2006 CG events

U.S. Consul General Re-affirms U.S. Support for Palestinians

Text of exclusive interview with Ma'an News Agency

Consul General in Jerusalem Jake Walles described the situation in the Gaza Strip as “difficult,” drawing particular attention to the impending shortages of food supplies in stores there.

In an interview conducted by the Jerusalem correspondent for the Ma'an News Agency, Walles talked about his concerns, stating, “It is clear to us that the situation is grave, and is a matter of a great concern to us.”

He stated that in the last several days, the U.S. government has made a major effort to try to deal with the problems and that both Ambassador Jones and himself organized a meeting last Sunday at the Ambassador’s house in Hertzilia, where officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government came together to talk about the Rafah crossing points.

During the meeting, it was agreed to open the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods coming from Egypt. Additionally, Walles said, there have been talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Egyptian government about bringing in food and medicine from Egypt. On Tuesday, the Israeli government agreed to open the Karni crossing for a short time, allowing a few trucks to pass.

The Consul General expressed his satisfaction toward the flexibility shown by the Palestinian and Israeli officials, and was pleased with the Israeli willingness to reopen the Karni crossing in return for Palestinian willingness to take some security steps. “We hope this cooperation will continue, and the situation will be normal and goods will go in and out of Gaza,” he said.

Support for the Roadmap

Concerning the political situation, the U.S. Consul General reiterated U. S. support for the Roadmap, saying, “We see the Roadmap as the only pathway to achieve the vision that President Bush has laid out, that is two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace and security.”

The U.S. official pointed out that the Roadmap has been accepted by both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. He said, “There have been problems on both sides in terms of implementing the obligations in the Roadmap, and we continue to urge both sides to take the steps they’re required to do. And that will continue to be our policy.”

Jericho jail events and the ongoing support for Abu Mazin

Responding to a question about the U.S. position toward the Jericho jail events and the negative outcomes they have had on the status of President Abu Mazin, Walles said, “The reason we withdrew our monitors was because of our concerns about their security. There was no political intent to it. We have been part of this program for a number of years, but overtime there were increasingly greater threats to the safety of our monitors, who are unarmed. We felt we had no choice but to withdraw them, and we did inform the Palestinian Authority about all these issues.”

Nevertheless, Walles reiterated his support for President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazin), dismissing arguments that the Jericho prison events have undermined the Palestinian President's status. “We continue to support him. He’s the elected president of Palestine, and he’s a man of peace. He’s a man who supports the two-state vision and the Roadmap, and we’ve worked with him since he’s become president, and we are going to continue to work with him very closely. He’s a person we can work with.”

Concerning calls for the resignation of Abu Mazin and the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority following the Jericho events, the U.S. Consul said, “There is obviously some support in the Palestinian community for those ideas, but there is also some opposition that I’ve seen as well. It is not clear to me that either of those ideas are something that has broad support from amongst the Palestinians or that would be likely to be adopted by the leadership. So until it becomes clear that this is something that is going to happen, I don’t think there is a need to react.”

Israeli Construction in E-1 and the Israeli Elections

The U.S. Consul stated that the issue of E-1 and the settlement construction in this area is of a great importance. “This is an important issue that we’ve been discussing with the Israeli government over a long period of time, and we have been given some assurances from the Israeli government. We are going to continue to engage with them to make sure that those commitments are carried out. In my opinion, E-1 is obviously sensitive because it relates to Jerusalem, so we understand the importance of this issue.”

In response to a question about what is being announced by the Israeli government on the eve of elections concerning the detachment of Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem from the rest of the city, while, at the same time, annexing settlement blocs to Israel through unilaterally drawing the borders, Walles stated, “The elections will take place on March 28, and the Israeli people will make their choice, then the government will be formed along with its policies, and then we will engage with them based on these policies. But at this point, it is premature to react to discussions of newspapers or to platforms of different parties. We’ll wait until the Israeli government is formed and then we’ll have our discussions.”

U.S. Assistance to Palestinians

Walles stated that his country intends to continue supporting the Palestinian people but that mechanisms for appropriating this assistance will be announced in the near future. “I think you’ll see in the coming weeks some announcements coming from Washington concerning the future of our assistance program,” he said, but “what I can tell you now is that we intend to continue our assistance program. This is what we’ve been doing for decades, and we are going to continue our assistance for the Palestinian people. I want to point out that the Palestinian government has not been formed yet; we still have a caretaker government, and there is still a number of steps that are going to have to take place until there is a new government. We have to evaluate to what extent that government meets the requirements that the Quartet has established. All indications so far are that they are not meeting those requirements, which will have an impact on how we are going to provide assistance. We are going to let the process play out and will make some announcements. We will continue our assistance program; we will be emphasizing the humanitarian assistance, but in terms of mechanisms, that will be announced in the future.”

He added, “We will be rearranging the sorts of assistance that we give, and perhaps will be using different mechanisms. The level of assistance will roughly remain the same as what we’ve seen in the past. For example, we’ve always supported UNRWA, and we may be doing additional projects through UN organizations more than we’ve done in the past.”

In regards to the negative effects of the separation wall on Palestinian lives, which were outlined in the OCHA report, the American Consul General said, “We watch the wall and its effects on residents very closely and provide reports back to Washington on the situation on the ground. So those are things we make sure that Washington is fully aware of. And in some cases, those reports have influenced how our assistance program is being managed and provided in a particular way to serve the purpose it was intended for.”

Responding to a question about reports that the Israeli army is considering imposing its control over the Rafah crossing, Walles said, “We cannot speak for the Israeli government, but as far as the United States is concerned, what I can say is that the Rafah crossing was one of the outcomes of the agreement that Secretary Rice negotiated last January, and it was on that basis that the Rafah crossing was able to open as a Palestinian-Egyptian crossing point. And we’ve worked very closely with all the parties to make sure that happens. The EU also has played an important role, and we want to see that continue. There have been concerns raised by both sides about how the crossing is being run, and we’ve been working closely with both sides as well as with the Europeans to make sure that the crossing will continue to function in accordance to the agreement that Secretary Rice negotiated.”

The American Consul expressed his pleasure toward the opening the Kerem Shalom crossing, saying, “We are still working out some technical details to open that crossing from Egypt soon.” He added, “It is important to find a way to keep the Karni crossing open because the economy of Gaza is dependent on it, so we work very closely with both sides. There have been follow up meetings with the Israelis and Palestinians. On the Palestinian side, we have focused on security to make sure that the crossing can operate safely.”

Regarding the $5 million of U.S. support that has been reported in the media lately, Walles stated, “This is a regional project, so we are looking for proposals from Palestine as well as from other Arab countries. The purpose of it is not to improve the image of the United States; rather, it is to work with the media across the Arab world to help them develop the skills they need to strengthen their free press.”

He added, “The $5 million is not a lot of money, and I am sure that more can be done. We have a long track record of working with the Palestinian media. We have conducted programs here and other places to establish contacts between the Palestinian and American journalists. This will continue in the future as part of our assistance program and as part of our public diplomacy effort, and we will work very closely with all parts of civil society, including media, NGOs, and other groups that promote women’s rights. We will continue to do these kinds of activities in the future, and we always like to work with our friends in the Palestinian media.”