Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ABUDHABI1573
2006-04-19 10:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: ARABS AND HUMAN RIGHTS/

Tags:  OIIP KMDR KPAO AE TC 
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191026Z Apr 06
UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001573 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA;
INR/B; RRU-NEA IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR MCKUNE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO AE TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ARABS AND HUMAN RIGHTS/
PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE/IRAN'S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES


UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001573

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA;
INR/B; RRU-NEA IIP/G/NEA-SA
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD
LONDON FOR MCKUNE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO AE TC
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ARABS AND HUMAN RIGHTS/
PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE/IRAN'S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES



1. Summary: A columnist in "Al-Ittihad" explains why Arabs
usually fail human right's assessments stating that their
culture does not carry such values. A female columnist in
Al-Bayan comments on Iran's nuclear capabilities stating
that Iran, instead of focusing on nuclear technology, should
work on improving the welfare of its citizens. End Summary.


2. Under headline "Why do we fail human rights exams?," a
columnist, Dr. Ahmed Al-Baghdadi, wrote in a 4/17 op-ed in
Abu Dhabi-based Arabic daily "Al- Ittihad," (circulation
65,000):

"It is required for every Arab individual to obey his
parents and his teachers during his childhood, whether he
likes it or not, to obey his professor at the university,
obey his boss at work or obey her husband if that individual
is a woman. A man who suffers from oppression at work
practices this same oppression and dictatorship on his
servants, wife and children... The field of human rights is
not part of our Arabic legacy. I know that many people will
argue with this opinion... but this is the truth which no
one wants to hear. Can I refer to a book titled as "laws of
non-Muslims in the Islamic society" written by Ibn Al-
Qayyim, or the topic of religious differentiation between
free men and slaves which is extensively covered in many
"legal code" books?... Teaching human rights in schools or
dealing with them during our lives and applying them in laws
needs an element that is not present in the Arab world's
culture. It requires the separation of religion from the
state, and that is one of the many requirements of human
rights' that is impossible for us to succeed in. I know
very well that any Arab today would prefer to live in a
religious environment, under whatever conditions, even if he
had no human rights... But can he, as a human being,
continue living like this?"


3. Under headline "A nuclear question," a female
columnist, Suaad Al-Majal wrote in a 4/19 op-ed in Dubai-
based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan," (circulation 90,000):
"With Iran's announcement to join the group of countries
owning nuclear technology, and its persistence in trying to
reach industrial levels of enriched uranium, the very
critical Middle East region enters a new era of conflict
between regional countries... It is regrettable that the
Iranian situation, which was preceded by the Indian and the
Pakistani one, has worked on its nuclear achievements at the
expense of development projects and the welfare of its
citizens! Poverty is the main common factor among these
nuclear countries which confirms the fact that the pretext
of catching up with the developed countries as promoted by
Iran being one of the reasons of its insistence in carrying
on with its nuclear project is a feeble pretext and
unhealthy at all! The nuclear project in Pakistan and India
does not assist the lives and affairs of their citizens. It
is just the opposite! Nuclear projects in these countries
and especially in Iran come at the expense of their citizens
and are not for their benefit at all!"

SISON