MEPN: ARABS, ISRAELIS WORK COOPERATIVELY TO SOLVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006223 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, NEA/ARN SCHEDLBAUER, OES/PCI SHAW STATE PASS USEPA FOR EPA/OIA JOAN FIDLER AND EPA/DENVER BROBST STATE PASS USAID/EGAT DAVID OBRIEN USDA FOR FAS/ICD/RSED SYLVANA LI AND ARS/FRESNO JIM AYARS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SENV EAID KWBG IS JO MEPN SUBJECT: MEPN: ARABS, ISRAELIS WORK COOPERATIVELY TO SOLVE WATER ISSUES AT REGIONAL USG-SPONSORED WORKSHOP ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On the heels of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's security barrier, and rising tension in the Occupied Territories, Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian technical experts participated for four days in Barcelona in a U.S.-sponsored workshop on wastewater reuse. Organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and facilitated by USDA and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, the workshop brought together 18 water, agriculture, health, and environment experts from the three core parties to share experiences and expertise on wastewater reuse practices in their respective fields. The professional and personal dynamic was excellent, with lively discussions and collaborative group efforts on a case study specifically designed to reflect conditions in the Middle East. The participants vowed to remain in contact with one another to trade ideas and new scientific developments, the communication of which we anticipate will be facilitated by a website and listserve developed and hosted by EPA. Because of the effectiveness of these activities, USDA has received additional funding from the Department for more workshops and we hope to capitalize on the successes of the first series of four this past year. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Opening the workshop were Barcelona ConGen Alsace and the Catalan Conseller ("Minister") for the Environment, both of whom, in their remarks, recalled the Madrid Conference and the multilateral process that grew out of Oslo of which this workshop is a part. Barcelona had been chosen as the site of this activity under the umbrella of the Multilateral Working Group on the Environment because of the area's innovative and advanced wastewater treatment technologies and reuse applications. During a field trip, the participants visited two wastewater treatment plants and their associated reuse of the effluent in a constructed/restored wetlands and in unrestricted agriculture. [COMMENT: It was also coincidental, but appropriate, that Barcelona this summer is hosting "Forum Barcelona," a global symposium on cultural diversity, 
sustainable development, and conditions for peace, reflecting the spirit of our workshop and the cooperative process we are keen to foster among the core parties. END COMMENT] ¶3. (SBU) Six individuals from each core party, bringing together a wealth of expertise in various water-related fields, worked for four days in a highly-interactive workshop setting, in which the Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian officials presented the bulk of the technical material. USDA and EPA officials also made presentations on the U.S. experience in wastewater technologies and reuse, facilitated discussions, responded to questions, and developed and led a comprehensive case-study exercise that approximated the water scarcity and agricultural constraints in the Middle East. Unlike previous environment-related workshops our U.S. team conducted, at which U.S. officials did most of the lecturing, the agenda for this workshop, developed by the core parties themselves, placed greater emphasis on Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian experiences. This, it was felt, would generate more discussion and interaction among the participants-and it did. ¶4. (SBU) By the end of the workshop, the participants were eager to develop a joint project and follow-on activities to maintain the momentum they had achieved in Barcelona. One such idea is the joint development of a Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) project on a wastewater-related topic. One official from each of the Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian delegations have already held preliminary discussions about the MERC pre-proposal. EPA, through its regional office in Denver, has offered to develop a website on wastewater reuse, which will include the presentations made by the core parties and U.S. officials in Barcelona and the first wastewater workshop proceedings in Cyprus last year. The website is envisioned to be a resource and tool for the core parties to continue to share information. ¶5. (SBU) We also successfully recruited a Tunisian official from the Ministry of Agriculture who is a leading international expert on wastewater reuse to participate in the workshop. Dr. Akissa El-Bahri's active engagement in the proceedings was welcomed by all of the parties and added a new perspective to the topic. In our efforts to expand the Arab representation in our multilateral water and environment activities, the presence of a Tunisian was a small coup and El-Bahri is an outstanding ambassador for her country. Similarly, in our third workshop--on economic incentives for environmental decision makers, held in Greece last March--we included four Moroccan officials from the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture who are enthusiastic about other Moroccans joining these kinds of regional training opportunities on a regular basis. When queried by NEA Regional Environment Officer about the possibility of encouraging greater Tunisian participation in future multilateral activities, El-Bahri responded that she was confident she could help identify other individuals for follow-on regional workshops. The USDA organizers plan to remain in contact with her through Embassy Tunis. ¶6. (SBU) At the invitation of NEA Senior Science Advisor Lawson, the United Nations Environment Programme sent an official from its Geneva-based Post Conflict Assessment Unit to observe the workshop. UNEP had produced a controversial desk study in 2003 on the "Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" which prompted strong reactions from Israel and remains an ongoing irritant among Israel, the Palestinians, and UNEP. In an effort to encourage UNEP to undertake more constructive approaches when addressing sensitive Palestinian/Israeli transboundary environment issues, we invited Aniket Ghai, the Project Coordinator for the desk study, to witness what we believe to be our effective non-threatening formula for increased regional cooperation on environmental topics. Ghai was impressed with the content and format of the workshop and commented that he was pleased to see such excellent professional and personal interaction among the participants. He told us he would be reporting his positive impressions back to Geneva and UNEP's headquarters in Nairobi. Moreover, while at the workshop, Ghai held consultations on the margins with the Palestinian representatives of the Environmental Quality Authority, in order to begin to identify areas of bilateral technical assistance and training as follow-on to the desk study. On a regional level, Ghai thought that, based on the success of the USDA activities, UNEP would consider offering a workshop on climate change and its associated environmental factors for Palestinians, Israelis, and possibly Jordanians. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: Given the current obstacles--political and logistical--facing Israeli/Palestinian cooperation, the series of USDA-organized technical workshops on environment- related topics has been an unqualified success in bringing the parties together and keeping open the channels of communication. These activities, along with the World Bank- managed Drylands Initiative, are the only remaining manifestations of the Multilateral Working Group on the Environment and should be thoroughly supported financially and politically. In future iterations, we will strongly encourage other international donors to attend and develop similar complementary projects. Our efforts over the past year to include Moroccans and Tunisians in the mix of regional participants bode well for future activities and should be exploited. They seem eager to learn from their Arab and Israeli neighbors and their active engagement helps to support our broader policy goals in the region. Such advances, at a time when the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly are ruling Israel's security barrier illegal, can only serve to build confidence and encourage dialogue among the parties. HALE