Jordanian Envoy Pushes Mideast Peace
Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Jordan’s ambassador to the U.S., gave a wide-ranging speech spanning “the arc of the Middle East,” touching on issues from the war in Iraq, to U.S. relations with Syria, to technological advances in desalinization. But he reserved his most urgent, and dire, remarks for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, lamenting that “we in the region really are a sorry bunch” for allowing the conflict to suck the life out of the Middle East for so long.
 “I cannot think of one major initiative divorced from the Middle East that the Arab world or Israel have come up with,” Prince Zeid said, noting that when it comes to tackling issues such as poverty and sustainable development, the region has become a “global non-player” because of the perpetual focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaking to a packed audience at the Ronald Reagan Building on March 31 for a discussion hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) and the nonprofit Bridges of Understanding (founded by former Jordanian Ambassador Karim Kawar), Zeid was eloquent but direct in his criticism of the stalled peace process.
Questioning whether the region even deserves peace given all the “lost opportunities” that have slipped away since 1967, the ambassador blamed both Israel and the Arab world for intransigence, complaining that while one side often fails to acknowledge the horrors of the Holocaust, the other side fails to grasp the “degradation” of occupation.
“This situation is simply intolerable,” he said, pointing out in dramatic fashion just how much the all-consuming conflict has drained the area’s resources — and potential.
Citing a report last year by India’s Strategic Foresight Group, Zeid said the conflict has cost the Middle East a stunning $12 trillion over the last 20 years. The study also estimates that if peace talks had succeeded after the 1991 Madrid Conference, the region’s citizens could have been twice as rich today.
“So it can be argued that we are a burden unto ourselves and a burden unto the entire planet,” Zeid bluntly said.
Moreover, he warned that Jerusalem is “a constant threat to the international community.” The city that is sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths remains a volatile powder keg today, with clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian worshippers erupting in recent weeks following announcements of Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want to make their future capital.
Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on building anywhere inside Jerusalem has jeopardized U.S. efforts to revive moribund peace talks. The settlements dispute has also driven an unusual wedge between Israel and the United States, especially after the Obama administration was blindsided by an ill-timed housing announcement during Vice President Joe Biden’s March visit to Israel.
Yet Zeid warns that Jewish expansion in the holy city is much more than an embarrassment for the United States — it threatens to forever alter the dynamics of the entire conflict.
“We feel we are in a position where if we don’t halt what is happening now in East Jerusalem … we will find ourselves in a situation where peace is not possible,” he said, adding that unilateral construction creates “facts on the ground” that lead to a “state of terminal crisis.” And then Jerusalem could irrevocably become into a battle between “Israel versus the entire Islamic world.”
Yet the ambassador says it’s not too late to step back from the brink. He pointed out that Arab countries remain committed to the so-called Arab Peace Initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, even though Israel has largely rebuffed the offer.
He also stressed that Jordan “is deeply supportive of President Obama’s vision of two states living side by side in peace — and it is doable.”
And although “one cannot underestimate how difficult this has been for George Mitchell,” Obama’s special envoy to the region, Zeid said the former senator “has laid the foundations for launching the discussions on final-status issues and that should be commended.”
Likewise, when it comes to the seeming lack of general progress in the region, Zeid called for patience and urged critics to consider the larger picture. Jordan, for example, has made economic strides but is still a developing country.
 “We are a tribal society [trying to modernize] over the last 80 years,” Zeid explained. “We want to maintain our tribal traditions but not at the expense of the state.” He noted that under King Abdullah II, Jordan has embarked on programs to curb religious fanaticism, training mosque preachers for instance, while boosting economic development to wean the country from its dependence on petroleum imports.
And while acknowledging the importance of economic opportunity to prevent religious extremism, the ambassador said it is also crucial to recognize that we just don’t have all the answers yet to the ever-evolving “war on terrorism.”
“I would contend that many so-called conclusions are conjecture,” he said, musing about the mysteries of the human psyche. For instance, Zeid pointed out that the suicide bomber who killed a Jordanian agent and seven CIA officers in Khost, Afghanistan, this past January was a highly educated physician who was married with two young girls. “His material advantages had no bearing on his decision,” Zeid said, drawing a parallel with the Columbine High School massacre. “There’s a pathology about us humans that we just don’t fully understand.”
Which is partly why it is so important for all actors in the Middle East to renounce violence. “We cannot continue to inflict massive suffering on people because we think we are right and they are wrong,” Zeid said, alluding to the actions of Israelis and Palestinians alike.
But the ambassador largely brushed off questions about Jordan’s own sizable Palestinian refugee population, dismissing proposals that instead of their own state, Palestinians simply be integrated into Jordan — describing the notion as a convenient excuse to avoid the hard work of achieving lasting peace.
And as for the argument that the Palestinians themselves are too fractured between the Hamas and Fatah parties to negotiate a permanent peace, Zeid similarly dismissed those concerns, pointing out that political infighting is not unique to the Palestinians and that even the United States is bitterly divided within itself.
Still, with the Palestinians split between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank — while the Israeli government remains intent on expanding its control over Jerusalem — hopes for peace are clearly fading.
Nevertheless, Zeid insists the unpredictable is always possible. Recalling his time in the mid-1990s as a U.N. political affairs officer in the former Yugoslavia during the Balkan wars, he said, “We thought there would be conflict in Bosnia for another 10 years and we simply could not see a way out. If someone said in six months … the killing would stop, I don’t think anyone would have believed that was possible.”
But the window for a resolution to the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict is closing fast, he adds — likening it to the famous 1969 cases of catatonic patients in New York who were briefly awakened with the experimental drug L-Dopa, before falling back into darkness. “You can’t help but think that future historians will look back at this moment of peace as a brief awakening … one that came as quickly as it went.”
Jordanian Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, top photo, talks about developments in the Middle East at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as part of a discussion hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and the Bridges of Understanding Foundation. Among the guests in the audience were, bottom photo from left, Chief Operating Officer of UniTrans International Mazen T. Farouki, Ambassador of Egypt Sameh Shoukry, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
Twenty Years of Namibian Independence
Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Larry Luxner
Little-known Namibia, one of Africa’s most sparsely populated nations, is also one of the continent’s most stable. In late March, Namibia’s ambassador, Patrick Nandago, held a reception in Washington to celebrate “20 years of independence, freedom, democracy and the rule of law in our beautiful country.”
Several hundred people gathered at the Omni Shoreham Hotel to help Nandago mark the occasion — singing both “Namibia, Land of the Brave” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” as color photos depicting the country’s flora and fauna flashed on large screens.
 Among the guests Nandago singled out for special recognition were Susan Page, the current U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and Chester Crocker, who served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 1981 to 1989.
“In the heat of the armed liberation struggle in Namibia, and the civil war in Angola,” said the ambassador, “Dr. Crocker was the man who developed the strategy that produced the treaties signed by Angola, Cuba and South Africa, which culminated in the ceasefire between South Africa’s UNITA rebels and SWAPO [the South-West Africa People’s Organization], leading to the first democratic elections in Namibia.”
South Africa’s former colony finally obtained independence on March 21, 1990, after 106 years of foreign occupation.
“Since then, Namibia has held free, fair and peaceful elections every five years, with the most recent one held in November 2009,” the ambassador said. “Over the years, we have witnessed successful transfers of power, and our country is known to be one of the most democratic on the African continent. Our economic and political stability makes it an attractive location for investors.”
Turning the evening into a sales pitch for his country, Nandago explained that the four pillars of Namibia’s economy are agriculture, mining, fisheries and tourism. With only 2 million people in a country considerably larger than Texas, Namibia should be quite wealthy. And in fact, its exports of diamonds, uranium, copper, gold and zinc are legendary.
Yet its long legacy of colonialism has hindered the country, and the AIDS epidemic is creating a generation of orphans. Just over 21 percent of Namibia’s citizens are HIV-positive, one of the highest rates of prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. That’s caused life expectancy to drop from 61 years in 1991 to 47 today, says the U.S. Agency for International Development.
And according to the U.N. Development Program, Namibians suffer from the most unequal distribution of income in the world. An estimated 55 percent of the country’s wealth is in the hands of the richest 10 percent of the population, while the poorest 35 percent of Namibians live on less than $1 a day.
“Namibia is faced with many challenges, including the availability of potable water, access to quality health care, housing and education, and the challenges of unemployment HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” admitted Nandago, adding, “Namibia did not escape the brunt of climate change, and for the last four years, the country has witnessed severe drought and devastating floods.”
Nor, he said, did the global economic crisis spare Namibia. “A considerable number of our citizens have lost their jobs, and companies have scaled down operations or closed up, but we remain hopeful that things will turn around.”
As part of its strategy, the government has set up the Namibia Investment Center and has signed agreements with neighboring Botswana and Zimbabwe to acquire dry-port facilities in Walvis Bay, Namibia’s deep-water port on the Atlantic Ocean; Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are negotiating for similar arrangements.
Susan Page, speaking on behalf of her boss, Johnnie Carson — assistant secretary of state for African affairs — said Namibia has a lot to celebrate on its 20th anniversary.
“Since its separation from apartheid South Africa in 1990, Namibia has pursued a path of democracy and free market economy. It has distinguished itself from other African states by having held 10 national, regional and local elections,” she said, noting that Namibia is one of the 15 “focus countries” under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). That entitles it to more than $100 million annually to help Namibia “mitigate the suffering of HIV/AIDS patients.”
Last September, the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corp. also signed a $304.5 million compact with Namibia aimed at, among other things, boosting the quality of education and rectifying the country’s unequal distribution of income.
“Now that President [Hifikepunye] Pohamba has been sworn in for a second term, we hope he will continue to take a strong stand against corruption and gender-based violence,” Page told the assembled guests. “The United States is seeking to build mutual trust in addressing the many challenges Namibia faces, including the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and the need to create jobs and reduce poverty.”
OTop photo from left, Ambassador of Zimbabwe Machivenyika Mapuranga, Ambassador of Namibia Patrick Nandago, wife of the Botswana ambassador Mpho Gloria Bojelo Lekoa, Deputy Chief of Mission for the Tanzanian Embassy Lily Letawo Munanka, Ambassador of Lesotho David Mohlomi Rantekoa, Ambassador of Botswana Lapologang Caesar Lekoa, and Ambassador of Angola Josefina Perpétua Pitra Diakite attend the Namibian 20th anniversary reception at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Front page: Ambassador of Namibia Patrick Nandago, left, joins Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan D. Page to celebrate Namibia’s 20th anniversary of independence in a reception held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Photos: Eva Shaiza
Francophonie Festival Helps Haiti
Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Larry Luxner
Prominent New York language educator Jane L. Ross and President Obama’s national security advisor, Gen. James Jones — both fluent French speakers — were honored March 1 during the opening reception of Washington’s annual Francophonie 2010 Cultural Festival, which runs until April 11.
 More than 250 people, including 30 ambassadors of French-speaking countries, attended the event, held at the Willard InterContinental Washington hotel. Two of those ambassadors, Canada’s Gary Doer and Haiti’s Raymond Joseph, made short, bilingual speeches praising the prizewinners.
Ross is president of the French Heritage Language Program (FHLP), which was awarded the 2010 Prix Spécial de la Francophonie “in recognition of its promotion of the French language in the United States, and of its strong efforts to help educate Haitian child refugees in the U.S.,” according to a press release issued by the French Embassy in Washington.
In an impromptu interview following the awards ceremony, Ross said she launched FHLP after her retirement as a veteran French teacher in New York City schools.
“Our idea was to reach out to children who want to maintain their French,” she told the Diplomatic Pouch. “Everyone worries about immigrants learning English, but no one thinks about them forgetting their native language. It’s very well-documented through research that by the third generation, heritage languages disappear.”
 Ross said her program began in Boston “with the idea that immigrant children would learn English better and faster — and that they’d be more successful in school — if they had support in their native French language. So we offered classes to support French language instruction alongside their learning in English.”
The program now has 500 students, and these French classes, she notes, “are different from the beginning French classes that an American kid would take.”
In late February, the city of Miami asked Ross to start a summer camp program for the children of Haitian immigrants displaced by the recent earthquake in that country. The result was a series of creative and educational workshops about the French language specially designed for kids 7 to 15 years old.
“We want to help these children who are temporarily displaced so they’ll be able to go back to Haiti,” Ross explained, pointing out that the opportunity to maintain their skills in French is especially important to these families, because education in Haiti is conducted mostly in French.
Ross said she’d also like to be able to raise funds to expand the program. “We could open three more classes in Miami if we had more money,” said the educator, noting that it costs $3,000 a year to run a class, with 18 to 20 students in each class.
Jones, who gave his acceptance speech in French, is Obama’s national security advisor and a retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general. During his military career, he headed the U.S. European Command and was Supreme Allied Commander of Europe from 2003 to 2006, as well as the 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1999 to 2003, retiring from the Marines in 2007 after 40 years of service.
The 2010 Francophonie Festival, by the way, is dedicated to the memory of the more than 200,000 people killed during Haiti’s Jan. 12 earthquake, and to the rebuilding efforts for those who survived.
During the festival, which is expected to attract 1,600 people, $10 will be donated for every ticket purchased through InstantSeats. In addition, the Grand Fête at the French Embassy in March featured a raffle for a round-trip for two to Tahiti, with all proceeds going to Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
Among the special guests at the opening reception of Washington’s annual Francophonie 2010 Cultural Festival were National Security Advisor James Jones, top, Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph, bottom, and language educator Jane L. Ross, front page.
Photos: Larry Luxner
Bringing Equality to African Wines
Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Larry Luxner
Last year, wineries rang up $3.5 billion in revenues for South Africa, home to some wonderful up-and-coming shiraz, pinotage and cabernet sauvignon labels.
Yet blacks, who comprise the vast majority of South Africa’s citizens, are far more likely to be impoverished grape pickers than winemakers or vineyard managers.
In fact, 20 years after the end of apartheid, the country’s wine industry employs 276,000 workers in Western Cape province. Blacks account for nearly 90 percent of the population, yet own less than 1 percent of the wine companies and wine-producing land — a statistic that saddens Atlanta sommelier Stephen Satterfield.
“This is one of the most incredible cases of societal economic disparity you could find in any industry in the world,” he said. “You have billions in wealth and revenue being created, but there’s only one black family who owns a vineyard.”
Satterfield’s solution is “Drink Well, Do Good” — a series of 13 concerts, tastings and art events across the United States and Canada that aims to raise $150,000 to establish a viticultural training center in South Africa.
 Sponsoring that tour is the International Society of Africans in Wine (ISAW), an Atlanta-based nonprofit. Locally, the group held a free promotional tasting March 24 at Nando’s Peri-Peri Restaurant off Dupont Circle that attracted about 50 people.
“All the wines we currently feature are from South Africa,” said Katie Hunter, communications manager of ISAW’s Washington chapter. “Our goal is to build a training center in South Africa’s Stellenbosch wine region, where previously disenfranchised vineyard workers will be able to learn skills like winemaking, viticulture and hospitality. That will raise their earning potential tremendously and inspire entrepreneurial ventures.”
Wine importer Heritage Link Brands is the primary sponsor of this 14-city tour, which kicks off Easter weekend in New Orleans and includes stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Washington, among other cities, before finishing up in Cape Town just in time for the World Cup, which of course South Africa is hosting this year.
The tour’s May 14-15 stop in Washington includes an event at newly opened Funxion restaurant at 13th and F streets. Hunter said at least 100 volunteers across the United States and Canada are working to make ISAW’s campaign a success.
“People know about South Africa, and they know the World Cup is coming there, but a lot of people have misconceptions about South African wines,” Hunter told the Diplomatic Pouch. “Heritage Link Brands was founded five years ago by Selena Cuffe to import wines made by black vintners in Africa. She visited the first Soweto Wine Festival, loved the wines she tasted, and was moved to act when she learned they were struggling with finding distribution and reaching customers.”
Today, she said, Heritage Link Brands distributes Bouwland, Seven Sisters and M’Hudi wines to 41 states. M’Hudi in fact is the only wholly black-owned vineyard in South Africa. Located in Stellenbosch, the brand is operated by the Ranganka family, which purchased the vineyard in 2003 yet needs additional human and financial capital to realize the full commercial success of their investment.
“ISAW views the success of this pioneering family to be paramount in an era of expanded opportunities for blacks in the South African wine economy. M’Hudi cannot fail,” said Satterfield, who says construction of ISAW’s viticulture training center “is just one step in our journey to create a broader participation of indigenous African farmers within the growing African wine industry.”
For now, the company deals only with South African wines, though Hunter said other African wine-producing countries with potential include Morocco, Egypt and Kenya.
Rita Blackwell, a Baltimore wine consultant who’s participating in the ISAW event, says signing on to “Drink Well, Do Good” was a no-brainer for her.
“There aren’t too many black Americans in the wine industry, so we’re sort of like a needle in a haystack,” she joked. “But South African wines are a very good value, and I like the story behind this.”
Blackwell, who studied wine at New York’s French Culinary Institute, started her company in August 2006. Her mentor was Andrea Robinson, one of only 16 women in the world who have been named a master sommelier by the prestigious Court of Master Sommeliers in California’s Napa Valley.
“I wanted to make wine accessible to other people,” Blackwell explained. “People have this snobbery associated with wine, but it’s just a beverage that should be enjoyed by all. Let’s not pretend it’s something so complex that everyone can’t take part in it.”
For more information, visit www.isawfoundation.org or www.toastafrica.com.
Wine consultant Rita Blackwell, left, pours Dayo Olopade a glass of South African wine at Nando’s Peri-Peri restaurant in Washington as part of an event to promote an upcoming campaign by the International Society of Africans in Wine, an Atlanta-based foundation working to reduce poverty in Africa through viticulture-based training and economic empowerment initiatives.
Photos: Larry Luxner
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