DEMARCHE: TURNING OFF THE CEIRPP UN-SPONSORED

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000131 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC SUBJECT: DEMARCHE: TURNING OFF THE CEIRPP UN-SPONSORED ISRAEL-PALESTINE EVENT IN ROME 3/22-23/07 REF: STATE 11796 ¶1. On February 14 Polmincouns delivered reftel demarche on a conference of the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) to be held in Rome on March 22-23 co-hosted by the Italian government. USUN explained to Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane that while the U.S. had long worked actively to end GA support for the Division of Palestinian Affairs in DPA and its related committees, this event was particularly ill-timed given new diplomatic initiatives underway this month, including two Quartet meetings and the Trilateral scheduled for the 19th. USUN urged that the Secretariat not lend the considerable prestige of the SYG to what is likely to be a biased and unbalanced event that will do nothing to advance the Middle East peace process and indeed may even serve to drive the parties further apart. Pol M/C raised U.S. concern about negative impact of this and similar events in reinforcing the impression of a UN institutional bias against Israel, especially given the new SYG's efforts to give the UN a more positive image with the U.S. Congress and the American public. ¶2. Kane, who had just attended another CEIRPP event in Doha, confessed that she did not always participate willingly in these conferences, which sometimes had questionable motives. She noted, however, that the Secretariat felt obliged to fulfill a GA mandate to organize such conferences. In their participation, they did try to provide a factual counterbalance to more extreme views, especially from NGO groups and noted that she had already been forcefully demarched by the Israeli DPR about this conference. She asked whether the U.S. had approached the Italian co-hosts and, if so, what their response had been. Pol M/C said that we had done so at a senior level in Rome, but noted the Italian insistence on proceeding with the conference as part of what we saw as a misguided effort to assist the Lebanese and Palestinian people. We believed Italy would simply be unable to carry out its pledge to focus this conference on making a positive contribution to the peace process and Israeli-Palestinian relations. ¶3. Kane promised to convey U.S. views to the 38th floor, but noted that the Secretariat was under heavy pressure from both the Palestinians and, more surprisingly, the Italians to promote high-level participation in the event. She noted that the Italians had lined up a senior representative of the Holy See ( a cardinal- name unknown) to attend and participate and that Italian PermRep Spattafora was personally engaged with the Secretariat in conference preparations. In her view, the Italian government plainly seemed heavily invested in making this a high-profile event. Kane suggested that the U.S. approach both the Italians and Palestinians to re-emphasize our strong concern. WOLFF