VZCZCXRO3697
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHJM #1267/01 2031553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221553Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5519
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 JERUSALEM 001267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/P - GREG BEHRMAN 
ALSO FOR NEA FRONT OFFICE, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA, NEA/PI 
USAID FOR ME/MEA - SARAH BORODIN 
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON OEXC SENV PREL SCUL SENV KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT:  FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH 
 
REF:  STATE 71325 
 
¶1.  (U) In response to reftel, Consulate General Jerusalem conducted 
specific consultations with targeted stakeholders regarding the 
topics in reftel.  Our primary line of questioning was:  from 
stakeholders' perspectives, what programs in the USG portfolio 
should be expanded, what programs are missing, what programs should 
be incorporated into USG-funded activities, and what ideas should we 
consider, either in their sector or within the larger Palestinian 
socio-economic environment? 
 
¶2.  (U) Individual consultations were mainly done via email, phone, 
or in face-to-face meetings.  The 51 consulted stakeholders can be 
categorized as follows:  civil society organization directors (14); 
government ministers and employees (13); business organization 
leaders (11); academics (6); NGO leaders (5); and press (2). 
In addition, outreach to stakeholders in the education and youth 
sector incorporated an innovative online survey through the 
Palestinian Youth Portal.  Also, survey questions were texted to 
more than 5,000 members of the National Youth Corps. 
 
¶3.  (U) Overall, reactions to the President's speech have been quite 
positive.  Palestinian stakeholders in general cited the "historic 
importance" of the speech and identified it as a "sea change" in US 
foreign policy.  Many individuals welcomed the President's outreach 
to the Muslim world and appreciated his understanding of their 
culture and heritage.  Palestinian stakeholders noted not only the 
President's cultural understanding of Muslims, but of Palestinians 
in particular. 
 
¶4.  (U) Alongside the enthusiasm about the event and its message, 
stakeholders also expressed concern about follow-through with the 
list of political initiatives and assistance programs the President 
cited.  A few individuals specifically expressed concern that, 
without concrete actions soon, the speech would be regarded as mere 
empty promises from a world leader to help the Palestinian cause. 
 
¶5.  (U) Stakeholders' concerns focused on the situation in Gaza and 
what they considered the lack of a strong and active USG presence 
there.  In addition, the need to further focus on marginalized 
sectors of the population, including women, youth, the disabled, and 
internally-displaced people (e.g. migrant youth workers), was a key 
element of many consultations. 
 
¶6.  (U) Specific recommendations from stakeholders have been divided 
according to the sub-categories of the following three areas of 
engagement listed in reftel:  human development (paras 7-27), 
entrepreneurship and interfaith partnership (paras 28-31), and 
science and technology (paras 32-35). 
 
Education 
--------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Exchanges to the United States:  Opportunities for 
Palestinian students to study in the United States are currently 
quite limited; stakeholders recommended that the USG cast a wider 
net.  More exchanges should be offered, they said, particularly at 
the BA level, for which there are fewer USG-funded scholarships (the 
current Near East and South Asia undergraduate program is small in 
scale and does not give students a choice of which institution they 
can attend).  The YES High School and Fulbright Student programs 
should also be scaled up for Palestine.  Short-term exchange 
programs, such as the six-week English Language Undergrad Program 
and the MEPI student leaders' summer institute, are also very 
popular and should be scaled up.  Targeted exchange programs, 
particularly the MEPI Legal and Business Fellows' Program and the 
Leaders for Democracy Fellows' Program, have proven very successful 
among Palestinians. 
 
¶8.  (U) Exchanges to the Palestine Territories:  Stakeholders 
lamented a lack of US students in the Palestine Territories.  For 
instance, there are currently only two US Fulbright scholars per 
year in the West Bank.  Given recent improvements in the security 
environment, stakeholders suggested, there should be a commensurate 
increase in the number of USG-funded opportunities for US students 
aged 18 and over to study in the West Bank, both on short- and 
long-term programs. 
 
¶9.  (U) Opportunity Grants:  The Abraham Lincoln Opportunity Grants 
program -- which provides funding to help kids apply to US colleges 
-- has just been launched, and there will be an initial cohort of 15 
students in the West Bank and Gaza.  This initiative should be 
expanded to help more young Palestinians to apply to the United 
States. 
 
¶10.  (U) Local BA scholarships:  Due to social or economic 
pressures, some young Palestinians -- mainly women -- are unable to 
 
JERUSALEM 00001267  002 OF 004 
 
 
pursue their educations abroad.  Post and MEPI have therefore 
initiated the A-Plus scholarship program to fund a bachelor's 
education at Palestinian universities for 12-15 youngsters per 
cohort.  The program will begin with AY 2010-2011, but thus far has 
funding for only four cohorts of students. 
 
¶11.  (U) Local MA scholarships:  ConGen Jerusalem has worked with 
several Palestinian universities on developing specialized 2-year MA 
in American Studies programs.  The USG could provide scholarship 
support to outstanding students to attend these programs, at a cost 
of just $5000 per student. 
 
¶12.  (U) English Access Microscholarship Program:  Many stakeholders 
pointed out the need for more extensive English language 
instruction, such as that provided to underprivileged Palestinians 
through the Access program. 
 
¶13.  (U) Palestinian Faculty Development program (PFDP):  This 
program helps to increase capacity within the Palestinian higher 
education sector.  PFDP has thus far provided 34 PhD scholarships 
for Palestinian faculty and 13 short-term scholarships.  USAID's 
program partner, the Open Society Institute, covers half the cost, 
while universities agree to offer lowered tuitions. 
 
YOUTH 
----- 
 
¶14.  (U) Palestinian Youth Portal (PYP):  PYP is an online gateway 
and network in Arabic and English connecting Palestinian youth to 
each other and potentially with other youth in the Middle East and 
the rest of the world.  PYP provides access to digital libraries, 
online communities, training materials, and a wealth of other 
digital resources.  PYP also offers personal pages where young 
people can create blogs, communicate with other members, and 
exchange and access info on employment opportunities and livelihood 
skills.  The PYP should be expanded to create more economic 
opportunities for Palestinian youth and to prepare them for the 
responsibilities of citizenship and good governance. 
 
¶15.  (U) National Youth Corps:  The service learning-based National 
Youth Corps should be expanded to help more Palestinian youth 
acquire leadership and other skills that enhance their employability 
and civic engagement. 
 
¶16.  (U) Youth Development Resource Centers (YDRCs):  Recent 
coordination with Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft has produced 
significant positive results in the YDRCs.  Programming through the 
YDRCs should be greatly expanded to cover more subject areas and 
reach more youth.  One suggestion is to have English Reading Corners 
at the YDRCs, where students can access English Language books. 
 
¶17.  (U) Camp Discovery:  This is a 13-day English language, 
artistic expression, scientific discovery, and 
leadership/team-building summer camp for 450 at-risk Palestinian 
youth aged 8-14 residing in refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza. 
 It has been tremendously successful in its first three years, and 
stakeholders have asked for it to be expanded.  With funding, the 
number of campers could be increased to 750 youth. 
 
¶18.  (U) Business Internship programs:  Stakeholders called for more 
internship opportunities for young Palestinians in the region or in 
the United States.  Post already has a successful young women's 
internship program, which this year has paired 50 recent female West 
Bank university graduates with major Palestinian 
companies/businesses (banks, insurance companies, information 
technology firms, etc.) for a period of three months.  This number 
has expanded from 17 interns during the pilot year in 2008 and, with 
sufficient funding, could be further expanded to more than 100 
interns per year.  Over fifty per cent of women who complete this 
program find employment immediately afterwards.  It would also be 
beneficial to expand this program to young men, as well as to 
support more internships in the NEA region or in the United States 
(such as through the Young Professionals Program). 
 
¶19.  (U) Other internships:  Stakeholders recommended that we expand 
the internship concept to include other sectors, such as politics 
and the law.  For instance, we might pair young women political 
science students with well-known female Palestinian politicians, and 
do the same with young law students. 
 
DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW 
------------------------- 
 
¶20.  (U) Elections:  According to stakeholders, USG support for 
civil society oversight of the anticipated January 2010 Palestinian 
presidential and legislative elections is not sufficient.  Most of 
the effort to date has been centered on Ramallah and Jerusalem, they 
 
JERUSALEM 00001267  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
said, but more work needs to be done with communities and civil 
society leaders in more remote cities, such as Hebron and Nablus. 
 
¶21.  (U) Civil society organizations:  Stakeholders called for the 
USG to expand its focus on developing civil society institutions to 
oversee the performance of the PA government and highlight issues of 
corruption, transparency, and accountability. 
 
¶22.  (U) Plurality:  Future programming should continue to encourage 
the emergence of multiple political parties, stakeholders 
suggested. 
 
¶23.  (U) Women in Politics:  Several stakeholders noted the need for 
more USG support to train Palestinian women for participation in 
grassroots organizing, civil society, and the political process, in 
order to make changes in laws towards women (e.g., honor killings 
and inheritance statutes) and to achieve greater representation in 
public office.  MEPI would be the ideal vehicle for this. 
 
PUBLIC HEALTH 
------------- 
 
¶24.  (U) Future programming for public health should include 
psychological and mental health assistance for Palestinians and for 
children in particular.  In one example, Post has designed a program 
to bring seven humanitarian aid workers from Gaza to the United 
States for three weeks in October 2009 on an IVLP to learn about 
dealing with humanitarian crises and treating post-traumatic stress 
disorder.  Stakeholders also urged a continued focus on women's 
health issues, such as the Breast Cancer Awareness project. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
-------------------- 
 
¶25.  (U) Unemployment:  Private sector leaders emphasized the 
importance of addressing unemployment among less educated 
Palestinians.  They singled out three sectors for additional funding 
and focus in the coming months:  agriculture, agri-processing, and 
tourism. 
 
¶26.  (U) Housing:  The shortage of affordable housing was noted, 
both as a socio-economic problem that could be addressed through USG 
programming, and as a potential solution for employing unskilled 
youth.  In addition, the cost of housing loans is around seven 
percent; the USG should support programs that make these loans more 
affordable. 
 
¶27.  (U) Exports:  Stakeholders suggested that USG funding seek ways 
to increase processing and packaging of Palestinian products in the 
West Bank and Gaza for export markets. 
 
Entrepreneurship 
---------------- 
 
¶28.  (U) Encourage entrepreneurs, especially young women: 
Stakeholders urged us to help Palestinians in their twenties and 
thirties to set up small enterprises.  Ideas include bringing 
Corporate Ambassadors to visit these businesses on the ground, or 
sending the young entrepreneurs on "study" tours of similar 
businesses in the region or the United States.  In addition, we 
could provide additional support to the newly-founded Business 
Development Center (BDC, part of the local Business Women's Forum) 
through funding of training for young women in business practices. 
The USG could then offer free feasibility studies of business 
concepts and seed money for starting small businesses with close 
follow-on monitoring and evaluation. 
 
Interfaith Partnerships 
----------------------- 
 
¶29.  (U) Palestinian-Israeli Interfaith:  Many stakeholders felt 
that interfaith programs between Arabs and Israelis, typically held 
in Jerusalem, were generally ineffectual -- "all talk, no action." 
Meetings in third, "neutral" countries were seen as more effective, 
as interlocutors felt more at ease to discuss sensitive topics. 
 
¶30.  (U) Palestinian-US interfaith:  These exchanges were viewed 
much more positively by stakeholders.  They included sending a 
Palestinian group to the United States (as Post did this year with a 
group of six religious scholars), and encouraging American students 
and scholars to come here for a conference to be held in conjunction 
with the Islamic Studies department at a local university (Al-Quds 
University has expressed interest in doing this). 
 
¶31.  (U) More "Track Two":  Several civil society leaders felt that 
people-to-people interactions between Israelis and Palestinians 
should continue, regardless of progress in the peace process.  They 
 
JERUSALEM 00001267  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
called for more support for Palestinian-Israeli programs so that 
civil society groups from both sides of the conflict can meet to 
discuss thorny issues.  Several asserted that the most successful 
programs are those that do not skirt the issues, but rather tackle 
them head-on.  They stressed that this was "dialogue, not 
normalization".  Again, this would preferably take place in a third 
country, not in Jerusalem, they said. 
 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
---------------------- 
 
¶32.  (U) Environmental Programming:  Stakeholders noted successful 
USG programs with local universities on environmental issues.  They 
asked for more environmental speaker programs and DVCs.  Al-Quds 
University professors would like to partner with Post to organize an 
Environmental "Road Show" to Palestinian universities and youth 
centers, in which innovative environmental projects would be 
presented and topics -- including renewable energy, water 
management, and alternative energy -- can be discussed. 
 
¶33.  (U) Science summer camp:  Stakeholders urged us to expand on 
the pioneering science summer camp for disadvantaged youth sponsored 
by Post since 2007 in partnership with Al-Quds University.  This 
year, 110 youngsters attended the camp.  Post could easily increase 
the number of attendees to 300 per year. 
 
¶34.  (U) Water issues:  Stakeholders said that the USG should expand 
its support for water and wastewater treatment programs in 
Palestine.  They suggested a conference on water and wastewater 
treatment to be held jointly with a local university environmental 
department. 
 
¶35.  (U) IVLPs:  Stakeholders favored more IVLP programs on 
scientific and technical issues.  Of 70 IVLP programs announced for 
the NEA region this year, only 11 were on scientific and technical 
issues, and those were primarily on the environment. 
 
¶36.  (U) Post and stakeholders are ready to prepare specific 
proposals to implement any of the new initiatives outlined above or 
to expand the scale of successful current programs. 
WALLES