US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI629

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000629 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/IPA, NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/14 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KPAL, IS, TC 
SUBJECT: Perceived inaction on Roadmap fuels debate 
 
Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, Reasons 
1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: There is a perception here among 
policymakers, students, journalists, and academics, 
that the USG no longer considers the Palestinian- 
Israeli issue a major priority.  That perception is 
fuelled in recent weeks by the lack of any mention of 
it in the President's inaugural interview on Al Hurra 
and in President Bush's State of the Union address. 
In addition the Administration's overwhelming emphasis 
on Iraq, recent press reports on our consultations 
with the Europeans -- and not the Arabs -- about the 
Greater Middle East initiative, and the media frenzy 
over U.S. domestic politics have contributed to the 
belief that the US has put this issue, so central to 
the region's stability, on hold. The GME and even 
MEPI's broad agenda for reform in the region are seen 
as a diversion from the unresolved Palestinian issue 
Arabs care most about.  Daily images of parents and 
children attempting to scale Israel's newly-built wall 
and the continuing violence between the two sides is 
the main event in newspapers and television stations 
throughout the region. While we remind our 
interlocutors that we remain engaged on the Roadmap, 
all are skeptical about our commitment to 
implementation.  The prevailing opinion is that unless 
the USG becomes re-engaged in the peace process, it 
will be difficult to make progress on other issues, 
such as Iraq, and mistrust of American policy will 
facilitate recruitment by extremist groups opposed to 
the United States and its allies.  End summary. 
 
Frustration at perceived U.S. inaction 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) A recurring theme in political discussions, 
conferences, and editorials here in recent months has 
been the diminished role of the United States as a 
peace broker in the Arab-Israeli dispute.  Emiratis, 
like Arabs elsewhere, view the U.S. through the 
Palestinian prism, and they question U.S. inaction 
given the ongoing deterioration and the controversial 
wall construction.  "There is a great amount of 
frustration.  People don't see any progress being made 
to resolve the problem," Abdullah Rashid Al Nuaimi, 
the UAE Foreign Ministry's assistant under secretary 
for political affairs, told Polchief on January 26. 
Many of our interlocutors were upset that President 
Bush's State of the Union address made no mention of 
the Arab-Israeli issue and that it was not raised 
during his interview with Al Hurra correspondent 
Mouwafac Harb.  A young Emirati in training at the 
UAE's Diplomatic Institute said it was as if the West 
had abandoned the Palestinians.  "The U.S. policy of 
not intervening against (Prime Minister) Sharon, or 
just letting Sharon (act alone right or wrong) reduces 
the credibility of the United States," the U.S. 
college graduate said.  The fact that the topic was 
not covered during the President's exclusive interview 
with Al Hurra was "proof" for some of our press 
contacts "that the US wants to avoid the subject" and 
evidence that Al Hurra is not going to have any 
credibility because "no professional journalist 
reporting for the ME would have the President on his 
program and not cover the Palestinian/Israeli issue." 
 
Concern at highest UAEG levels 
------------------------------ 
 
3. (C) In meetings with the Ambassador, members of the 
UAEG leadership have made clear their concern over the 
situation in the Palestinian territories and the 
perception that the US has put this issue on hold 
until after the presidential elections. In a meeting 
with presidential son and director of State Security, 
Shaykh Hazaa bin Zayed told the Ambassador that 
extremists would continue to gain support in the 
Muslim world as long as the Palestinian/Israeli 
conflict remained unsettled.  He argued that the 
region would remain unstable without its resolution 
because the Palestinian "cause" provided the rallying 
cry for those groups opposed to the US and its allies. 
 
Other U.S. preoccupations feed resentment 
----------------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Many Arabs in the UAE believe the Arab-Israeli 
dispute is being relegated to a lesser priority by 
other U.S. preoccupations.  Iraq is one of those 
"diversions," said Hana Zakaria, a Palestinian-born 
British national working as a reporter for Abu Dhabi 
TV.  She told Polchief that unless the Palestinian 
issue is resolved, "drops of blood will accumulate 
across the world."  Others said the unresolved 
Palestinian issue is a kind of cancer in the region. 
We have been told that MEPI, and now the Greater 
Middle East initiative, would resonate more positively 
here if people could see tangible progress on the 
Roadmap.  Instead, the "Greater Middle East" concept 
is being portrayed by many as a paternalistic 
initiative by the U.S., in consultation with NATO and 
the Europeans, thus reinforcing themes that the West 
dictates to the Arab/Muslim world.  A political 
cartoon in the Arabic daily Al Khaleej illustrated the 
initiative as a U.S. whip about to swat a pesky fly. 
 
Prescription for change: More U.S. engagement 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Critics of U.S. policy say we need to apply 
real pressure on Israel, not just what they consider 
"cosmetic" pressure.  They see Israel's security fence 
as a concrete fact on-the-ground that will ensure that 
there is no Palestinian State. Our interlocutors 
believe the U.S. needs to actively encourage both 
sides to re-engage on the political level and thereby 
shore up our own credibility in the region. In a rare 
admission of the need for the Arabs to become more 
active, Omar Khalaf, deputy director of the MFA's 
Diplomatic Institute, said that Arabs need to play a 
more public role in the peace process. The idea that 
Arabs need to do some self-criticism was echoed by a 
number of others. 
 
Warnings from Arab intellectuals 
-------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) In recent public lectures we have attended, a 
variety of diplomats and scholars have warned against 
ignoring the Palestinian issue.  "The Palestinian 
issue represents for us the historic challenge.  It 
has an impact on the GCC and the Muslim world as a 
whole," said Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal at a 
conference of the UAE think tank Emirates Center for 
Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) in January.  At 
the same conference, Iranian Vice President Mohammed 
Ali Abtahi said that U.S. military intervention in the 
region and the U.S. backing of Israel in its 
confrontation with Palestinians has pushed many 
Muslims to extremism.  Abtahi said that the U.S. 
policy on Palestine has placed heavy psychological and 
moral pressure on Arab nations while terrorism has led 
to instability in the Gulf region. 
 
7. (C) Nadir El Mahdy, a political science professor 
at Zayed University, an all-Emirati women's 
institution, said more dialogue will break down the 
mistrust that exists between Arabs and the West.  When 
Emboffs have spoken to his "Windows on America" class, 
the students most often have questions about U.S. 
policy toward Palestinians, and the double standard in 
U.S. Middle East policy.  At the UAE Diplomatic 
Institute, a number of diplomats in training were more 
blunt.  How, they ask, can the U.S. call for democracy 
and reforms in Arab countries and not do the same for 
Israel?  Emiratis, who occasionally make references to 
Israeli WMD in our discussions, are troubled by this 
double standard, not only as it pertains to U.S. calls 
for political and economic change, but to weapons 
proliferation as well. 
 
8. (C) Comment: It is almost impossible to have a 
political discussion or hear a scholarly lecture on 
the Middle East without being reminded of the 
unfinished business concerning Israel and the 
Palestinian territories.  Some believe the U.S. has 
been negligent, or too one-sided, and will suffer as a 
consequence.  Others understand that there are 
multiple actors, including Arab states, who need to 
intervene.  Either way, our interlocutors believe the 
peace process needs to move forward to prevent further 
alienation of Arabs and Muslims over the one 
historical and emotional issue that unites them. 
WAHBA