VZCZCXRO6285
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1792/01 2820438
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 090438Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6245
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001792 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR; JOINT 
STAFF FOR LTGEN SELVA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2034 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV KINF KPAL KWBG IS
SUBJECT: PA AND UNRWA EFFORTS AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL INCITEMENT 
 
REF: JERUSALEM 1739 
 
Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY.  In October 1-2 meetings, PA Minister for 
Religious Affairs Mahmoud al-Habash and UNRWA Gaza Director 
John Ging discussed PA and UNRWA efforts to eliminate 
incitement in PA mosques and Gaza schoolrooms.  Al-Habash 
noted that the PA, which currently controls 80-90 percent of 
the West Bank's mosques, is trying to consolidate full 
control over the remainder by September 2010; he also noted 
that the Ministry of Religious Affairs enforces a prescribed 
set of themes for imams that exclude incitement against 
Israel.  John Ging provided an overview of how UNRWA uses its 
Gaza school curriculum and community events to promote values 
that counter the influence of Hamas; he cites funding as the 
greatest limitation to UNRWA's efforts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PA EFFORTS AGAINST WEST BANK MOSQUE INCITEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On October 1, PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud 
al Habash outlined his ministry's efforts to eliminate 
incitement from 1,500 West Bank mosques, 80-90 percent of 
which are currently controlled by the PA.  Al Habash told 
Post: "we monitor and control the Friday sermons with unified 
talking points of approved themes, and (imams) are not 
allowed to stray to other topics."  If an imam deviates 
significantly from approved themes, he said, "we bring him 
in, counsel him and see if we can fix the problem.  If we 
can't, he'll be relieved from his duties and given an 
administrative job -- or we may separate him from service 
altogether."  Al Habash noted the PA has partial cooperation 
from, but no control over, Gaza mosques. 
 
¶3. (C)  When asked to cite specific instances in which the PA 
had acted against incitement in mosques, al-Habash noted that 
an imam from the Tulkarm village of Qaffin was recently fired 
for inciting worshippers against the PA.  Pressed on actions 
taken against imams inciting against Israel, al-Habash 
asserted that "There is no more incitement against Israel in 
(our) mosques, because compliance with our guidelines keeps 
such views out of the mosques (that the PA controls)."  He 
admitted, however, that Area C mosques are a problem.  "In 
Bethlehem's Husan (village) there are four mosques not under 
our control; we've been asking the IDF for two and a half 
months to let PASF enter Husan for this purpose and we've had 
no response."  NOTE: Husan is an Area B/C "seam-zone" village 
west of the separation barrier, bordering on the Beitar Illit 
settlement.  END NOTE. 
 
¶4. (C) Al Habash noted that his ministry is currently 
reviewing the curriculum of eight religious schools in the 
West Bank and Gaza. In addition, he said, "President Abbas 
has approved giving (our ministry) jurisdiction over the 
religious programming in the Palestinian Broadcasting 
Company's radio and TV programs; no publications by official 
Palestinian media violates the rules."  Referring to recent 
incidents in Jerusalem (reftel), Al-Habash said, "there was 
no violent reaction in any Palestinian city or village; this 
is indicative of success in our efforts to reduce the culture 
of violence."  NOTE: Al Habash was a member of Hamas until 
1996; after that he worked with PA security services in Gaza 
against Hamas and joined Salam Fayyad's 2007 government as 
Minister of Social Affairs, changing to Religious Affairs 
last May. END NOTE. 
 
UNRWA EFFORTS AGAINST INCITEMENT, AND HAMAS, IN GAZA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (C) On October 2, UNRWA Gaza Director John Ging reviewed 
UNRWA's efforts to teach human rights to roughly 208,000 
Gazan children.  He noted that although UNRWA is obliged to 
use host country curricula, all UNRWA schools in the region 
have integrated a stand-alone, USG-funded Human Rights and 
Tolerance Education curriculum.  In addition, UNRWA/Gaza is 
in the final phase of a two-year effort to introduce a more 
intensive human rights program, to include discussion of the 
Holocaust, Gandhi's non-violent struggle for independence, 
and the U.S. civil rights movement.  Ging noted that he had 
recently appeared on (pro-Hamas) Al Quds TV defending 
insertion of the Holocaust into the UNRWA curriculum. 
 
¶6. (C) Ging said he initiated the program, which focuses on 
responsible behavior, critical thinking, and values, to 
counter Hamas rhetoric.  He said that the UNRWA curriculum 
challenges students by asking: "what have people done in the 
 
JERUSALEM 00001792  002 OF 002 
 
 
past when their human rights were not respected?"  With 
regard to the PA curriculum used throughout East Jerusalem 
and the West Bank, as well as in UNRWA schools, Ging noted 
that it had been scrubbed and revised several times. 
"There's room for improvement but there's nothing egregious. 
Although the maps in PA and Israeli textbooks differ, this is 
a political issue that will be resolved through the peace 
process." 
 
¶7. (C) Ging said UNRWA seeks to counter extremist influence 
by introducing female teachers into boys' schools and 
empowering women in the community.  In 2009, 250,000 children 
attended UNRWA's Summer Games, which included children of 
Hamas parents (over the objections of Hamas leaders).  Ging 
said the limiting factor in UNRWA's efforts is money.  "UNRWA 
is bigger than Hamas as long as it has the money," he said. 
"UNRWA schools educate 70 percent of all Gazan children in 
grades one through nine on an annual education budget of $110 
million; meanwhile, UNRWA doesn't have money for December 
salaries." 
 
¶8. (C) Ging was blunt about the stakes of UNRWA's educational 
efforts. "The socialization effects of the current 
environment are devastating.  With the formal Gaza economy in 
shambles, the 100,000 Palestinians who work in the tunnel 
economy are more susceptible to Hamas influence.  If the man 
at the door with a Hamas charity food basket says 'cover up 
your daughter,' they will because they are economically 
dependent on Hamas."  Ging argued, "the rhetoric of 
extremists is compelling, it is not legitimate, and it must 
be countered." 
RUBINSTEIN