PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RAMADAN EVENTS

UNCLAS AMMAN 008944 SIPDIS FOR NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KISL JO SUBJECT: PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RAMADAN EVENTS (NOTE: THIS MESSAGE WAS DRAFTED PRIOR TO THE 11/9 AMMAN BOMBINGS.) ¶1. During Ramadan, Embassy Amman made a comprehensive and vigorous effort to demonstrate American respect for Islam and to further public understanding that Islam and respect for religion are a part of mainstream American life. All mission elements' public statements during the month began with traditional Ramadan greetings. The Public Affairs section, with the support of post management, successfully encouraged Embassy officers to fully participate in the busy Ramadan social season. Several mission elements hosted Iftar dinners and traditional Ramadan evenings ("umsiyat") for a variety of contacts. By reaching out as widely as possible, the Embassy shared the public diplomacy message with the full range of our contacts in Jordan, reaching out beyond the usual VIP front office and public diplomacy program spheres of influence. To help reinforce that message, PA's information resource center created and distributed at all the Mission's Ramadan events full-color brochures featuring Washington File stories about Administration iftars in Washington and public statements from the White House and the Department marking Ramadan. ¶2. The Ambassador hosted an Iftar dinner for leaders in the interfaith dialogue movement in Jordan, as well as numerous returned IV and other exchange visitors whose programs focussed on Islam in the U.S. and on interfaith dialogue. A number of sharia law students who participated in exchanges are now teaching sharia and Islam at Jordanian universities, and particularly appreciated the opportunity to renew their ties with the Embassy. The chief Mufti of Jordan and several senior sharia judges also attended the Iftar and spoke, underscoring the need for such interfaith opportunities to focus on our shared values. ¶3. In order to reach another important but non- traditional audience, PA hosted an Iftar for the students at our American Language Center who participated in the Ramadan intensive course. Some thirty students, mostly university students or recent graduates, attended. PAO thanked them for attending, and for making learning English with us such an important priority that they continued it even during the month of Ramadan. ¶4. PA also hosted its now traditional annual Ramadan event for the media, this year organizing an "umsiya ramadaniyya" or Ramadan evening, instead of the more formal and briefer Iftar. This relaxed four hour event allowed journalists to loosen their ties, play cards, smoke sheesha, and share gossip and political opinions with members of the country team and the PA press staff. Nearly 150 journalists stopped by to share in the Ramadan fellowship. ¶5. We also reached out beyond these audiences, and made our Ramadan events a mission-wide effort, to help spread the message of respect to the widest possible range of embassy contacts. The economic section hosted one Iftar in honor of a Washington State University delegation here as part of a bilateral program to help the private sector work more closely with universities, and another Iftar with senior government officials working in fiscal policy. The political section hosted an Iftar for members of Parliament, and another for key Iraqi contacts here in Amman. The RSO hosted an Iftar for a broad range of security contacts in honor of DS A/S Griffin. The CAO hosted an Iftar for key working level cultural contacts. FCS hosted an Iftar for a group of Jordanian and Iraqi company representatives traveling to a U.S. trade show. ¶6. During Ramadan, PA Amman also provided a public diplomacy grant to the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center to carry out an international workshop on King Abdullah II's Amman Message on moderate Islam. At this year's meeting, partially sponsored by the PA grant and carried out under the patronage of the King, the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center invited Muslims, Christians, and Jews from the region, Europe, and the U.S. to discuss interfaith dialogue and tolerance, issuing a final joint communique stressing the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding. HALE