TFLE01: PRESIDENT WADE CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001760 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA, DS, AF/W, AF/RSA AND INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2016 TAGS: PINS ASEC MOPS PREL LE IS SG SUBJECT: TFLE01: PRESIDENT WADE CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE; ANTI-ISRAELI AND ANTI-AMERICAN DEMONSTRATION OCCURS IN DAKAR REF: DAKAR 01744 (NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador Janice L. Jacobs for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) On July 21, when the Ambassador met with President Wade, he called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza. The previous day, Senegal's Lebanese community organized a protest against Israel,s attack on Hezbollah. Cheikh Monein al Zein, leader of the small Shia community, called for the demonstration, and about 1,000 Lebanese and Senegalese gathered at the headquarters of Senegal,s National Television Station (RTS). Karim Wade, Minister of Agriculture Farba Senghor, other GOS officials, leaders of Senegalese opposition parties and civil society participated. Most speakers firmly condemned the U.S. and Israel, but Senghor limited his comments to expressing solidarity with the people of Lebanon while condemning &all forms of violence8 in the Middle East. END SUMMARY. WADE CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE HUMANITARIAN CEASEFIRE -------------- -- ¶2. (C) During the Ambassador,s July 21 meeting with President Abdoulaye Wade, he called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. He said that he had received the same Lebanese delegation and petition that the Ambassador had received on July 19 (reftel) and that Israel,s response to the capture of its three soldiers was disproportionate. Wade stressed that innocent civilians are suffering. Wade also said the Moroccan Government has offered to assist 60 Senegalese who wish to be evacuated from Lebanon. LEBANESE SHIA LEADER LEADS DEMONSTRATION -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The July 20 demonstration was, as far as anyone remembers, the Senegalese Lebanese community's first political gathering in the sixty-some years since Lebanese immigration began here during and after World War II. Traditionally, the Lebanese have focused on business and behind-the-scenes policy and shunned taking any open political stance. Cheikh Moneim Al Zein, while having a good relationship with Senegal's Sufi religious leaders, has largely failed in attempts to convince them to adopt Shia forms of political activism. This protest might have been less successful had it not received support from the National Association of Entrepreneurs of the Informal Sector (UNACOIS),which has made a strategic alliance with Lebanese businesspeople to resist mainland Chinese entrepreneurs who are conquering the local market. All Lebanese traders closed their shops in Dakar, and some Senegalese UNACOIS members joined in solidarity. HEZBOLLAH PRAISED -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Local Lebanese waived flags of Lebanon and Hezbollah, tore an Israeli flag, chanted the glory of Hassan Nasralah, and shouted anti-President George W. Bush and anti-American slogans. Moneim Al Zein said, &Hezbollah is the party of God while the U.S. and Israel are the parties of Satan.8 He left the demonstration to go meet local religious leaders at his headquarters, leading to some speculation that Senegalese marabouts wanted to associate themselves with calls for an end to the violence while distancing themselves from the possibility that the protest would feature any violent Shia and Hezbollah rhetoric. SENEGALESE CIVIL SOCIETY CONDEMN ISRAELI AGGRESSION -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Civil society organizations, joined by political leaders from the opposition and President Wade's coalition, expressed concern that the UN and Arab world are not doing enough to stop Israel,s &aggression in Lebanon.8 They condemned "the U.S. policy of double standards in the Middle East," and accused Israel and the U.S. of wanting to destroy Syria and Lebanon. They deemed disproportionate Israel,s reaction to the capture of three Israeli soldiers, while Israel &holds in its jails over 10,000 Palestinians, including 3,000 minors.8 GOS REPRESENTATIVE ADOPTS MODERATE TONE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Minister of Agriculture, Rural Water Resources and Food Security Farba Senghor in a moderate statement expressed DAKAR 00001760 002 OF 002 solidarity and compassion for all Lebanee but condemned unequivocally all forms of violece in the Middle East. President Wade's son, Karm, who has been deeply engaged in seeking Middle East funding to build major infrastructure projects as part of the Organization of the Islamic Conferences (OIC) Summit scheduled for Dakar in 2008, attended but did not speak. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The protest mobilized the business-oriented Senegalese Lebanese community, probably for the first time. Senegalese civil society took part, but religious leaders voiced solidarity from a slight distance, keeping away from the actual demonstration and the possibility of pro-violence rhetoric. Shia leader Sheikh Zein planned to call for further demonstrations at Friday prayers, but the Shia community here is tiny, and while Senegalese mosques will no doubt feature denunciations of the violence in Lebanon (and Iraq),it is uncertain how far this will translate into further protests or other political activism. The GOS, meanwhile, is also being careful to deplore violence in all forms. END COMMENT. JACOBS