RAMALLAH, March 11, 2017 (WAFA) – The Friday telephone conversation between President Mahmoud Abbas and his US counterpart Donald Trump occupied the front page headlines of the Saturday issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.
The three dailies, with a headline that went across the front page, focused on Trump’s invitation to Abbas to visit the White House to discuss peace with Israel.
Al-Quds quoted whom it described as sources “close” to the White House as saying that the conversation was “candid and important.” It said Trump came out with “a very positive impression.”
The paper also quoted unnamed Palestinian sources as saying the telephone conversation has cleared the US position from the Palestinian representation and the legitimacy of Abbas’ leadership, and that the Palestinians do not need intermediaries to reach the White House.
Al-Ayyam said quoting Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh that the Palestinians were “satisfied” with the outcome of the first conversation between the two leaders, which may have lasted for 30 minutes.
In addition, Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan also spoke on the telephone prior to the Abbas-Trump call, said the dailies.
However, Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Abbas and Abdullah discussed the upcoming Arab summit planned at the end of this month in the Jordanian capital.
In addition to the emphasis on the first Abbas-Trump conversation, the dailies also gave front page prominence, with photographs, to the weekly West Bank protests against Israeli settlements and the apartheid wall and said dozens of Palestinians suffered all kinds of injuries when Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Al-Ayyam reported on a joint Palestinian-Israel women demonstration near an Israeli army checkpoint in Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem, marking International Women’s Day and demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Al-Ayyam and al-Quds said the Israeli government plans to hold its weekly meeting on Sunday at an illegal West Bank settlement with al-Ayyam saying that it is part of a plan to celebrate 50 years for the occupation of the West Bank.
The papers also said Palestinian hunger striker Mohammad al-Qiq has called off his 33-day long fast after the Israeli prison authorities had informed him that his administrative detention order will not be renewed at the end of the current term.
Al-Quds, however, added that the Israeli army denied any deal reached with Qiq.
The papers also said there are positive signs of a near solution to the issue of the last Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, Jamal Abu Leil.
They also said the Israeli army has delayed turning over the corpse of Basel Araj, 31, from Bethlehem, who was assassinated by an Israeli army unit during a raid at a Ramallah building he was in last week.
Al-Quds said Palestinians in Israel are planning protest activities against the Israeli parliament’s passage in first reading of the controversial anti-Muazen law that bans Muslim call for prayer from mosque loudspeakers during the night hours.
It quoted Muslim preachers at the Friday sermon at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem of warning that the law may lead to a religious war in the region while Hamas leaders in Gaza warning that the ban could ignite a new intifada (uprising) against Israel.
The Israeli parliament is also going to discuss on Tuesday further anti-Arab laws such as a law that speeds up demolition of Palestinian homes Israel claims were built without permit, according to al-Quds.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida quoted Fatah movement as accusing Hamas officials of saying things that increase division and lead to separation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas.
The paper also said Saturday marks 39 years for the death of Palestinian female resistance fighter Dalal Mughrabi.
The papers also reported on the armed clash between two families at Lebanon’s Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp that led to the death of one person.
M.K.
