US embassy cable - 02AMMAN2554

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002554 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE FROM AMBASSADOR GNEHM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2012 
TAGS: PREL, PREF, PGOV, KPAL, SY, LE, JO 
SUBJECT: UNRWA AND U.S. INTERESTS 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Greg Berry, per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) This is a joint message from Embassies Amman, Beirut 
and Damascus. 
 
2.  (C) Given current scrutiny in the Israeli press and in 
Congress of UNRWA's programs and role in the West Bank, it is 
important to remember that UNRWA plays a key role throughout 
the region -- Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza 
-- in maintaining a basic standard of living (and hence 
political stability) among an extremely politicized 
Palestinian refugee population.  It is the largest provider 
of services to Palestinian refugees -- services that local 
governments would have a hard time funding in UNRWA's absence 
and, in the case of Lebanon, would refuse in fear that such 
steps would lead to the refugees' permanent resettlement. 
With 22,000 mostly Palestinian staff, UNRWA also is a 
significant employer of a population whose unemployment rate 
is universally higher than that of the local populace.  (The 
unemployment rate for Palestinians in Lebanon, for example, 
is estimated at 60 percent.) 
 
3.  (C) Perhaps most important, UNRWA is one of the few 
organizations able to instill Western-based values -- a 
critical counterweight in an increasingly marginalized 
population that could easily be politically activated in the 
event of further regional tensions.  It also provides a 
secular alternative to the Islamic charitable organizations 
working in the camps, many of which promote unhelpful 
political agendas and have links to suspect organizations. 
Continued, strong USG support for UNRWA is essential to our 
strategic interests in the region.  Here are just a few 
examples of UNRWA's relevance outside the West Bank and Gaza, 
in places that normally do not make the news. 
 
JORDAN 
------ 
 
4.  (SBU) Jordan has more registered Palestinian refugees 
than the West Bank and Gaza combined (1.6 million in Jordan, 
1.4 million in the West Bank and Gaza).  With an annual 
budget in Jordan of USD 71 million, UNRWA provides services 
to this poor, politically active population that the 
Government of Jordan could not support without major new 
international assistance.  UNRWA is the secular, apolitical 
alternative to Islamic charitable organizations -- some with 
a political agenda.  As UNRWA's largest donor, the U.S. has 
significant influence over UNRWA programs and policies, where 
it would have none with alternative organizations. 
 
5.  (C) GOJ officials have told us that any reduction in US 
support for UNRWA would have devastating operational and 
political ramifications in Jordan.  With the U.S. providing 
at least 25 percent of UNRWA's annual operating budget, any 
reduction in U.S. funding would force UNRWA to cut its 
services significantly.  A reduction in U.S. funding for 
UNRWA also would be a blow to peace in the region, as UNRWA 
always has been viewed as a symbol of hope that the 
Palestinians have not been forgotten.  Palestinian refugees 
in Jordan would interpret funding cuts as a sign that UNRWA 
was being phased out and their internationally recognized 
claims eliminated without a political settlement.  We agree 
with Jordanian officials who believe that this would be yet 
another challenge to the long-term stability of the Kingdom. 
 
LEBANON 
------- 
 
6.  (SBU) UNRWA records indicate that 375,000 registered 
Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, yet most UNRWA 
officials agree that the number is closer to 200,000.  (Given 
the difficult conditions in Lebanon, most refugees who have 
been able to leave have left.)  The 200,000 refugees in 
Lebanon constitute the neediest of UNRWA's lot, excluded by 
Lebanese law from working in 72 different professions, owning 
property or even improving the infrastructure in the camps. 
With neither national ID's nor significant income, the 
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are far more dependent on 
UNRWA services than those in any other area.  UNRWA's USD 48 
million annual budget in Lebanon covers health and education 
services that are not provided in other UNRWA fields, such as 
extended hospitalization payments and secondary education. 
 
7.  (SBU) Given Lebanon's fragile political balance, 
stability among the historically activist Palestinian refugee 
community is essential.  UNRWA is the largest provider of 
services to Palestinian refugees, and one of the few truly 
apolitical organizations working in the camps. 
 
SYRIA 
----- 
 
8.  (SBU) With an annual operating budget of USD 26 million, 
UNRWA's Syria Field provides education, health and relief 
services to the 400,000 Palestinian refugees resident in 
Syria.  As in Jordan, UNRWA's innovative social programs 
allow the U.S., as a major UNRWA donor, to shape programs and 
policies. 
 
9.  (C) Thanks to UNRWA, Syria is playing the unexpected role 
of incubator for the potential resettlement of Palestinian 
refugees within Arab countries.  With significant support 
from the USG, UNRWA's Syria field has developed plans to 
resettle 300 refugee families from overcrowded World War II 
barracks to a newly developed camp.  With backing from the 
European Commission, UNRWA and the SARG also are building 
massive new water and sewerage links from its rural refugee 
camps to neighboring Syrian towns.  While insisting that its 
own significant political and financial support for these 
projects in no way diminishes the refugees' right of return, 
the Syrian Government is in fact quietly laying the 
groundwork for smooth absorption of Palestinian refugees into 
Syrian society, should a political settlement be reached.  It 
serves U.S. interests to encourage this unannounced SARG 
policy by continuing our support for UNRWA's operations in 
Syria. 
 
10.  (C) Our cooperation with UNRWA also puts us in touch 
with the Syrian agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, 
GAPAR.  Embassy Damascus and Amman-based refcoord have very 
good relations with GAPAR.  Like anti-narcotics and culture, 
assistance to Palestinian refugees is one of the areas where 
we have a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship with 
the SARG, despite the tensions in the overall bilateral 
relationship. 
 
Gnehm