria on the 
front of the Arab street. 
 
"Al-Bayanuni should know history well. This is not the first 
time pressure on Syria has reached a peak. Syria did not, and 
will not, fall." 
 
--------------------- 
 
 "Rule and Exception" 
 
--------------------- 
 
Isam Dari, an editorialist in government-owned Tishreen, 
commented (6/29): "Since its independence, Syria has faced many 
ordeals, conspiracies, and threats that often reached the point 
of direct military aggression and various forms of pressure, 
sanctions, and interference. This is due to Syria's decisive 
role in the issues of the region and its rejection of foreign 
plans against it.... 
 
"It stresses that Syria has always succeeded in overcoming these 
ordeals, thanks to its strong national unity. It says that the 
 
Syrian people, with their spontaneous national and pan-Arab 
sense, have always understood the plots against their country 
and reacted with political decision. 
 
"We do not claim that there have been no exceptions to this 
rule. But the exceptions throughout Syria's history have been 
rare, temporary, and ineffective. Popular awareness has always 
managed to neutralize, end, and overcome them." 
 
"It is natural for Syrians to ridicule those who have deviated 
from the right path and tried to encroach upon the homeland 
under attractive slogans whose promoters claim to be patriots 
concerned about freedom and democracy while they contribute, in 
a way or another, to the campaign of pressure against Syria. 
 
"Those opponents and their activities are soap bubbles that have 
no substance on the Syrian street.... We do not doubt that some 
are trying to portray these bubbles as having the power, the 
ability, and the importance to play the role that the foreigners 
want them to play, a role that the Syrian popular base strongly 
rejects and firmly opposes." 
 
---------------------------- 
 
"Playing in Stoppage Time" 
 
---------------------------- 
 
Shawkat Abu-Fakhr, a commentator in government-owned Al-Ba'th, 
wrote (6/29): "Despite the discovery of a terrorist network 
linked to the Israeli Mosad, some Lebanese officials continue to 
target the Lebanese resistance and travel the world to draw 
strength from foreigners against their partners in the homeland 
and to torpedo the dialogue table. 
 
"Some ministers and parliamentarians have become regular 
customers in Washington, New York, Paris, and other European 
cities, discussing there the smallest Lebanese details. Some of 
them are not even embarrassed to visit Zionist institutes, 
especially after they honored John Bolton. 
 
"Ahmad Fatfat, Acting Lebanese Interior Minister, has visited 
the Brookings Saban Center and met with Martin Indyk, the 
engineer of the dual containment policy and one of the strongest 
supporters of Israel among the neoconservative hawks.... Walid 
Junblatt visited the same center earlier and Defense Minister 
Ilyas al-Murr will visit it later. 
 
"What is the secret behind this rush toward the Israeli decision 
and lobbying centers in the United States? Doesn't this activity 
raise questions and suspicions at a time when the investigations 
into the actions of the terrorist network, which is involved in 
many assassinations in Lebanon, continue...?" 
 
----------------------------- 
 
"What Will Palestinians Lose?" 
 
----------------------------- 
 
Hanan Hamad, a commentator in government-owned Tishreen, wrote 
(6/29): "Israel's reaction to the Palestinian attack in Kerem 
Shalom was blind and illogical.... 
 
"Other parties, including some Arab parties, rushed to blame and 
condemn the operation and to express concern over the abducted 
soldier.... 
 
"These same parties did nothing when they saw limbs of children 
flying through the air in Gaza and successive kidnappings from 
safe houses in the West Bank and Gaza taking place.... 
 
"The most surprising thing, however, is the argument by critics 
that the operation will bring negative consequences for 
Palestinians. The question is: Do the Palestinians still have 
anything to lose? Should a people be blamed for resisting the 
 
ugliest forms of occupation...?" 
 
Seche