Jordanians, Israelis Bridge the Rift in Joint

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006094

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR OES
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/RA LAWSON AND OES/PCI SHAW
EPA FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR AYRES

E.O. 12658: N.A.
TAGS: SENV EAID TBIO TSPL KSCA JO
SUBJECT: Jordanians, Israelis Bridge the Rift in Joint
Scientific Survey

REFS: (A) Amman 05130
(B) Amman 01353
(C) 04 Amman 08793
(D) 04 AMMAN 01971

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordanian, Israeli, and U.S. university
professors and students in early July participated in a
joint scientific survey of the Dead Sea area environment
along the Jordan-Israel border. This survey and its
predecessor in January, 2005, are the first of their kind
and essential parts of the Bridging the Rift (BTR) Center, a
proposed life sciences research facility that would be
located on a 150-acre site straddling the border between
Israel and Jordan in the desert Arava region south of the
Dead Sea. Although the BTR Center -- an idea conceived by
Stanford and Cornell Universities with New York donors -- is
not yet in its construction phase, joint scientific surveys
have begun. The active engagement of the Israeli and
Jordanian participants shows that the academic component is
proceeding well. In the recent desert field survey, Embassy
intern observed Israeli and Jordanian scientists and
students sharing a passion for science as they sampled and
catalogued specimens from the Dead Sea and surrounding
environments shared by both neighbors. END SUMMARY.

BRIDGING THE RIFT THROUGH SCIENCE


2. (U) An initiative of the private New York-based Bridging
the Rift Foundation, the BTR Center will bring together
Israeli, Jordanian, and U.S. professors and students as
colleagues in scientific study of issues that are common to
both Israel and Jordan (Ref D). The science center itself
will be located in a remote desert setting south of the
Dead Sea, part of the northern extension of the Great Rift
valley. The hope is that science, as a universal language,
will help build bridges between Israelis and Jordanians,
cementing relationships and expanding dialogue that began
with the 1994 peace treaty.


3. (U) Since New York-based BTR founder and Israeli citizen
Mati Kochavi approached scientists from Stanford and Cornell
in 2001 to be U.S. academic partners, BTR has recruited a
number of scientists from Jordanian and Israeli universities
and established three executive boards in New York, Jordan,
and Israel. Within the next year, BTR will begin sending
professors and students to Cornell and Stanford, fully
funded, to begin their studies or complete post-doctoral
programs. As affiliates of BTR, they will return to do
research at the Center once it is built. BTR will also
involve students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree
programs at local universities.

SCIENTIFIC FIELD WORK ACROSS THE DEAD SEA


4. (SBU) Eighteen BTR affiliates attended the two-day field
survey on July 8-9, and invited Embassy intern to accompany
them on the first day of the survey in Jordan. The second
day of the survey took place in Israel. Some of the
participants had attended the previous survey and others
were newly involved in the project. Joining the group were
two members of the BTR Jordan executive board and one from
the BTR New York board. The group comprised four Jordanian
professors and three Jordanian students, three Israeli
professors and two Israeli students, and one Stanford
University professor. A Jordanian security official acted
as a Jordan-Israel liaison officer to handle security and
border-crossing issues.


5. (SBU) The survey began early Friday morning in Amman,
where the Jordanian participants left to pick up the
remainder of the group at the Allenby Bridge. The group
proceeded to the hot water springs of Ma'in, where it took
samples at several different sites. Descending from
mountainous Ma'in to the Dead Sea shore, the scientists then
sampled the hot springs freshwater as it mixed with the
highly saline Dead Sea water. After lunch, the group
surveyed several different sites in search of Dead Sea water
that was neither polluted nor tainted by freshwater.
Throughout the site visits, they collected specimens of the
tamarisk plant, which will be a focus of study due to its
ability to survive in salty conditions. The survey
participants stayed overnight at a hotel on the Jordanian
Dead Sea shore and continued into Israel the next day for
similar testing and sampling of the Dead Sea region.

SCIENCE AS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE


6. (SBU) The survey was very much a joint effort among all
of the participants. The Israelis and Jordanians worked
side by side. For example, an Israeli student would take
samples while the Jordanian student recorded the
information. They communicated in English.


7. (SBU) Socially, the Israeli and Jordanian professors were
very open with each other. They sat together on the bus,
chatted during lunch, and discussed their projects. Some of
them knew one another from the previous surveys and planning
meetings and seemed quite comfortable together. One
Jordanian professor who had attended the previous survey in
January told Embassy intern that she was at first "unsure"
about working with BTR but during the survey she realized
that they "speak science and all understand." She viewed
BTR as an opportunity to go beyond the conflict that has
been present for so long. The other told Embassy intern
that despite his extensive studies of the Dead Sea, BTR is
the first time he has successfully worked with Jordanian
colleagues. The previous - and only - two attempts at
scientific correspondence between him and a Jordanian
quickly came to an end. When discussing BTR, he said the
joint surveys and successful interaction between the
Jordanians and Israelis were proof that BTR is "surely"
different than his past two experiences.


8. (SBU) Although the students worked together during
sampling and surveying, they were more reserved socially.
The Jordanian professors said that some of the Jordanian
students were still "uncomfortable" with the thought of
working with Israelis. Nevertheless, the students relaxed
with each other as the day progressed. One of the Jordanian
students is of Palestinian descent and often visits family
in the West Bank. Prior to the BTR survey, her only
interaction with Israelis was with the soldiers whom she
encountered during her family visits. She told Embassy
Intern that she views her work with BTR as an opportunity to
know and work with Israelis who are not soldiers. For one
Israeli student, the BTR survey was his first time visiting
Jordan. He spoke very highly of the program and the
prospects for peaceful dialogue between Israelis and
Jordanians, stating the commonly used BTR phrase that
"science is the universal language."

BENEFITS ENCOURAGE BTR SCHOLARS


9. (SBU) All participants, especially the Jordanians, felt
strongly that BTR would present them with excellent academic
opportunities. Many of the participants will be invited to
enroll in graduate and post-doctoral programs at Stanford or
Cornell University, and will receive degrees. In addition,
participation in BTR scientific surveys allows both Israeli
and Jordanian students to gain excellent field experience,
an essential skill for a career in scientific research and
academia. The Israeli professors and students were
interested in BTR as an opportunity to expand their studies
of the Dead Sea area, which are currently limited by
national borders. BTR presents Jordanian professors with
the opportunity to establish and build expertise in areas
where they are not as advanced as their Israeli and U.S.
colleagues. The U.S. professor told Embassy intern that in
order for BTR to be successful, participants must build and
maintain parity between science in Jordan and Israel.
Because Israeli science is generally much more developed
than is Jordanian, BTR must devote extra time and energy to
the development of Jordanian science in order to reach
parity with Israel. In other words, BTR will bring about
major advancements in Jordan's scientific capacity and
ability, he said. The primary example is bioinformatics,
which is the use of techniques from applied mathematics,
informatics, statistics, and computer science to solve
biological problems. Bioinformatics is a field in which
Israel and the U.S. are highly advanced but Jordan has very
little experience. Two of the Jordanian professors were
selected and recruited to be trained in bioinformatics,
which would enhance their careers as the first
bioinformatics experts in Jordan.

JORDANIAN POPULAR SUSPICION


10. (SBU) From talking to the professors, it was clear that
the Israeli participants enjoy markedly greater popular
support than the Jordanians. Although King Abdullah, like
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, fully supports BTR,
most of the Jordanian professors prefer to keep their
involvement a s_ecret, as this kind of engagement with
Israelis has grown quite unpopular with many Jordanians
since the beginning of the second intifada, especially with
the professional associations, which have mounted name-and-
shame campaigns against so-called "normalizers." (refs B,
C, and D).


11. (SBU) The Jordanian professors find little support for
their BTR work among university faculties. While the
Yarmouk University president is very supportive, many of the
participating Yarmouk professor's colleagues oppose her
involvement. In a similar situation at the Jordan
University for Science and Technology (JUST),the professor
does not want many of her colleagues or students to know of
her participation, for fear of their reaction. The Jordan
University professors said their colleagues and supervisors
will not "formally" support their involvement. In contrast,
one of the Israeli professors stressed that he knows
numerous Israeli professors who would be happy to be
involved in BTR.

THE NEXT STEP


12. (SBU) After the survey, each group of specialists will
take their samples back to their universities for study and
analysis. The Stanford University professor will remain
with two of the Jordanian professors to train them on
certain methods of DNA isolation and Polymerase Chain
Reaction - a molecular biological technique for amplifying
DNA without using a living organism - in order to
comprehensively analyze their samples. The scientists plan
to come together to report and share their findings,
formulating the next steps in their joint scientific
research.


A GOOD SIGN OF SUCCESS


13. (SBU) COMMENT: Despite the fact that the construction
of the BTR Center has not yet begun, this second scientific
survey suggests that the academic component of BTR is
advancing and that the project as a whole is making headway.
While the academic component is still in its initial phase,
the two scientific surveys held within seven months of each
other, the follow-on conferences, and the growing number of
participants are positive signs of success. Politics aside,
the progress of BTR will have strongly positive scientific,
educational, and environmental effects on Jordan and its
participants. The fact that one of the necessary components
of BTR is to dramatically increase Jordan's scientific
capacity and advancement is a benefit in itself. The
engagement of Jordanian and Israeli participants in the
academic and scientific setting is an additional positive
sign that they will be able to successfully work, study,
research, and publish together. These are among the goals of
the 1994 peace treaty. Nonetheless, BTR still faces many
challenges. Legal and security complications are being
addressed (Ref A) and look to be solved within the year.
The popular Jordanian suspicion of this kind of engagement
with Israel forces BTR to advance slowly and quietly. END
COMMENT

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