VZCZCXRO1321
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHAD #0020 0071306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071306Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1967
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0217
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0615
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0263
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0871
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1515

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000020 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF EAID KWBG UN IS AE
SUBJECT: UAE REMINDED OF PALESTINIAN HUMANITARIAN NEEDS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. 
 
REF: A) ABU DHABI 0017, B) 08 STATE 135559, C) 08 ABU DHABI 1467 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Post relayed ref B appeal for donations to UN-related 
relief agencies in separate conversations with Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash and MFA Assistant Under Secretary 
for Political Affairs Tariq al Haidan.  Dr. Gargash acknowledged the 
need and told the Ambassador on January 6 that the UAE would shortly 
initiate a national appeal for assistance to the Palestinians, 
coordinated by the UAE Red Crescent. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As ref A notes, the Red Crescent has been collecting 
humanitarian donations for Gaza in preparation for shipment, 
reportedly filling many trucks with donated blankets, clothing, house 
wares, foodstuffs, and even candles.  The Red Crescent also claimed 
on December 31 that it had collected about $1 million from corporate 
donors for Gaza aid.  The new appeal noted by Dr. Gargash was 
advertized in the local press on January 7 as a nation-wide call for 
financial or in-kind donations.  The official news release notes that 
the "nation-wide relief campaign to raise cash and material 
donations" was announced by Deputy Prime Minister (and head of the 
Red Crescent) Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, to be launched "on all local 
TV and radio stations and newspapers in support of our brothers in 
the Gaza Strip."  While the Red Crescent will coordinate the 
campaign, donations are welcome through a variety of 
government-affiliated outlets (to include the Zayed Charitable 
Foundation, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charitable Foundation, 
the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and Dubai Cares).  The 
Red Crescent also maintains donation booths in most shopping malls. 
Mosque sermons this Friday are to highlight the appeal and university 
students are being mobilized to assist in collections.  The 
announcement notes that aid will be channeled to Gaza in coordination 
with UNICEF and UNRWA.  (The national appeal offers an outlet for 
productive public action to assist with a Gaza situation which 
otherwise simply generates angst and frustration.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Separately, post emphasized the UN appeals in a diplomatic 
note January 6, which we will share with select government-affiliated 
foundations seeking to make donations to Gaza.  The Mohammed bin 
Rashid Humanitarian and Charity Establishment in Dubai, for example, 
has been asking (even before the current crisis) for reliable 
organizations through which to assist Gaza.  Additionally, press 
reports note that the President's charitable organization, the 
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, is donating funds to UNRWA 
and UNDP.  The Foundation told PolOff that their donations would be 
in funds, not goods, but were hesitant to tell us the amount. 
 
¶4. (U) Finally, the Red Crescent is reportedly cooperating with 
UNICEF to supply two medical units (presumably small clinics) to 
assist children in Gaza.  Local news coverage also notes donations of 
ambulances by UAE companies, as well as resident doctors willing to 
assist in Gaza. 
 
OLSON