UAE REMINDED OF PALESTINIAN HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000020 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF EAID KWBG UN IS AE SUBJECT: UAE REMINDED OF PALESTINIAN HUMANITARIAN NEEDS Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. REF: A) ABU DHABI 0017, B) 08 STATE 135559, C) 08 ABU DHABI 1467 ¶1. (SBU) Post relayed ref B appeal for donations to UN-related relief agencies in separate conversations with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash and MFA Assistant Under Secretary for Political Affairs Tariq al Haidan. Dr. Gargash acknowledged the need and told the Ambassador on January 6 that the UAE would shortly initiate a national appeal for assistance to the Palestinians, coordinated by the UAE Red Crescent. ¶2. (SBU) As ref A notes, the Red Crescent has been collecting humanitarian donations for Gaza in preparation for shipment, reportedly filling many trucks with donated blankets, clothing, house wares, foodstuffs, and even candles. The Red Crescent also claimed on December 31 that it had collected about $1 million from corporate donors for Gaza aid. The new appeal noted by Dr. Gargash was advertized in the local press on January 7 as a nation-wide call for financial or in-kind donations. The official news release notes that the "nation-wide relief campaign to raise cash and material donations" was announced by Deputy Prime Minister (and head of the Red Crescent) Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, to be launched "on all local TV and radio stations and newspapers in support of our brothers in the Gaza Strip." While the Red Crescent will coordinate the campaign, donations are welcome through a variety of government-affiliated outlets (to include the Zayed Charitable Foundation, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charitable Foundation, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and Dubai Cares). The Red Crescent also maintains donation booths in most shopping malls. Mosque sermons this Friday are to highlight the appeal and university students are being mobilized to assist in collections. The announcement notes that aid will be channeled to Gaza in coordination with UNICEF and UNRWA. (The national appeal offers an outlet for productive public action to assist with a Gaza situation which otherwise simply generates angst and frustration.) ¶3. (SBU) Separately, post emphasized the UN appeals in a diplomatic note January 6, which we will share with select government-affiliated foundations seeking to make donations to Gaza. The Mohammed bin Rashid Humanitarian and Charity Establishment in Dubai, for example, has been asking (even before the current crisis) for reliable organizations through which to assist Gaza. Additionally, press reports note that the President's charitable organization, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, is donating funds to UNRWA and UNDP. The Foundation told PolOff that their donations would be in funds, not goods, but were hesitant to tell us the amount. ¶4. (U) Finally, the Red Crescent is reportedly cooperating with UNICEF to supply two medical units (presumably small clinics) to assist children in Gaza. Local news coverage also notes donations of ambulances by UAE companies, as well as resident doctors willing to assist in Gaza. OLSON