Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06THEHAGUE830
2006-04-14 11:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy The Hague
Cable title:
NETHERLANDS/PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE: NO AID TO OR
VZCZCXRO3560 OO RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTC #0830 1041110 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 141110Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5413 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 2846 RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0811
UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000830
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG GZ IS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE: NO AID TO OR
THROUGH HAMAS
REF: A. STATE 56323
B. THE HAGUE 701
C. "POLITICS IN THE NL" 4/12-4/13/2006
UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000830
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG GZ IS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE: NO AID TO OR
THROUGH HAMAS
REF: A. STATE 56323
B. THE HAGUE 701
C. "POLITICS IN THE NL" 4/12-4/13/2006
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Dutch support channeling Palestinian
assistance through non-Hamas channels, but worry that
existing aid organizations do not have the absorptive
capacity to handle a large cash influx. The Director of the
Dutch MFA's Department of Middle Eastern and North African
Affairs hopes to discuss this question and other issues when
she visits the U.S. April 19-21. The GONL rejects the
conclusions of a recent paper by a government-sponsored think
tank advocating establishing contacts with Hamas and
Hizballah. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) The Dutch government will reject contacts with Hamas
and Hamas-led Palestinian entities as long as the
organization refuses to recognize Israel, renounce violence
and terror, and accept previous international obligations,
according to Henriette van Lynden, Director of the Department
of Middle East and North African Affairs at the Dutch MFA.
On April 13, POLCOUNS delivered ref a points on the USG's new
strategy for Palestinian Assistance, as well as the text of
the Secretary's April 7 statement, State Department fact
sheet, and transcript of A/S Welch's press conference to van
Lynden and MFA Senior Policy Expert Roger van Laak. Van
Lynden and van Laak stressed that the new U.S. strategy was
consistent with the Dutch national approach and that of the
EU.
3. (SBU) Although van Lynden and van Laak agreed that more
aid should be channeled through non-Hamas channels, they
questioned whether UNRWA and other assistance organizations
had sufficient absorptive capacities to handle the
anticipated increase in funding. POLCOUNS suggested that
this was a technical matter rather than a policy question,
and should be taken up in the appropriate fora. Van Lynden
agreed, and said she hoped to have an opportunity to discuss
this question and other related issues with USG interlocutors
during her upcoming visit to Washington and New York April
19-21.
4. (SBU) Referring to press reports, POLCOUNS asked how the
government planned to respond to a recently released
Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) paper
advocating that the GONL establish contacts with "political"
elements within Hamas and Hizballah (ref c). Noting that
Foreign Minister Bot had already forcefully rejected the
notion of such ties (refs and c),van Laak confirmed that the
GONL was required by law to respond in parliament to the WRR
report within the next several weeks. (Note: The WRR is a
government-funded think tank but operates independently; its
mandate includes producing provocative, "outside the box"
recommendations which frequently challenge existing GONL
policies. End Note.) While the paper, entitled "Dynamism in
Islamic Activism, Leads for Democracy and Human Rights,"
covered many different subjects, van Laak continued, he had
no doubt that the formal GONL response would reject its calls
for establishing contact with terrorist groups like Hamas and
Hizballah. Politically, he said, there was "absolutely no
flexibility" on this point within the GONL, and he strongly
doubted that public opinion would favor such a step either.
BLAKEMAN
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG GZ IS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE: NO AID TO OR
THROUGH HAMAS
REF: A. STATE 56323
B. THE HAGUE 701
C. "POLITICS IN THE NL" 4/12-4/13/2006
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Dutch support channeling Palestinian
assistance through non-Hamas channels, but worry that
existing aid organizations do not have the absorptive
capacity to handle a large cash influx. The Director of the
Dutch MFA's Department of Middle Eastern and North African
Affairs hopes to discuss this question and other issues when
she visits the U.S. April 19-21. The GONL rejects the
conclusions of a recent paper by a government-sponsored think
tank advocating establishing contacts with Hamas and
Hizballah. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) The Dutch government will reject contacts with Hamas
and Hamas-led Palestinian entities as long as the
organization refuses to recognize Israel, renounce violence
and terror, and accept previous international obligations,
according to Henriette van Lynden, Director of the Department
of Middle East and North African Affairs at the Dutch MFA.
On April 13, POLCOUNS delivered ref a points on the USG's new
strategy for Palestinian Assistance, as well as the text of
the Secretary's April 7 statement, State Department fact
sheet, and transcript of A/S Welch's press conference to van
Lynden and MFA Senior Policy Expert Roger van Laak. Van
Lynden and van Laak stressed that the new U.S. strategy was
consistent with the Dutch national approach and that of the
EU.
3. (SBU) Although van Lynden and van Laak agreed that more
aid should be channeled through non-Hamas channels, they
questioned whether UNRWA and other assistance organizations
had sufficient absorptive capacities to handle the
anticipated increase in funding. POLCOUNS suggested that
this was a technical matter rather than a policy question,
and should be taken up in the appropriate fora. Van Lynden
agreed, and said she hoped to have an opportunity to discuss
this question and other related issues with USG interlocutors
during her upcoming visit to Washington and New York April
19-21.
4. (SBU) Referring to press reports, POLCOUNS asked how the
government planned to respond to a recently released
Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) paper
advocating that the GONL establish contacts with "political"
elements within Hamas and Hizballah (ref c). Noting that
Foreign Minister Bot had already forcefully rejected the
notion of such ties (refs and c),van Laak confirmed that the
GONL was required by law to respond in parliament to the WRR
report within the next several weeks. (Note: The WRR is a
government-funded think tank but operates independently; its
mandate includes producing provocative, "outside the box"
recommendations which frequently challenge existing GONL
policies. End Note.) While the paper, entitled "Dynamism in
Islamic Activism, Leads for Democracy and Human Rights,"
covered many different subjects, van Laak continued, he had
no doubt that the formal GONL response would reject its calls
for establishing contact with terrorist groups like Hamas and
Hizballah. Politically, he said, there was "absolutely no
flexibility" on this point within the GONL, and he strongly
doubted that public opinion would favor such a step either.
BLAKEMAN