Summary and Analysis

In its Monday afternoon and evening broadcasts on January 29, VOP stressed remarks by Yasser Arafat at Davos (World Economic Forum) that “totally rejected” any “resettlement of refugees” and “leaving any refugees in Lebanon.” The prominent playing of the remarks (and the remarks themselves) are testimony to the pressure that Arafat feels from the refugee constituency that is worried about signs that the Palestinians and the Israelis may be drawing closer at the expense of the refugees’ ultimate demand: return to their homes.

Earlier in the day, VOP concentrated on Yasser Arafat’s speech in Davos, stressing his detailed attack on Israeli aggression and savagery. His speech was essentially read out by an in-studio anchorwoman, rather than broadcasting Arafat’s speech itself (perhaps because of the slow speed of his speech), and the speech itself was repeated after the morning new round-up at 8:30 a.m.

At 4:30 p.m., an Israeli was shot and killed near Ramallah.

In its 5 p.m. Monday afternoon bulletin, VOP had no coverage of the shooting of an Israeli on a road not far from Ramallah.

By 6 p.m., VOP was already reporting the death of the “settler” (whose identity was still unknown) and linking it to the nearby settlement of Adam “which was built on lands taken from (the Arab village) Jab’a.”

This formula-calling the victim a settler (whether true or not) and linking the site of the incident to Israeli land confiscation (whether true or not) is VOP’s way of signaling that the shooting is neither condemned, nor even for acts like it to be discouraged in the future. The news item was enlarged at 7pm, stressing Israel’s barbaric searches and closure of the area.

Monday Evening Opening Headlines – 6 p.m.

  • “The youth Muhammad Nafiz Abu-Moussa, 21 years old, was martyred this morning, from two shots in the stomach fired on him by Israeli occupation soldiers near the Tufah checkpoint near Khan Yunis. And sources in the hospital said that the two bullets that martyred Abu-Moussa were 500-millimeter bullets.;
  • An Israeli source says that there was an opening of fire on the road between the town of al-Ram and Jab’a northeast of the city of Jerusalem. And our correspondent in Jerusalem asserts that a settler was killed after shots struck his head, fired by unknown people near the settlement of Adam which was built on lands taken from the people of Jab’a;

Monday Morning Round-up Headlines, 7 a.m. / 8 a.m. / 9 a.m.

  • “In Sharm al-Sheikh today, President Yasser Arafat will meet Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, and the discussion will concentrate on the most recent development and on the marathon talks in Taba;
  • President Arafat in front of the World Economic Forum in Davos says that the Taba talks were a serious session, but in his speech he added that Israel is prosecuting a savage and evil war and brutal and criminal military aggression against our people, employing weapons with depleted uranium;
  • President Arafat estimates that Israeli policy is the most repulsive in the modern era, and he called on the world community to use its moral and human (Note: that’s what it said) authority to get a serious and just solution to the Palestinian question;
  • “Israeli Occupation forces shell the Mintar area in eastern Gaza with artillery and automatic fire, and various Israeli attacks throughout the homeland leads to 27 injured, including a child in critical condition;
  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat asserts that the Palestinian leadership is continuing its efforts for a just, permanent and comprehensive peace in the area;
  • His excellency (Arafat), in a speech before the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, sets forth the details of Israeli aggression prosecuted against our people including acts of destruction, economic closures. And he called on the international community for an international force to put an end to this aggression, to remove the economic closures and lock-downs;
  • His excellency President Yasser Arafat will meet Egyptian President Husni Mubarak in Sharm al-Sheikh today.;
  • The secretary-general of Hizb-Allah (Party of God), Sheikh Hussein Nasser-Allah reiterated his organization’s obligation to free all the Lebanese, Palestinian, Arab and Iranian prisoners in Israeli Occupation jails;
  • The martyring of four Iraqi children yesterday from bombs dropped as part of crimes being committed in southern Iraq in ’91 war (note: item is unclear, suggesting perhaps the aggression
  • The extremist Jewish terrorist group Ateret Cohanim is setting forth to take over a residence and a store in the Old City in Jerusalem tonight;
  • The leader of the extremist Likud Party, Ariel Sharon, is initiating an attempt to win over the support of our people inside the Green Line, calling for what he calls a working partnership between Arabs and Jews inside Israel;
  • The lead (in the polls) for the election of February 6 of the candidate of the Right has increased over the labor party candidate and resigning prime minister Ehud Barak following the Taba conference. In that regard, resigning Prime Minister Ehud Barak ruled out participating in a combined government led by his rival, Ariel Sharon, should he (Sharon) win the February 6 elections for the post of prime minister;
  • Egypt,Jordan, Syria and Lebanon agree on a deal to produce and transfer natural gas for revenues of one billion dollars; NOTE: Israel just signed its own natural gas deal with Egypt, and this item has yet to be reported in Israel)
  • India sends an appeal to sponsoring countries for a billion and half dollars for dealing with shortages.”

Quote of the Day from Interview with Nabil ‘Amr, PA Parliamentary Affairs Minister (7:15 a.m.)

Question: “Ehud Barak suspended contacts with the national authority because of what he considered an attack on Israel in President Arafat’s speech. Was it an attack?”

Answer: “No, Mr. Ehud Barak has gotten to a stage which he cannot go in one direction, where he cannot maintain one policy for the region. He supposes that what happened in Taba was a stoppage of negotiations as if it were a final agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. And he expects the Palestinians to greet Israelis with fulsome thanks for staying in their areas (i.e. neighborhoods, towns, villages, etc) for the presence of their tanks etc. But it (Arafat’s speech) was the framing of a position, and what President Arafat stated in his speech is no more than what the world sees on the ground.

International delegations that have visited us have seen it for themselves, and themselves been subjected to bullets from the Israeli army. Therefore I think that the decision by Mr. Ehud Barak is a kind of foiling (thwarting or frustration) that flows from lack of ability (or power) to hold a position to carry out an agreement, from not succeeding at getting an agreement. Now he is experimenting with a media campaign.”

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR