RAMALLAH, September 27, 2016 (WAFA) – Palestinian denouncement of statements Donald Trump, the US candidate for president, made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in which he said he will recognize a unified Jerusalem as capital of Israel once he is elected president hit the front page headlines of two of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies on Tuesday.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida made this subject its top front page story while al-Ayyam published it lower in the page. Both quoted Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, as denouncing Trump for making such statements, which he said were contrary to longstanding US policy and international law.
Al-Quds, the third Palestinian Arabic daily, did not print this story on its front page but highlighted criticism by US Secretary of State John Kerry of Israeli settlement policy. Al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported on this issue.
Al-Quds also said the US Democratic Party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton, promised Netanyahu not to support anti-Israel resolutions.
The daily, which is based in East Jerusalem, made Israeli demolition of Palestinian structures in the West Bank and settlers setting on fire a home under construction in the Nablus area village of Burin its main front page story.
Al-Quds also highlighted on its front page an interview with Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq. The bold headline said: “Rivalry over Hamas leadership is a media stunt,” and, “We wish to see the president (Mahmoud Abbas) turn his positive words regarding us into acts.”
Abu Marzouq said in the exclusive interview that there were no plans to hold a meeting between Fatah and Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Al-Quds reported on the peace march thousands of women from the region and world are planning to start on October 4 and which will continue for two weeks to demand peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
It also said 84 prominent Jewish American figures are calling for a boycott of Israeli settlement products.
Another headline in al-Quds focused on the Palestinian prisoner, Yasser Hamdouni, who died of reported heart attack while incarcerated in Israeli jails. This story was also highlighted in the other two dailies.
Al-Ayyam printed on its front page an interview with Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s United Nations representative, in which the headline said quoting Mansour: “UN support for Palestine did not change in spite of Israeli efforts.”
It also quoted Israeli education minister, Naftali Bennet, calling on Israel to take advantage of the US elections to enforce Israeli law in the West Bank Jewish settlements.
The paper also highlighted a report by the French news agency, AFP, on a Human Rights Watch report that called on FIFA to block Israeli football games in the settlements because they were taking place on appropriated Palestinian land.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida quoted the foreign minister of Venezuela saying that war crimes against the Palestinian people have become part of their daily life.
It also reported on the issue of Palestinian journalists held in Israeli detention.
Other headlines in the papers dealt with the issue of Jordan buying Israeli natural gas, Kuwait denying any intelligence cooperation with Israel, the war in Aleppo, corruption in Israel, Norwegian artists refusing to play in Israel because of its “apartheid” practice and Facebook apologizing to Palestinians for closing their pages.
M.A.
