EGYPTIAN LIBERALS PREDICT MOMENTUM FOR REFORM WILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 004899 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR MIKE SINGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM IS LE EG SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN LIBERALS PREDICT MOMENTUM FOR REFORM WILL BE SET BACK BY LEBANON CRISIS Classified by DCM Stuart Jones, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Several of Embassy's liberal and activist contacts have expressed distress over American policy regarding Lebanon, as well as concern about the ramifications of the current crisis on Egyptian reform efforts. In a series of meetings with a range of reform-minded contacts, poloff was told repeatedly that momentum for political reform has been ""set back,"" and that the crisis has further radicalized Egyptians and broadened support for Islamists. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) In an August 6 meeting with poloff, Nasser Amin (General Director, Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession) opined that the Lebanon crisis is a ""golden opportunity"" for the GOE, as it provides for channeling the Egyptian activist community,s energies into protesting against the USG and Israel, vice protesting against the Egyptian regime. Asserting that, ""we have been set back 2-3 years in terms of momentum for internal reform in Egypt,"" Amin also observed, ""Kefaya and other reform advocates do not want U.S. pressure now for domestic reform, because if they welcome American support, they will be tainted as being traitors and accomplices of the war crimes the U.S. and Israel are committing in Lebanon ... the U.S. has become a pariah in Egyptian public opinion."" ¶3. (C) During an August 7 meeting, Mona Zulficar (a prominent lawyer, leading womens' rights advocate, and member of the National Council on Human Rights) echoed Amin's comments, telling poloff, ""those who were pushing for reform before are now in the streets protesting against the 'Great Satans' of Israel and America. All momentum for political reform in Egypt has been lost."" Zulficar lamented that she had to cancel upcoming TV appearances to discuss human rights and reform issues, ""as I know I'll be asked about Lebanon, and I would have to declare my support for Hizbullah, because it is impossible now for even we liberals to make distinctions between the resistance that Hassan Nasrallah represents and the fundamentalist ideology he propogates - I must support him irrespective of my abhorrence of his Islamist agenda."" ¶4. (C) At an August 6 meeting with Ghada Shabunder of the reform group Shayfeenkum (""We See You"") and Engi El Haddad of the Afro-Egyptian Human Rights Organization, poloff was told that the USG and Israel are ""systematically rallying support for Hizbullah by your appalling policies ... who can blame the demonstrators?"" Bemoaning that Lebanon will likely ""overshadow"" reform activities in the coming months, Shabunder criticized the U.S. position as a ""betrayal"": ""you are pushing even secular, educated Egyptians to support Hizbullah."" Both expressed anxiety about continuing to accept USG funding via MEPI grants to their NGO's in the wake of the Lebanon crisis. ¶5. (C) In an August 8 meeting, leader of the leftist opposition party Al Taggamu, Refaat Said, opined that U.S. policy ""in support of Israel is further radicalizing Egypt and pushing public opinion towards Hizbullah, and therefore towards Islamists writ large ... You have created a new Arab hero - Hassan Nasrallah is the 21st century's Hassan Al Banna."" (Note: Al Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in ¶1928. End Note). Said asserted that the current crisis has resulted in, ""general enmity towards the central idea of peace, and undermined U.S. credibility in terms of pushing for democratic principles."" ¶6. (C) Gehad Auda, Chair of the Helwan University Department of Political Science and reform advocate, advised poloff on August 1 that, ""the U.S. must regain your honest broker role ... the same Egyptian forces that were demonstrating two months ago for democracy are now protesting for war. The dynamic has been radically changed ... the U.S. must 'hit' Israel somehow, rhetorically or via policy, in order to salvage the American image among Arabs.8 ¶7. (C) Unlike his counterparts, Hisham Kassem, liberal publisher of the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, asserted to poloff on August 3 his continued support of U.S. policy, despite Lebanese civilian losses, as ""we need to be in a war against Hizbullah."" He nonetheless highlighted that he was ""troubled and saddened"" by the sight of Egyptians demonstrating in support of Nasrallah. RICCIARDONE